Maurice Edelston

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Maurice Edelston (1918 – 1976) was a British footballer, who later became a sports commentator. At the age of 18, he played in the football tournament in the 1936 Berlin Olympics for Great Britain, and later had a long and successful association with Reading, where he played as a centre forward. Although an amateur, he played unofficial wartime internationals for England.

Around the late 1950s he went into broadcasting and was a regular BBC radio commentator by 1960. During the 1960s he also commentated for BBC television and Southern Television. Although most of his commentaries were on football, he also covered tennis, especially Wimbledon.

He was a summariser on the FA Cup Final in 1967 and 1968, and commentated on the event from 1969 to 1975. He reached his peak around the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he was broadcasting almost every week, covering European finals and England matches, as well as a number of league title deciders (Arsenal's victory at Tottenham Hotspur in 1971, and Wolves' defeat of Leeds which handed the title to Derby County in 1972). He also co-wrote the books Masters of Soccer and Wickets, Tries and Goals.

By the mid-1970s, his career was somewhat in decline as the emergence of Alan Parry was denying him the chance to commentate on matches such as England vs Scotland in 1975, and the controversial European Cup final in which Bayern Munich beat Leeds United four days later. However he continued to cover tennis during the summer of 1975, and was still broadcasting regularly when he died suddenly from a heart attack in Reading on 30 January 1976, aged 57. A library at the Blue Coat School in Reading is named after him, as is the award that Reading F.C. give to the outstanding schoolboy in their Academy for future players.