IN this nostalgia blog, I tell the unique story of how Jonathan Pearce and his Capital Gold Sport team entirely changed the face of modern radio football coverage.
It began in 1988 when ‘JP’ – as he is affectionately known – was appointed sports editor at London station Capital Gold. He launched a new show from scratch rapidly proceeding to obliterate long established radio templates!
Let me explain what had existed beforehand. Prior to this, LBC (London Broadcasting Company) were the main football source in the region. I have a few old tapes of their output.
Basically, it was a glum sounding bloke sitting in a quiet studio introducing reporters around the various London fixtures at pedestrian pace. Each report would be anything between 60 to 120 seconds giving ponderous analysis such as:
“In the sixth minute, Arsenal won a corner. It came to nothing. Then in the eighth minute, Alan Smith flashed a header just off target. And in the 12th minute, Michael Thomas dribbled forward but was blocked on the edge of the box…etc…etc…”
Meanwhile, BBC radio used to provide football commentary nationally which was bland and devoid of emotion.
So JP decided to revamp everything. He hosted the Capital Gold Sportstime shows from within football grounds themselves and he fed off the crowd noise.
Significantly though, JP initiated a type of commentary that had never been heard before. Loud, enthusiastic, fast paced and excitable whilst literally shouting at the top of his voice once the goals flew in. Unprecedented on the radio! It mirrored his own true passion as a football fan.
Then when JP crossed over to other matches for updates and goal flashes, the reports were brief but snappy. No more than 20 to 30 seconds long. Again, this was a totally revolutionary concept.
JP was assisted by brilliant producers in Pete Simmons and Darren King. Both were fully open to innovation. Furthermore, Mick Lowes was a fantastic second commentator.
Another brainchild was to play back clips of the goal commentary set to music. No one had ever tried this yet it had an instant positive impact.
And reporters were encouraged to build bonds with the London clubs. For example Deano Standing did great work at Millwall, Simon Michaelson was loyal to Watford and I loved Queens Park Rangers.
The response to Capital Gold Sportstime was staggering. Two million listeners across London and JP became a celebrity overnight. If Twitter X had existed in the 80’s and 90’s, he would easily have amassed five million followers.
Nowadays of course, everyone copies the Capital Gold blueprint on radio and television. Commentators are exuberant, reports are shorter and even BBC Match of the Day use pulsating music for their Goal Of The Month competition. That’s all due to the remarkable foresight of JP and his production colleagues.
I chatted to the aforementioned Darren King this week to get his memories. Darren said…
“I can’t think of any current radio or television show which can really match what we did at Capital Gold Sport. My senior producer responsibility was to remodel the complete landscape of football radio commentary presentation.
“Our aim was to bring Capital Gold Sport’s appeal to a wider audience complementing Jonathan’s vision and his inimitable electric style. The sound of the shows should reflect the excitement and ensure our listeners felt they were inside the stadiums alongside our dedicated teams.
“We added extra effects mics to capture the heartbeats of the crowds. We evolved a younger vibe using chart music ‘beds’ for highlights, features and promos. One particular promo standing out for me lauded our peerless ‘Ear Pearcing Commentary’.
“I often listened to other stations and constantly planned ways we would make our shows stand out from the rest. Radio is all about living the moment for football fans. That was our mantra - to feel it, breathe it and bring it alive.
“Failure was not an option for JP and we achieved huge success hitting record breaking audiences. We made sure we had the right reporters in place - breathing football the same way supporters did. This wasn’t a job, it was a way of life. More concise match reports were essential so we could get around as many reporters as possible.
“Nobody transformed radio commentary the way Capital Gold did. Not many are aware Sky TV’s Soccer Saturday was based on our Capital Gold Sport format.
“It was an honour to have played a pivotal role. Overall, we took risks and tore up the rule book at Capital Gold.”
Stirring words Darren! On a personal note, I would like to thank JP for being an outstanding mentor for me. He worked very hard to improve my voice and delivery in the early years, thereby elevating me from a shy lad living in a one parent family on a London council estate to someone who could hold down a career in broadcasting. In effect, JP had unstinting loyalty to his reporters.
The fact that all of us at Capital Gold are still good friends 35-plus years later illustrates what a close knit band of brothers we were. Lovely people, lovely times!
In the week that we begin to ponder the Euro 2024 winner by studying Euro 2024 odds, I’ll leave you with a famous piece of JP commentary after Teddy Sheringham scored for England against the Netherlands at Euro 1996:
“The Dutch weren't ready, the defence wasn't steady, and there was good old Teddy…and toast tonight with a glass of SH-EEE-RR-YY!”
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Tony Incenzo*
