Is the audio commentary any good ? I actually listen to more football on the radio than I watch these days . However I have avoided I-Follow so far, I imagined it to a bit like when Mick Kearns did the commentary on Saddlers World or whatever it was called.
Not bad actually, Tommy Marlow has done it for the last year or two, one of the better commentators we’ve had. I have no idea why we couldn’t have commentary today, it would have been much better if we had.
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I think it’s been quite good of late. In recent times they have had a variety of summarisers (post Mick Kearns), often ex-players and they do vary a bit. I seem to remember that they had George Bowerman once for some reason and he was actually very good and interesting.
One thing that I do know is that it is a damn sight better than struggling to pick up Radio Sheffield or Leeds on a crackly barely audible speaker whilst watching ceefax. It’s frustrating when the commentary goes down but considering what I have wasted money on in the past I do not begrudge the £50 a year.
Mind you it’s not the same as being there but beggars can’t be choosers!
It’s a dying medium, but there is something so therapeutic about football on the radio. I shall miss it when it’s gone
I don’t think it will ever go mate (unless football goes of course) It’s more popular than you think, even more so in the current climate.
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Totally agree. Grew up listening to football being played in some faraway distant land on Radio 2 and then Radio 5 before it became live.
I did t have sky sports or anything until I was 28, 
so Ive spent a lot of time listening to the games on the radio. I never could listen to the cricket though, it just seems odd.
I listen to the cricket all the time mate. It’s not bad at all actually, especially when the Ashes are in Aus, take the radio to bed and listen to it, with the intention of falling asleep listening to it, and still be awake listening to it at 4 in the morning.
Ah, nostalgia. Can’t remember the year (would have been around 1960 or 61) but I do remember being in France listening to Walsall’s first game of the season, newly promoted to the Second Division*, when we beat Sunderland (4 - 2 I think it was). The French family I was with were quite bemused by my enthusiastic whoops, groans and cheers.
- Championship, for our younger UTSers.
That’s probably because of all the longeurs in cricket which cause the commentators to talk betties (or balls) about cakes, sweaters, the weather, their grannies etc etc between the brief “excitement” of each ball bowled when, often as not, absolutely nothing happens.
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