JAMES ALEXANDER GORDON

Charterhouse, an independent school for 13-18 year olds, nestled in the leafy hills of South-west Surrey, near Guildford, has an historic football pitch, played on since 1872. It’s called Big Ground, because it is, physically, historically and socially. It sits on Wealden sandstone which means it drains very well, it has been cared for since the 1870s, so it is flat and in good nick and it is the aim for any child at the school (an indeed visitors), to play his or her football on the pitch.

The best players have the privilege of playing their matches on Big Ground, regularly against a variety of opposition, such as Eton College, The Corinthian Casuals and sometimes against the teachers, who can make up a decent team. The school has hosted county school’s games and charitable events. Chelsea has made use of it on a traning day and so has AFC Wimbledon, to name two professional clubs. Visiting schools like to play on it too; it is quick, has a reliable bounce and a plaque nearby announces its historic nature!

Here is the pitch before the opening on September 10th 2011. Big Ground was formally "opened" by Sarah Hildebrand, grand-daughter of AG Bower, the last amateur to captain the full England side. She cut the ribbon to allow the Old Carthusians FC to play The Civil Service, the first visiting team to Charterhouse's new pitch in 1872. 

A few years ago the school hosted a Charity match on the pitch and celebrated the day by having two teams chosen specially for the occasion from the school, old boys and friends. To help make the occasion a bit special a colleague asked a good friend of his to come along to commentate on part of the game. Since the match was not going on any significant radio programme, he did a half time rendering of his famous football results reading. It was appreciated by the crowd and it became an historic moment for a school that has had its place in Association Football’s history; boys playing at the school first using the word “soccer” as an abbreviation of Association.

The “Guest of Honour” was  James Alexander Gordon and he dutifully read out at half time, the main football results from the previous day’s Football League, through a tannoy. Everyone there was delighted to hear his voice, so familiar with that Saturday afternoon ritual.

My radio would firstly, blurt out the jaunty “Out of the Blue”, Hubert Bath’s theme tune for Sports report, now on BBC Radio Five Live. The tune has been part of Saturday afternoon history since 1946. Following on from the introduction were the “Classified” football results, when silence was expected in family homes and car radios turned up.

Originally it was the “clipped tones” of James Alexander Gordon who told the nation what they wanted (or didn’t want to) hear! For me, listening in as a youngster, I was mesmerised by the many different names of places and their “attachments” (Scunthorpe United and Hamilton Academicals) , as well as the results.

It was possible to work out which team had won, lost or drawn by the intonation of James’ voice and of course the famous comedy duo,  Eric Morecambe (a football team in its own way) and Ernie Wise, made a tongue twister out of East Fife 4 Forfar 5, on one of their shows!

Last Saturday (August 6^th), there were no classified results read out! It was not a mistake, it was new policy” as the BBC had axed the 76 year old tradition. A BBC spokes’ person explained that the classified football results on Five Live had been cut to “save time”. Poor Charlotte Green, Alexander Gordon’s successor, has no job. Of course, there is a multitude of ways of getting the results, but the tradition of waiting patiently for the results to begin has been etched into our Saturday afternoon programme, a valuable part of “national tradition”. Many of us can remember the moment that a result came up when there was something important going on in our lives-that is one reason for my marriage taking place in July in the close season! Charlotte has delivered the scores in a poetic rhythm, her intonation giving hints of the results. Jim White, writing in the Daily Telegraph, describes the axing of this footballing heritage as “cultural vandalism”.

James Alexander Gordon (10 February 1936 – 18 August 2014) was a Scottish radio broadcaster, best known for reading the classified check of the football results every Saturday at 17:00 on BBC Radio.

Born in Edinburgh in 1936, during his youth he was paralysed with polio and he spent a large part of his childhood in hospital. He worked in music publishing before joining the BBCin 1972, becoming an announcer and newsreader (mostly on Radion 2) until the early 1990s. In 1974 he followed in the footsteps of John Webster, reading the classified football results first on Radio 2 and later on Five Live.

Popularly known as "Jag", he used his intonation, when pronouncing the names of the clubs, to indicate whether a match had ended in a home win, away win or draw. Gordon also worked as a freelance voice artist, recording voice-overs and commenting on company videos.

He announced his retirement from radio in July 2013 following surgery to remove his larynx after being diagnosed with cancer which rendered his voice too weak for broadcasting. He was succeeded as the reader of the classified football results by former Radio 4 newsreader Charlotte Green, from late September 2013.

Gordon reprised his role as announcer of the football results to read fictional results for the play Jumpers for Goalposts.

Gordon died of cancer on 18 August 2014, at the Sue Ryder Duchess of Kent Hospice in Reading.