Maurice Edelston

Maurice Edelston (27 April 1918 – 30 January 1976)[1] was a British footballer, who later became a sports commentator. Born in Hull, England, he was son of the Hull City footballer Joe Edelston, who was his manager at Reading for a while. At the age of 18, he played in the football tournament in the 1936 Berlin Olympics for Great Britain. He played League football with Fulham and Brentford and in 1939 he was signed Reading where his father was manager, and played for them successfully as an inside forward until 1952. Although an amateur, he played unofficial wartime internationals for England. He finished his football career at Northampton Town in 1953.

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 England's 1966 FIFA World Cup victory as well as the FA Cup Final in 1967 and 1968. He 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.

References

  1. ↑ "English National Football Archive". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 25 February 2015.