MATCH OF THE DAY 50: It was a ritual, says Yeovil Town boss

YEOVIL Town boss Gary Johnson took a trip down memory lane this week when asked about his memories of the iconic BBC programme Match of the Day which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

It was back on August 22, 1964, when Match of the Day was first screened and featured Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Arsenal.

The crowd inside Anfield that day outnumbered the programme’s audience on BBC Two which initially was only available in London at the time.

Johnson was eight-years-old when Match of the Day was first screened – not that he would like us mentioning that – but his eyes widened when asked about the programme.

“I can always remember as a kid watching Match of the Day with my brothers,” he said. “We used to have a quarter of Merry Maids, a quarter of Wine Gums and a quarter of Cough Candy.

“It became a ritual for us each week and it’s still a great programme.”

During the conversation about Match of the Day, Johnson also unwittingly revealed a small fact which just goes to show that football can be a small world.

Johnson said that he used to love FA Cup Final days when Match of the Day became a day-long affair.

“I used to watch it all day on cup final day,” he said.

He then revealed that as a youngster he was on the books at Fulham and its youth team, his nearest club, and actually went to the FA Cup Final of 1975 when the Cottagers lost out to West Ham United 2-0.

Fulham’s manager at that time was the legendary Alec Stock – the man who had masterminded Yeovil Town’s famous 1949 FA Cup Fourth Round giant-killing victory over Sunderland.

Johnson seemed to be unaware of that thinking it was Bill Dodgin, who had managed Fulham from 1969-72, still in charge at Craven Cottage.

“Well I never,” he said at Thursday’s weekly press conference this week at Huish Park when finding out it was Stock.

Other Yeovil links with that Fulham cup final team of 1975 was that midfielder Alan Slough later played for the Glovers in the mid-1980s, while the substitute was Barry Lloyd who would go on to manage the green and whites from 1978-81.

To use a great Match of the Day quote uttered by former commentator Barry Davies – “interesting, very interesting.”

PHOTO - ABOVE: A former Match of the Day presenter - the legendary Jimmy Hill.

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