Were you World Of Sport, or Grandstand?

Cardiffdaffs said:
Have to say you have something there.

I was definitely a Grandstand ( BBC guy). My nan, however, never had her TV off ITV in the 60s and 70s. I am not sure whether she knew where the "1" button was on her box. She loved her sport and especially the wrestling and she subsequently watched all the terrible sitcoms on ITV. She probably thought the BBC was too highbrow.

Trouble with World of Sport was that as said above it didn't broadcast a wide variety of sports and was dominated by Horse Racing and Wrestling, the latter of which could be described as theatre. The difference was reflected in the presenters. Dickie Davies, smooth and no doubt the pensioners heart-throb was fine but who replaced him when he went on holiday? Fred Dineage - and with the best will in the world Fred was a lightweight compared to the Grandstand heavies.
Click to expand...
Sounds so familiar.😀
 
Cardiffdaffs said:
Have to say you have something there.

I was definitely a Grandstand ( BBC guy). My nan, however, never had her TV off ITV in the 60s and 70s. I am not sure whether she knew where the "1" button was on her box. She loved her sport and especially the wrestling and she subsequently watched all the terrible sitcoms on ITV. She probably thought the BBC was too highbrow.

Trouble with World of Sport was that as said above it didn't broadcast a wide variety of sports and was dominated by Horse Racing and Wrestling, the latter of which could be described as theatre. The difference was reflected in the presenters. Dickie Davies, smooth and no doubt the pensioners heart-throb was fine but who replaced him when he went on holiday? Fred Dineage - and with the best will in the world Fred was a lightweight compared to the Grandstand heavies.
Click to expand...
This is so true. We were definitely a BBC family, probably part of being lower middle class and wanting to keep clear of those vulgar adverts ;) ......always watched BBC for the Cup Final and England v Scotland game.
 
Capybara said:
Sam Leitch's Football preview.

And I'm sure ice hockey and speedway were on Grandstand before the much inferior World of Sport. Anyroad, Grandstand obvo.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the typo corrections! Memory a little stretched and too lazy to browse for the correct spellings. Sam did look as if he'd have had trouble jogging across the road...
 
Grandstand and Bob Wilson presenting Football Focus. It made my Saturday afternoons especially when I was a teenager.
 
On the ball was also a non miss spot on a Saturday. When we went away with Boro our target was to get in a pub in away town to watch On the Ball before going to game.
Mid week was always Sports-night with David Coleman
 
I do think BBC and ITV are missing a trick in not bringing this back. I know they won't be able to cover the marquee sports but could they not throw a few quid at covering non-Sky sports? Ice hockey, basketball etc used to be a great watch on those programmes on a Saturday afternoon.
 
Cardiffdaffs said:
Trouble with World of Sport was that as said above it didn't broadcast a wide variety of sports and was dominated by Horse Racing and Wrestling, the latter of which could be described as theatre.
Click to expand...
Have to disagree there. If anything it was the other way around. As I mentioned in the op, It was the only place you could see the Stanley Cup final, Speedway, Stock cars, Banger racing (usually from Foxhall Heath stadium, Ipswich), American Football, Scrambling (before it was called Moto Cross). I can even recall seeing a Lumberjack contest and a Fireman contest!
You certainly never saw these sports on Grandstand. (Tell a Lie...I saw Speedway once and it was commentated on by Alan Weeks, and it was awful when compared to Dave Lanning's commentaries on WoS).
 
Lemmy_kilmister said:
Have to disagree there. If anything it was the other way around. As I mentioned in the op, It was the only place you could see the Stanley Cup final, Speedway, Stock cars, Banger racing (usually from Foxhall Heath stadium, Ipswich), American Football, Scrambling (before it was called Moto Cross). I can even recall seeing a Lumberjack contest and a Fireman contest!
You certainly never saw these sports on Grandstand. (Tell a Lie...I saw Speedway once and it was commentated on by Alan Weeks, and it was awful when compared to Dave Lanning's commentaries on WoS).
Click to expand...
Yes. Bet they showed 5 mins of those sports followed by 20 mins of the ads. Moto cross was always the biggest preserve of Grandstand and stock cars and banger racing you could file under sports that only the niche would like lets face it. But yes they would have had their followers.

Grandstand in its heyday

Football Preview
Rugby League
Rugby Union 5 Nations
Tennis (all slams)
Table Tennis
Most motor sports inc all F1
Athletics domestic and International
Swimming
Open Golf
Wimbledon
Grand National
Test Matches
Gillette Cup Final
Weight Lifting
All winter sports from Skiing to skating
Boxing
The Boat Race
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top