Kenneth Wolstenholme

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Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme
Born(1920-07-17)17 July 1920
Worsley, Lancashire, England
Died25 March 2002(2002-03-25) (aged 81)
Torquay, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Football commentator and presenter
Known forPresenting: Match of the Day
Football comment: "They think it's all over"
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Air Force
Years of service1939–45
Rank Acting Squadron leader
Awards DFC & Bar

Kenneth Wolstenholme,

British popular culture
. As Hurst proceeded to score, Wolstenholme added: 'It is now!'


Early life

Wolstenholme was born in

Primitive Methodists and his brother attended Elmfield College. He attended Farnworth Grammar School, where Alan Ball Jr. (on whom Wolstenholme commentated in the 1966 World Cup Final) was also a pupil some years later. Wolstenholme began his career as a journalist with a newspaper in Manchester
.

Military service

As Wolstenholme was a member of the

Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett's No. 8 Group RAF Pathfinder
Group.

Wolstenholme completed more than 100 highly hazardous sorties over

Occupied Europe and in May 1944 was awarded the DFC. The following year, he won a Bar to his DFC for his continual bravery in raids on Germany in a period of exceptionally heavy night fighter activity. He finished the war as an acting squadron leader
, having spent its last stages working in the RAF's public relations department.

Sports broadcasting

After the war, he became a freelance journalist, working for BBC Radio before moving to television in 1950. In 1955, he provided a location report from Salford for the BBC's coverage of that year's election night coverage.

He covered the

1959 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final between Kilkenny and Waterford for BBC Television, an experience which moved him to describe hurling as his second-favourite sport in the world after his first love, football.[1]

In March 1954, Kenneth Wolstenholme and Barney Mulrenan co-commentated on the first football match to be broadcast on TV in Wales, South Wales Amateur Football League v the Worcestershire Football Combination from the Maindy Stadium in Cardiff[2]

Wolstenholme commentated on many

Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt at Hampden Park
, widely regarded as one of the greatest football matches ever played. Real won the match 7-3 before a record European Cup Final crowd of 127,000, all their goals scored by Puskas and di Stefano.

"They think it's all over"

Wolstenholme's unscripted delivery in the closing moments of the

1966 FIFA World Cup Final at Wembley Stadium included fourteen words that are among the best known in British sport commentary.[3] With England leading 3–2 against West Germany, a small pitch invasion took place during injury time just as Geoff Hurst
scored to put England 4–2 ahead. The events prompted Wolstenholme to say:

Some people are on the pitch... they think it's all over... it is now!

"It is now" was added in an almost matter-of-fact way after Hurst had scored the goal. Since 1966, the phrase "they think it's all over" has become well known in modern English. Although unrehearsed, and spoken in the particular circumstances of the game, the words echoed to an extent those of German commentator

1954 World Cup against Hungary.[4]

Later career

After the 1966 World Cup, Wolstenholme continued his broadcasting career in the UK and Europe. In 1967 he travelled to the

Ajax and Panathinaikos at Wembley Stadium
.

Wolstenholme later commentated for

BBC2
.

Wolstenholme, who had been a supporter of

Reebok Stadium
.

In 1998, Wolstenholme made a special appearance in EA Sports' videogame World Cup 98, as the sole commentator on the game's classic World Cup matches, recreations of historic World Cup finals that included sepia-toned renditions of the 1930 and 1938 editions.

Legacy

His phrase was used as the title for the sports quiz programme They Think It's All Over.

The words "They think it's all over, it is now" are engraved on a flagstone in Churchgate, in Bolton town centre,[5] alongside quotes from other celebrities from Bolton.[6]

Bill Oddie wrote a song about Wolstenholme for the BBC Radio comedy show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again which includes the lines: "I'm going Wolsten-home/And you can't get Wolsten (worse than) him!" In another sketch on ISIRTA a contestant in a television quiz show was awarded Wolstenholme as a prize.[citation needed]

Personal life

In 1944 he married his wife, Joan. She died in 1997. They had two daughters, one of whom predeceased him.[citation needed]

Wolstenholme lived in Galmpton, Torbay, Devon until his death.

See also

References

  1. ^ Wolstenholme, Kenneth (13 September 1959). "Why Keep This Great Game Such A Big Secret?". Sunday Press. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
  2. ^ 'Television Notes and News', Lichfield Mercury. 26 February 1954, p20 - retrieved via British Newspaper Archive
  3. ^ "Class of '66 pay tribute to voice of football". The Daily Telegraph. 26 March 2002.
  4. ^ Paul Legg (July 2014). "It's Over! Over! Over!'". History Today. p. 41.
  5. ^ Bardsley, Andrew (30 July 2016). "Bolton had its own part to play in 1966 World Cup final win". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  6. ^ "The word on the street is Bolton". Manchester Evening News. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2022.

External links

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