Throughout the Seventies and early Eighties, Gerry Harrison was the voice of football for ITV Anglia viewers. Philip Barker looks back on his broadcasting career…
BY PHILIP BARKER
Gerry Harrison was one of the instantly recognisable voices of televised football in the seventies and eighties.
He had started in newspaper journalism and worked for the Daily Express.
He played football at Oxford University and then for Altrincham when the club was still in the Cheshire League.
“New to Cheshire league football this season. At present on the staff of the “Daily Express” but finding time to be one of the fittest members of the team. Gaining experience with every game. A former officer, having served in the army,” said Altrincham programme notes in his debut season 1963.
Harrison switched to broadcasting with BBC Radio Merseyside. In 1969, he entered the competition organised by BBC Television to find an additional commentator to join the Beeb’s team for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
This was judged by a panel which included Sir Alf Ramsey and Sports Minister Denis Howell.
Harrison reached the final six which included Liverpool and Scotland striker Ian St John and the eventual winner, Idwal Robling, a Welshman who had been chosen for the Great Britain squad at the 1952 Olympics.
Harrison did get his ticket to Mexico in 1970, but as a commentator for ITV Sport. He covered Group 2 in Puebla and Toluca, which featured eventual finalists Italy, Uruguay, Sweden and Israel.
Sadly, he rather drew the short straw as this turned out to be the least exciting of all the groups.
He had rather better fortune when covering Italy’s match against Argentina when the tournament returned to Mexico in 1986. It was a contest which featured a wonderful goal by Maradona.
Harrison had long been the regular commentator and Presenter for Anglia Television’s Match of the Week which covered the East of England. His beat included Norwich and Ipswich but also Cambridge, Luton, Peterborough, Grimsby, Hull City, Lincoln, Northampton and Scunthorpe.
In the early years, he often had to cope with pictures from an unusual camera position behind one of the goals at Portman Road.
In their tribute, the East Anglian Daily Times said: “He was fondly remembered as the voice of East Anglian Football.”
When matches from the region were screened on The Big Match, on the ITV network Brian Moore would usually introduce them with the words: “The pictures come from Anglia, the Commentator is Gerry Harrison.”
At the time, Ipswich were managed by Bobby Robson and enjoyed the greatest period in the history winning the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981.
Harrison covered the first leg. The coverage featured him interviewing Robson at the start of the second half. As Ipswich scored their second goal, Harrison’s words were “exactly what you wanted Bobby” to which Robson responded “I’m glad I missed it, thank you very much Gerry!”
Harrison became Anglia’s Head of Sport in 1985 but left in 1993 to join Trans World International (Now IMG Media) as Producer of a new football magazine programme Futbol Mundial.
An authority on football history, one of his assignments was to film a match involving Manchester United and Corinthian Casuals, a club with which he had an involvement alongside his brother David.
His commentaries were also heard in the early days of British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) and on Intercontinental Cup Finals, the forerunner of the FIFA World Club Cup.
He also appeared on Anglia Soccer Night and presented a review of televised football in the region for the final edition of the programme in 2008.
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