Skip to content

'I still get recognised in the supermarket'

ITV Elton Welsby in a suit presenting live from a studio gallery above a pitch on a rainy night in the 1980s or 90s ITV
Elton Welsby was a familiar face on TV screens during the 80s and 90s

He was one of the best-known faces of TV football coverage in the 1980s and 90s and, decades later, Elton Welsby still gets recognised in the supermarket.

Welsby spearheaded ITV's live broadcasts long before today's internet-driven world of stats and podcasts, working alongside legends of the game including George Best and Jack Charlton.

But the St Helens man said it was being on a podcast with football fan Gary Cook, from the nostalgia-inspired Retro Football Network, that prompted his latest memoirs, Game For A Laugh.

"He said I've never met anyone who has got so many stories as you - have you thought of writing a book?," Welsby said.

Welsby's media experience meant he was asked to collaborate on a Radio City chat show hosted by Bill Shankly when he retired from his post as Liverpool manager in 1974.

"I've never met anyone like him - his first guest was the prime minister at the time, Harold Wilson," he told BBC North West Tonight.

Elton Welsby doing a recent TV interview while sitting on a dark sofa next to a golden-coloured lampshade
Elton Welsby still gets recognised while out and about

Despite the intense and unpredictable field of live broadcasting, Welsby rarely used an autocue script prompter while presenting.

But a clip of him shouting at a colleague off-camera to prevent a fan getting into the studio has been said to have possibly inspired the famous "Dan" sketch with the fictional broadcaster Alan Partridge.

At 73, Welsby's not shy of expressing some controversial thoughts, dividing opinions with his view that female commentators lack the vocal tone to rise with crowds' cheers to goals.

He told the Telegraph that was his "personal opinion, nothing more".

The Everton fan rates his favourite commentators as "in no particular order - Brian Moore, Hugh Johns, Gerald Sinstadt - voices that endorse the euphoria".

"I watch a lot of football now and if I don't hear the introduction to the commentator, I haven't got a clue who it is."

But it looks like there are some who still recognise him despite him no longer being on screen.

"I was in Aldi the other day and a fellow came up to me and said, excuse me didn't you used to be Elton Welsby?

"What? I still am, folks."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected]