As mentioned in my “Name on the Trophy” blog on 21st September, where I’d recently discovered three e-mails from 26th May 2004 from my old work e-mail address in London to my hotmail account. It was something that I had completely forgotten I’d done, but now so glad I had as it has been a fascinating read that I’d like to share with you.
The e-mails were entitled “Name on the Trophy!!! 26/05/1999 (1), (2) and (3)” and it was a load of quotes from the world of TV commentary from the day, as well as various newspaper reports from the days after the event. Below is one of those reports and I have many more to come, enjoy reading them. I certainly have.
Oh to have been in Barcelona last night. Or Manchester. Or Munich (tee hee). What memories you would have this morning. Thanks to the wonder of television however, at least 15 million of us watched the match, thus ensuring that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s toe-poke takes its place in the national consciousness alongside umpteen miserable penalty shoot-out defeats.
Less likely to enter the pantheon is the sight of Micky Thomas pouring champagne over his own head, live on MUTV’s frankly inspired programme ‘We’re Watching the Match’.
As detailed in yesterday’s Fiver, ‘We’re Watching the Match’ brought the drama of Barcelona to the living room by broadcasting a full-frame graphic of the score, and cutting to presenter Mark Pearson whenever anything interesting happened. Pearson was watching the match on ITV (you see where the name comes from now), in the company of 1968 European Cup-winner David Sadler, United legend Stuart Pearson (no relation), and the aforementioned Thomas. According to Mark Pearson, things got “quite unbelievable” in those ‘interesting’ two minutes at the end of the game. Take it away Pears-o*
“It was unbelievable. The phone lines went crazy, it was a complete celebration for us. When Teddy scored we were expecting extra-time, but then Ole popped up and scored to win it.” (Thus saving the world from another 30 minutes of that graphic.) “Micky poured champagne on his head, it was crazy.” But do you think you conveyed the drama of the match to those people who decided not to watch the match but chose instead to watch ‘We’re Watching the Match’?
“Absolutely, we always convey our passion for football, and Man Utd in particular, here at MUTV.” Right. “It was unbelievable.” You mentioned that. The highlight of your broadcasting career perhaps? “Absolutely.”
#15 BIG CUP, BIG VIEWING FIGURES * The Guardian
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