Arthur Montford: 1929-2014

| @SportOnTheBox |

Veteran Scottish sports broadcaster Arthur Montford, the first anchor of STV’s football programme Scotsport, has died aged 85 after a short illness.

Best known for hosting more than 2,000 episodes of STV’s flagship football highlights show over a 32-year period from the late 1950s, Montford also worked as a football commentator and as a author on other sports, including golf.

Born in Greenock and a lifelong Morton fan, he passed away at home after battling short illnesses intermittently over the past couple of years, those close to his family confirmed.

Montford worked in print and radio journalism before being chosen to become the first presenter of STV’s new Scotsport programme in 1957, having joined Scottish Television originally as a continuity announcer.

Launched as Sports Desk in August 1957, the show changed its name to Scotsport shortly afterwards and Montford would go onto stay with the programme as both a presenter and commentator until his retirement from broadcasting in 1989.

A hugely popular figure with viewers during his 32-years of service with STV, Montford was also well known for his trademark chequered pattern sports jackets and catchphrases during his three decades of service with the broadcaster.

Some of his most memorable lines on the programme include “What a stramash”, “What a goal from an impossible angle” and “Disaster for Scotland”.

His warm and authoritative tones became linked with so many of Scottish football’s triumphs and tragedies over the years, but he told a recent BBC Scotland programme that he needed some convincing to take up the role at Scottish Television which would go onto make his a household name in Scotland.

Montford said: “I hadn’t really thought much about it but when he said that my salary would jump from £14 a week to £20 a week, I became extremely interested and I was hired on the spot as the newscaster, sportscaster, continuity announcer and jack of all trades…”

Having come from a long line of newspaper journalists in his family, Montford gave credit for his calm and assured presentation style to his father’s influence.

He said: “My father told me that no matter how poor the game was, whether you were writing it, describing it on radio, or commentating on it, you must look for something worthwhile to talk about and do not be negative. And it was a thought that I always carried with me”.

Aside from a brief spell as a golf commentator and commentaries on some Scottish football matches, Montford rarely appeared on the main ITV network during his career, but Montford’s commentary for STV on Scotland’s 1978 World Cup against Peru was heard across the UK following a technical fault with the original ITV feed from Argentina to its commentator Hugh Johns.

Montford continued to pass comment on Scottish football for many years after his retirement, both in the national press and in the matchday programme at Morton FC, while he also narrated the film documentary Scotland: The World Cup Story in 1990.

Outside sports broadcasting, Montford also served as a director of Greenock Morton Football Club, as well as holding the position of rector at the University of Glasgow between 1974 and 1977.

In May 2010, Montford received the Scottish Professional Footballers’ Association ‘Special Merit’ award for his services to football broadcasting and journalism.

STV paid tribute to the former Scotsport presenter; a spokeswoman said: “Arthur Montford made an immense contribution to sporting life in Scotland and was an STV legend hosting over 2000 episodes of Scotsport over three decades.

“We would like to offer our condolences to his family at this sad time.”

Tributes were also paid to Arthur Montford by a number of today’s leading sports broadcasters and commentators on social media:

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