Kenneth Wolstenholme: Encyclopedia II - Kenneth Wolstenholme - Career

Kenneth Wolstenholme - Career

Wolstenholme started his career as a journalist with a newspaper in Manchester, before joining the RAF as a bomber pilot. After the war he became a freelance journalist, working for BBC radio before moving to television in 1948.

While most sports commentators gain some recognition if their career is long enough, Wolstenholme is almost entirely remembered for his commentary of the 1966 Football World Cup Final, specifically the words he used as the match came to a conclusion during injury time, as a small pitch invasion took place just as Geoff Hurst scored to put England 4-2 ahead:

'Some people are on the pitch ... they think it's all over ... IT IS NOW!'

These have become arguably the most famous words in English football, and among the most famous phrases in modern English. Wolstenholme always said that it was just a natural verbal piecing together of the situation before him and it took years before he realised just how well it fitted.

Wolstenholme commentated on English domestic football's most famous games of the 1950s and 1960s, including the first ever game featured on Match of the Day in 1964. He covered every FA Cup final between 1953 (the Matthews final) and 1971 (the year of Arsenal's "double"). He was the BBC presence at Wembley as Manchester United defeated Benfica to capture the 1968 European Cup and also the BBC's main man at the 1970 World Cup, commentating with panache on the final between Brazil and Italy. He left the corporation in 1971 after David Coleman was installed as the BBC's top commentator, his final BBC commentary being on the 1971 European Cup final between Ajax Amsterdam and Panathinaikos at Wembley Stadium.

Wolstenholme later commentated for Tyne Tees Television in the mid to late 1970s. After this, he went into semi-retirement, but re-appeared on TV to provide reports and occasional features for Channel 4 when they earned rights in the early 1990s to show Serie A games from Italy. His most famous phrase was hijacked shamelessly for the sports quiz They Think It's All Over, on which he once appeared as a guest.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki