Legendary commentator John Motson will be in Burnley this Saturday covering the Pompey game for Match of the Day . This will be the first time in 35 years he will have commentated on a Clarets game at Turf Moor and we can thank Sonya Kilby, wife of course of Burnley chairman, Barry for the dubious homour of making sure he put it in his schedule.
Speaking to the Official Burnley site, Motty said:
‘Over the last five or six years watching football in my own capacity I seem to have stumbled on Burnley away from home on a few occasions.
‘I remember seeing them at Luton and West Brom and bumping into the chairman’s wife Sonya and she asked me why I had never done a home game.
‘I said I ought to go to Burnley and this is the one.
‘I’m looking forward to it. It’s been a long time but I’m pleased I’m coming back.’
I am not sure Clarets fans will think this is a good omen. This is a must-win game for the Clarets in our efforts to avoid the drop and a draw would be a disaster against the administration-threatened bottom club, Portsmouth.
Our problem is that Motty has been a jinx on Match of the Day this year with the BBC commentator sitting through four consecutive goalless draws unable to describe a goal in 2010 until recently.
Motty had never endured such a barren run in more than 40 years behind the microphone.
He sat through February’s goalless game between Tottenham and Aston Villa at White Hart Lane and January’s goalless clashes between West Ham and Blackburn, Villa and Arsenal and Spurs and Hull. In fact the last goal he saw whilst commentating until recently was scored by Fulham defender Chris Smalling. It was his calamitous own goal that helped Chelsea beat the Cottagers 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on 28 December 2009.
There is however some good news of sorts, the jinx was broken. Motty did cover the recent midweek clash between Wolves and Spurs at Molineux. A game which finished 1-0 to Wolves but not a score that helped the Clarets
So let’s hope the ‘Voice of Football’ can avoid the 0-0 jinx returning at Turf Moor and let’s also hope there are plenty of goals for him to rave about, all going into Pompey’s net!
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