Bring Me the Sports Jacket of Arthur Montford: An Adventure Through Scottish Football

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And as I was leaving, Archie McCulloch who was one of the 'heid yins' in the Theatre Royal at the time along with Rai Purdy and Jim Coulthard and others, he said to me "would you like to work full time here" I said well, I said, "I'm making thirteen pounds and ten shillings at the Evening Times, what's the money? Greenock and the academy gave him a lifelong love of the town's club Morton FC and his friend from schooldays, Douglas Rae, owned the club later on in Montford's life. And in tribute to one of his famous catchphrases, the Rev Graeme Wilson said he’d hoped everyone had made it through the “stramash” at the church gates, referring to a throng of press photographers.

The Maryhill Burgh Hall is an unlikely place to start your television career, but I was invited up there to do an audition because I was working at the Evening Times on the sports desk at the time.He interviewed all the greats from Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan to Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. He came up to me in his checked jacket and said ours was the only game on in Scotland and he’d be reporting on it. Thanks to his friend, Douglas Rae, at whose house Montford’s second marriage took place with Rae as best man, Montford was appointed director of Morton FC, and latterly became honorary vice-president.

He remained as anchorman for 32 years, hosting more than 2,000 editions of Scotsport, during which time he became famous for his trademark checkered pattern sports jackets, and some classic lines of football commentary, including "What a Stramash!He also presented the Scottish version of World of Sport on STV and Grampian - with live coverage from England of events which were often not shown in their entirety due to the regional sporting events taking place in Scotland, Scotsport Special was also aired on Cup Final day, when the Scottish Cup Final was taking place on the same day as the Wembley event, with the Wrestling also being moved from its pre-lunchtime slot on Cup Final days back to the expected 16:00 slot in Scotland.

In a moving tribute his daughter Vivienne, 58, told how her dad would read her bedtime stories which were largely made up and involved a cast of characters including her teddies. Montford spent 32 years as the presenter of Scottish Television’s Scotsport programme where he was best known for his football coverage, although he was also covered a range of other sports, especially golf. With over 2000 episodes of Scotsport to his name, Arthur Montford’s voice is synonymous with Scottish football’s triumphs and tragedies.He soon concentrated on the latter, however, and one of the feats he personally claimed was to thwart the BBC’s attempt to have exclusive coverage of the famous Real Madrid v Eintracht Frankfurt European Cup Final at Hampden in 1960 – Montford and the STV crew marched in front of the North Stand and stayed there. STV were told by rivals BBC that there was no room for their cameras in the gantry in Hampden’s South Stand. He also presented Radio Clyde’s version of Desert Island Discs (billed as Montford's Meeting Place) where he interviewed many famous people who dropped by for a chat with the STV legend that was an unmissable sample of Clyde's weekend schedule in the 1970s and 1980s as well as writing the Scotsport Annual among other books. He tackled the controversy quietly, preferring to show by example that a Christian need not take sides.

This was an early highlight in a career that would take in half a dozen World Cups, 380 domestic and European games as commentator including 38 Old Firm matches, and some of the most memorable moments in Scottish football – in 1973, he really did say “disaster for Scotland” when goalkeeper Ally Hunter let a shot from Zdenek Nehoda of Czechoslovakia through his hands at Hampden on an unforgettable night when Scotland came from behind to qualify for the 1974 World Cup. He had no need for gimmicks but was famed for his check jacket – it was of a houndstooth pattern that he later donated to charity – and his unique turn of phrase, as well as his passionate support of the Scottish national team.

Arthur belonged to the age of innocence in broadcasting, when you had only one or two games a week being televised by the BBC or STV in Scotland. These went well as a radio broadcaster, and, when BBC sports editor John Wilson joined Scottish Television in 1957, he asked Montford to join him in the new commercial visual age. His grandchildren Craig and Julie also gave an emotional joint reading with Craig telling how his grandad had bought him a full Greenock Morton kit as a boy in a bid to convert him from being a Rangers fan. Arthur Montford died at his home on 26 November 2014 at the age 85, after battling illness intermittently over a couple of years. These went well, and when BBC sports editor John Wilson joined Scottish Television in 1957, he asked Montford to join him in the new commercial visual age.