Sports Reporting

London, UK

At a BBC training day a couple of years ago, some sample sports reports were played to me and my fellow sports reporters. One such clip was from 1989 at Hillsborough. BBC legend, Stuart Hall wrote about it in the on-line Daily Telegraph recently.......

Except that one afternoon in April 1989, we didn't play that famous tune. It was five o'clock, and the music died the day that 96 fans lost their lives at Hillsborough. In the 10 minutes or so leading up to the top of the hour, we had frantic discussions about whether we should drop the signature tune. It was sacrosanct, after all. But some things are more important than that.

In its place, the incomparable Peter Jones delivered one of the greatest pieces of live broadcasting it has ever been my privilege to hear. His vivid description of the red and white bobble hats lying scattered on the terracing as the stewards took away the possessions of the dead or dying Liverpool fans can bring a tear to the eye even now.

An amazing but brutal piece of sports journalism.