George Hamilton

He commented before, during and after.

But he didn't actually commentate on the match.

So you took the game?

Yeah, I took the game.

Because we didn't have co-commentators on a regular basis back then.

We had had a co-commentator at the European Championship Final in 1980 because Owen Hand, the newly appointed Irish manager, was out and he'd ended up, for a lot of long story, it's in the book, he ended up staying with us in Rome and we bluffed him into the stadium for the final and having got him in, we thought, well, we may as well use him.

And we did.

And he'd never broadcast before.

It was comical, thinking back on it.

But we didn't regularly have co-commentators back then.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it is the World Cup final.

Aside from that.

Well, that trumps everything, I think.

You know the significance at the moment because of what you've gone through and all the broadcasting anxiety and the whole Azteca stadium.

The whole thing is so monumental that you can't fail to be moved by what it is that you've just seen and peripherally been a part of.

At that moment, it was just the fact that it was the World Cup final.

Because I don't know that it...

you would have the capacity to reflect that this is going to be the moment that will live on forever about this particular guy.

I think that comes afterwards when you're thinking back and when you're having a beer that night, maybe, but not in the moment.