Hugh Richard Lewis Johns (6 September 1922 – 27 June 2007)[1][2] was an English football commentator, best known for his appearances for ITV. During his career, he covered 1,000 matches including four FIFA World Cup finals.[3]
Early life and career
Johns was born in
The People
.
Football commentator
Johns became a football commentator at the behest of
ATV mogul Lew Grade in 1966. ITV's coverage of the 1966 FIFA World Cup had Johns leading the commentary team, which also included Gerry Loftus, John Camkin and Barry Davies (later of the BBC). Hugh had the honour of commentating on the final between England and West Germany. His description of Geoff Hurst's third goal, England's fourth in a 4–2 victory ("Seconds ticking away as Martin Peters goes forward, er Geoff Hurst goes forward, and he might make it three. He has! He has! And that's it. That's it."), was in contrast to his opposite number at the BBC, Kenneth Wolstenholme
, with the often quoted line "Some people are on the pitch. They think it's all over ... it is now!".
His finest hour in audience terms came in the
Billy Wright alongside him. In the final between Brazil and Italy, when he was partnered with former England captain Bobby Moore, he memorably greeted Pelé
's opening goal with the words:
What a beautiful goal from Pelé! El Rey Pelé!
Although
Brian Moore was regarded as ITV's "number 1" commentator, Moore was for many years given the role of Anchorman/Presenter for many major football occasions covered on ITV. This led to Johns covering four FIFA World Cup finals in total, from 1966 to 1978, and two FA Cup Finals (1967–68). He was also the voice for ITV's live coverage of the European Cup Finals of 1968 - when Manchester United became the first English club to claim the trophy - and the 1970 final, when Celtic lost to Feyenoord. Later that year, Johns richly descriptive tones, would be the perfect fit for an epic World cup semi final, in which Italy beat West Germany 4-3 after extra time. Other memorable games that he covered, included the dramatic world cup qualifier on 17 October 1973, when Sir Alf Ramsey's England, failed to beat Poland at Wembley, in front of a 100,000 full house, and many millions watching the match live on ITV, missing out on a place at the 1974 FIFA World Cup
finals tournament. Hugh commentated on the final of that tournament, with hosts West Germany beating Holland 2–1.
He was the regular commentator on ATV's
Central Television until the summer of 1982, when he was replaced by BBC radio 2 football commentator Peter Brackley
. His last major ITV duties came at the World Cup that year in Spain, where he covered the matches in group 2, featuring West Germany, Austria, Algeria, and Chile. Johns registered his disgust several times, during his commentary on the match between West Germany and Austria, where the teams contrived their passage through to the next phase, at the expense of Algeria.
Until 1996 Johns continued to commentate for HTV Wales, making occasional network appearances on the odd international or Cup tie. He also produced a documentary on Ian Rush - simply called Ian. In an interview with ITV on his retirement he revealed that he helped to lubricate his vocal cords with a couple of pints of Brains Bitter every day and was a regular smoker.
Johns was known as the "voice of Midlands football". In 2002, he was presented with a "Golden Microphone" by
. Hugh also narrated several documentaries, including Basildon our town in 1974, and Focus on Soccer for ITV in 1978.
Personal life
Johns retired to his house in Radyr near Cardiff where he was an active Freemason. His wife Joan died in November 2003 - they had been married for 53 years. He died at home in June 2007, aged 84.
