David Coleman
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This page is about David Coleman the sportsman, for the academic visit David Coleman (academic)
David Coleman, OBE (born 26 April 1926) is a former British sports commentator and TV presenter. In 2000 he was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the Olympic movement.
Coleman was originally a keen amateur runner. In 1949 he won the Manchester Mile, the only non-international runner to do so. However, injury caused him to give up competitive running.
He worked as a reporter for the Stockport Express, and during military service worked for the British Army Newspaper Unit. He joined Kemsley Newspapers after demobilisation and at 22 became editor of the County Press in Cheshire.
In 1954 Coleman moved to Birmingham and joined the BBC as a news assistant. His first television appearance was on Sportsview, coincidentally on the day that Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. In November 1955 he was appointed Sports Editor for the BBC's Midlands Region.
In October 1958 the BBC's Head of Sport Peter Dimmock recruited Coleman to be the presenter of the new Saturday afternoon sports programme Grandstand. He continued as the regular presenter until 1968. He also presented the BBC's Sports Review of the Year from 1961, and Sportsnight with Coleman (1967-1973), as well as other special sporting events such as the Grand National. He even covered the return of The Beatles from the United States.
As well as a presenter, Coleman was also a sports commentator. He presented and/or commentated on 11 Olympic Games from Rome 1960 to Sydney 2000, as well as eight Commonwealth Games and several World Cups, including the finals of 1974 and 1978. He was the BBC's senior football commentator for several years from 1970, particularly remembered for calling out the score after a goal ("One-nil!"). He commentated on the FA Cup final from 1972 to 1976 inclusive, although missed the 1977 game because he was in a legal dispute with the BBC, allowing John Motson to make his FA Cup final debut. Coleman returned for the 1978 final before Motson took over the following year. Coleman continued to work at football matches as a secondary commentator until 1984.
In 1968 at the Mexico Olympics Coleman was recorded at 200 words per minute while commentating on David Hemery's win in the 400 m Hurdles. After the finish he could only identify the first two and famously exclaimed: "Who cares who's third?" The bronze medal winner turned out to be another Briton, John Sherwood... In 1972 he broadcast for several hours during the siege at the Munich Olympics.
Coleman concentrated on athletics commentary from 1984. He also hosted the sports quiz show A Question Of Sport for 18 years until 1997.
In the 1992 New Year's Honours List he was awarded the OBE for services to broadcasting. He was also given the Judges' Award For Sport in the 1996 Royal Television Society Awards.
Coleman retired from broadcasting after the 2000 Summer Olympics. In December 2000 he was presented with the Olympic Order by then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch in recognition of his services to the Olympic ideals.
He retired without fanfare or recognition by the BBC, despite working for the corporation for over 40 years.
He is affectionately known for his on-air gaffes. Private Eye magazine named its sports bloopers column "Colemanballs" in his honour.
Coleman was mentioned in the "Trailer sketch" of the Monty Python's Flying Circus episode "Archaeology Today" where the voiceover by Eric Idle states at the end of the sketch showing Coleman with "... And for those of you who don't like television there's David Coleman. And of course there'll be sport. But now for something completely different - sport."
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| Preceded by Peter Dimmock |
Regular Host of Grandstand 1958-1968 |
Succeeded by Frank Bough |
| Preceded by Frank Bough |
Regular Host of Grandstand 1983-1984 |
Succeeded by Desmond Lynam |
| Preceded by Frank Bough (Sportsview) |
Regular Host of Sportsnight 1968-1972 |
Succeeded by Tony Gubba |
| Preceded by David Vine |
Host of A Question of Sport 1979-1997 |
Succeeded by Sue Barker |
