John Motson to hang up his microphone

John Motson at Old Trafford during his first season as a Match of the Day commentator, 1971-72

Legendary football commentator John Motson will hang up his microphone at the end of the season after an illustrious 50-year career with the BBC.

Motson, 72, has worked on Match of the Day since 1971, and covered 10 World Cups, 10 European Championships and 23 FA Cup finals for BBC Sport. He has commentated on almost 2,500 televised games, but his trademark chuckle is still present and his penchant for a killer stat has not faded over the past five decades.

"I have had a wonderful time," Motson told BBC Sport. "I don't think things could have gone any better for me because I was football-mad as a boy, and to get a job watching the game and going to all the major events I have been to has been very rewarding."

Motson started out as a journalist on a local newspaper, the Barnet Press, when he left school in the early 1960s. He moved to BBC Radio Sheffield in 1967, before the call came from Match of the Day in 1971. It took a chat over a pint with a rock star before he believed commentary was truly his calling, however.

"In the early days, I used to get nervous before games, and have sleepless nights," recalled Motson. "But I once played in a football match that Rod Stewart organised on his own pitch at his house in Epping, and he took all the players to his local pub afterwards.

"We were just chatting and I don't know how it came up, but I must have asked him something like do you get nervous when you go on stage? "He said: 'Nervous? Why would I be nervous? Singing is what I do.'

"It sounded such a simple answer and I thought to myself: 'Well it is about time I started to think football commentary is what I do, so why am I getting myself so worked up about it? "Even now, I still get a bit apprehensive before a game, because I am worried about whether I have done enough preparation or if something is going to catch me out.

"But the fear factor has gone - as it should have done by now really, after nearly 50 years. It was good advice by Rod at the time, and I am glad I took it on board." When Motson joined Match of the Day, there were only three TV channels available to the UK audience - BBC One, BBC Two and ITV. And only one club match was broadcast live each season - the FA Cup final.

"Two things have changed the most about my job in the years I have been doing it," said Motson. "The number of commentators and the camera coverage you get in the modern game. "When I started commentating there were about six of us on TV - three apiece on the BBC and ITV.

"Now, if you were to add up everyone broadcasting live commentary on TV and radio, including local radio, then there are well over 100 football commentators, and I have no doubt all of them are jostling for position. "So, the competition to get above the rest and be the lead commentator, or whatever you want to call it, is much fiercer than it was when I was starting out.

"By the same token, there were not as many jobs going back then, so to get one was an achievement in itself. "As far as the camera coverage goes, when I started out on Match of the Day, I didn't have a replay machine that allowed me to see an incident again. It was very much like being a referee, in that I had one look at what happened.

"We still had to describe it again as if we were watching for a second time via a replay, but the replays themselves were actually only added in for Match of the Day later on Saturday evening, when the BBC football department got the machine from horse racing. "You just had to hope that what you had said earlier matched what had actually happened - and that you had got the name of the goalscorer right too.

"Now of course, with all the technology we have got, you can watch something again from five or six different angles. "So, in terms of calling something correctly, things have become easier. "But, because there are so many more people doing it, I would imagine that if you were a young commentator now you would find it quite hard to push your way through the crowd."