JEFF STELLING is probably the world’s most famous Hartlepool United fan.
Every Saturday for the past nine months, he has fronted Sky Sports’ Gillette Soccer Saturday providing a level of fanaticism and statistical depth unmatched anywhere on a British television screen… perhaps anywhere in the world.
Until I started my elongated university career five years ago, this world was something of a loss to me. I used to go to matches on most Saturday afternoons and would therefore not be sat in front of the goggle-box. Since moving away from home, however, I have discovered the joy of watching men watching football.
Pundits
Granted, he’s always joined by a punditry team that has in the past included the likes of Rodney Marsh and the late George Best – he must now put up with Phil Thompson and Paul Merson – but Stelling is the real star of the show.
When the programme returns from an ad break (mercifully there aren’t too many), Stelling is always anxious to furnish the viewer with what they have missed. In the final section of the programme, covering around the 70-minute point onwards, Jeff becomes almost apoplectic with excitement.
And yet he still manages to get out all the statistics and scorers and relay the league positions of Arbroath and Arsenal with a matter-of-fact style that is refreshing to fans of lower-league teams. He knows football exists beyond the Premier League and – more importantly – he knows a lot about the football that exists beyond the Premier League.
Summer
The next three months will be tricky for all football fans – not least this year when a major championships will be taking place without any British representation. But the absence of Stelling from our screens will leave a big gap. Roll on the first week of August!
See Stelling trying to becalm Chris Kamara: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYfCG4laEt4.
Ah, good old Jeff, providing entertainment for millions of people on that barren staurday you just can’t quite make a football match.
Personally, the highlight of this season was Liverpool v Havant and Waterlooville. I genuinely thought he might be in daner of a coronary every time Havant scored.
He is everything that is right with football coverage on the TV. Bring on August!
By: Liz Broughton on May 12, 2008
at 9:06 am
Completely agree. For some reason the idea of watching people watching football actually works.
The drama created in the studio is far better than the days of watching agonisingly on while the teletext page takes an absoloute age to update.
One of the main reasons for the quality of Soccer saturday has to be Jeff Stelling and the chemistry between him and the other panellists.
It is entertaining watching merse and Le Tissier ribbing each other we Stelling often on the recieving end of the abuse.
Something which the BBC have not quite manged to pull off with their football coverage which is either really smug (Lineker, Shearer, Hansen) or is just plain dull. (Crooks, Dixon, Peacock)
By: sjmquick on May 12, 2008
at 12:41 pm
Spot on.
Without Stelling’s absolute professionalism and ability to read out most scores as they happen as well as interacting with the other pundits, the show would not work.
You only have to see Sky’s Ian Payne’s oft woeful attempts when he takes over for big midweek games to highlight this.
By: aaronj2 on May 13, 2008
at 9:38 am
Jeff is indeed a legend, but I’m looking forward to Euro2008 without England – presumably it will be no different for you, Ian (i.e. no Scotland in a major tournament)… although you won’t have the added entertainment of supporting every team England play… a major tournament without England mean I’ll be able to actually enjoy the footy rather than just moan about how poor England are, get hopeful when we put in a good performance against Denmark, then ultimately, get disappointed when we fall at the semis against Germany (presumably on penalties).
By: stevet58 on May 13, 2008
at 6:50 pm