His successor in the Grandstand chair, Frank Bough, was full of admiration. "Coleman was the only one who could tell you that a win had put Arsenal on top of Division One on goal average, or that was East Fife's first score draw in 19 consecutive games," he said. Fantoni, Barry; Larry (2002). Private Eye's Colemanballs: No. 11. Private Eye Productions. ISBN 978-1-901784-30-5.

Ingrid Kristiansen then has smashed the world record, running the 5000 metres in 14:58.89. Truly amazing. Incidentally, this is a personal best for Ingrid Kristiansen. David Coleman Working from scant information and a closed circuit TV monitor, he held together the coverage of the unfolding horrors in Munich as Palestinian gunmen held hostage, and then killed, a group of Israeli athletes. I imagine he was a pretty uncomfortable guy to work with," wrote Moore. "His standards were high and his temper was pretty short." Moving on More or less since the inception of the BBC's regular outside sports broadcasts, Coleman's was the voice that brought the event into the living room. He anchored Grandstand and Sportsnight long before anyone had ever heard of Frank Bough or Desmond Lynam. He was the first commentator whose voice proclaimed that he neither attended a public school nor pretended to have done. Laura Robson has just made the best possible start to her professional tennis career, she won the first set and lost the next two and is out.

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On demobilisation, he joined Kemsley newspapers in Manchester before becoming a youthful editor of the weekly Cheshire County Press. He was a gifted amateur runner and in 1949 won the annual Manchester Mile, at the time, he would insist, the only non-international ever to have done so. After injuries prevented him from entering trials for the 1952 British Olympic team, he wrote to the BBC. He became the BBC's senior football commentator in 1971, covering five FA Cup finals, before handing over to John Motson in 1979. Nowhere was his dedication and knowledge better illustrated than at the teleprinter as the football results came in. Undeservedly or not, it is the lot of the British sports commentator to suffer the barbs and carping of his or her public. Some of them, and Coleman was certainly one, are as much a part of the national picture as the sportsmen whose acts of valour they describe. Private Eye's Colemanballs is the distillation of that. That the sports blooper column should be named after him has never remotely undermined Coleman's position as the undisputed founding father of modern British sports broadcasting, the commentator who moved the hearts other commentators cannot reach. In these days of dedicated sports channels, it is difficult to appreciate the importance of Grandstand, which led the way in showcasing a wide variety of sporting action each week. On the set of Grandstand in 1978

In 1968, he handed his Grandstand seat to Frank Bough, moving on to a midweek show, Sportsnight With Coleman. For example, Bill Bayliss sent us this gem from the Paralympics: 'They're making great strides with their swimming' In 1984, he won the Television and Radio Industries Club award as Sports Presenter of the Year and, in 1992, he was awarded an OBE. He finally retired from broadcasting in 2000. Tributes Fantoni, Barry; Larry (1990). Private Eye's Colemanballs: No. 5. Private Eye Productions. ISBN 978-0-552-13751-5. Private Eye's Colemanballs external-link column gleefully reproduced many of his gaffes - much to his annoyance - but he was more relaxed about his character on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image, external-link despite having a finger permanently attached to his earpiece. Other workFantoni, Barry; Larry (2010). Private Eye's Colemanballs: No. 15. Private Eye Productions. ISBN 978-1-901784-54-1. Sir Bobby Charlton, World Cup winner: "The players trusted David to be absolutely correct on certain things on the football field, he was a charming man. I couldn't tell you anyone else who was better."

Don’t tell those coming in the final result of that fantastic match but let’s have another look at Italy’s winning goal. WORTHY SUCCESSOR The death of David Coleman at the age of 87 signs off an already distant era when television broadcasts of Britain's national sporting events – the so-called "crown jewels" – were almost the sole and exclusive preserve of the BBC. Coleman was the very embodiment of that pre-eminence. As the corporation's champion sports presenter through much of the second half of the 20th century, he had an enthusiastic, knowing, taut professional style and a crisp, classless delivery that seemed all-pervading. In addition, he was the pathfinding master of ceremonies for such long-running regulars as Grandstand, Sportsnight and A Question of Sport. For those of you watching who do not have television sets, live commentary is on Radio 2. Ted Lowe (Snooker) From Fern Britton asking if a guest’s great grandfather had any children, to Anthea Turner urging people to use cars as fridges, to Geoffrey Boycott saying Indian police have “atomic weapons”, 2010 has been a vintage year. I just wonder if her dad, because he has obviously been the most influential person in her life, did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14 maybe: “Listen, you are never going to be, you know, a looker. You are never going to be somebody like a Sharapova, you’re never going to be 5ft 11in, you’re never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that. You are going to have to be the most dogged, determined fighter anyone has ever seen on the tennis court if you are going to make it,” and she kind of is.

Lord Sebastian Coe, two-time Olympic 1500m champion: "He was just incomparably the best. It wasn't just that he carefully choreographed intro pieces, but he could always capture the moment." I've never been so certain about anything in my life. I want to be a coach. Or a manager. I'm not sure which. Very few of us have any idea of what life is like living in a goldfish bowl, except, of course, for those of us who are goldfish.”