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Early life
Born of Irish heritage (his immediate family hailed from County Cork), Coleman was originally a keen amateur runner. He attended a grammar school in Cheshire. 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 ran 440 yards for Staffordshire and was later the president of the Wolverhampton & Bilston Athletics Club. He did part of National Service in Kenya.
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 twenty two became editor of the Cheshire County Express in Cheshire. In 1952, he didn't attend the Olympic trials because of hamstring injuries. Instead he phoned the BBC to see if they would like any help with athletics coverage. The BBC, without any audition, asked him to cover Roger Bannister at Bradford City Police Sports. In 1953, he did freelance radio work in Manchester.
BBC
In 1954 Coleman moved to Birmingham and joined the BBC as a news assistant and sports editor. 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.
Grandstand
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.
Football
He was the BBC's senior football commentator for several years from 1971; 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 1981.
Athletics
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. Out of respect for Sherwood, most subsequent showings of the race have dubbed the line out. He also had to commentate on a Greek athlete called Papagiorgiopoulos and a Madagascan athlete called Jean-Louis Ravelomanatsoa in adjacent lanes in the 100m.
In 1972, he broadcast for several hours during the siege at the Munich Olympics as well as the memorial service days later.
Coleman concentrated on athletics commentary from 1984. He also hosted the sports quiz show A Question Of Sport for 18 years until 1997, striking up a strong rapport with captains such as Emlyn Hughes, Ian Botham, Willie Carson and Bill Beaumont.
Recognition
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.
Retirement
Coleman retired from broadcasting after the 2000 Summer Olympics, the moment BBC Sport became a separate division of the BBC. 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.
In his autobiography, rival ITV commentator Brian Moore paints Coleman as an unpleasant character, who looked down on him and the whole ITV team.
He retired without fanfare or recognition by the BBC, despite working for the corporation for over 40 years.[1]
Folklore
He is affectionately known for his on-air gaffes. Private Eye magazine named its sports bloopers column Colemanballs - a word conceived by Coleman himself - in his honour.
Coleman was mentioned in the Trailer sketch of the Monty Python's Flying Circus episode Archaeology Today where the voice-over 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.
Personal life
He is married to Barbara and they have six children. His daughter Anne was a British Ladies Show Jumping champion.
Quotes
- In the 1974 FA Cup Final, he said that Newcastle's defence had been stripped naked by Liverpool.
- Linford Christie has a habit of pulling it out when it matters the most.
See also
- Jimmy Magee, Irish sports commentator
- Barry Davies
References
External links
News items
Video clips
| Media offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Dimmock |
Regular Host of Grandstand 1958–1968 |
Succeeded by Frank Bough |
| Preceded by No regular host |
Regular Host of Match of the Day 1970–1973 |
Succeeded by Jimmy Hill |
| Preceded by Frank Bough |
Regular Host of Grandstand 1983–1984 |
Succeeded by Desmond Lynam |
| Preceded by None |
Regular Host of Sportsnight 1968–1972 |
Succeeded by Harry Carpenter |
| Preceded by David Vine |
Host of A Question of Sport 1979–1997 |
Succeeded by Sue Barker |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Coleman, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | British sports commentator, TV presenter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1926-04-26 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
