Paul Armstrong

AT LAST, MOTD BOSS TOPS THE BILL

AT LAST, MOTD BOSS TOPS THE BILL

Former Match of the Day boss Paul Armstrong tops the running order on talkSport's H&J Show and a recent This Football Life podcast.

Now's your chance to catch the highlights! Hear what Paul has to say about accidental swearing on air, the three years when ITV stole the Beeb's thunder, the doomsday scenario of no more terrestrial football on Saturday night - and controversial MOTD running orders.

All this and much more in a lively discussion between Paul Armstrong and talkSport's ever-popular Hawksbee & Jacobs.

Click here to hear the show broadcast on talkSport... 
Click here to hear Paul discussing how MOTD is made on This Football Life podcast.
Click here to view video footage of Paul on Look North.
Click here to view archive footage of Paul hard at work on Match of the Day.

Click here for more information, or to read a sample chapter from Why Are We Always on Last?

Why Are We Always on Last? Running Match of the Day and Other Adventures in TV and Football is a fly-on-the-wall account of Paul Armstrong’s career working on Britain’s favourite TV sports show (including nearly 15 years as the editor, defending his running orders) and a lifetime spent around sport, and football in particular.

From a virtual BBC monopoly of sports coverage and working at the Hillsborough disaster, to the era of Sky, social media and megaclubs, Paul takes us behind the scenes at MOTD and chronicles the joys and pressures of seven World Cups and live broadcasts of varying quality. He provides an honest and humorous account of the seismic changes he’s seen, both in broadcasting and the football industry.

He also shares inside stories of working with everyone from David Coleman to Brian Clough and Thierry Henry to Alan Shearer – all infused with the pessimism and jaundice acquired during almost five decades following Middlesbrough FC.

Read the memoirs of the former boss of Match of the Day to discover:

  • Why Japan fell in love with Ian Wright, while Robbie Savage’s fluorescent orange shorts were less popular in Brazil
  • How an expletive in his ear alerted a half-asleep Alan Hansen to the fact that he was live on the air at Molineux
  • What happened when an old-school, politically incorrect cameraman insulted the great Jürgen Klinsmann
  • How a row involving Doctor Who almost took the classic Steven Gerrard FA Cup Final off the air mid-match
  • Why it’s best not to run an @motdeditor account, or tell a licence-fee paying blog respondent to ‘get stuffed’
  • Which varieties of Kit-Kat John Motson would and wouldn’t eat on the commentary gantry
  • Where and why Noel Gallagher and Spike Lee delivered a post-World Cup Final debrief
  • And, above all, how a simple weekly running order manages to provoke widespread angst and fury