Freelance Broadcaster | John Roder

Frequently asked questions.

Q. How did you start doing football commentary?

I joined BT Clubcall in 1986 and then Mercia Sound in Coventry the following year; this was when I did my first radio commentaries. My first TV commentary was in 1996.

Q. When did you join the Match of the Day team?

In the summer of 2004; for the return of the programme to BBC TV after ITV had covered the Premier League in highlights form for the previous three seasons.

Q. MotD shows highlights; do you commentate on the entire match, or do it afterwards?

Quite frankly, it is ridiculous when people say that the MotD commentators dub their words on afterwards. We are at the grounds; do 90 minutes live commentary, and then do the post-match interviews. Sometimes for technical reasons you have to re-do a line or two of commentary; but in six seasons of working on the programme I have only once had to re-dub a goal call. Please see these two blogs from MotD editor Paul Armstrong.

How the Premier League is covered

Are the commentators actually there?

Q. What is the difference between commentating on a match when you are at the stadium and when you are commentating off-tube?

When you are doing a match off-tube (ie by watching it on a monitor, please see the photo on the home page) you are totally reliant on what the match director is choosing to broadcast; as you are seeing exactly what the viewer is seeing. So if an incident occurs off-the-ball and out of picture, you have no idea what has happened, and it is only when the slow-motion replay starts that you can ascertain what has occured. If a number of players are going for the same ball in the penalty area; from a corner or free kick for example, and one of them scores, you have to be certain who has got the final touch if you are going to name the scorer. If the director then cuts to a shot of a player, you have to hope it is the player who scored, believe me it doesn't always happen! You can always take your time in identifying the scorer if it is uncertain; you simply must not guess, as getting a goalscorers name wrong is unacceptable. Frequently a substitution will be made and the first you know of it when doing the match off-tube is that a new player gains possession.
At a stadium you see the whole picture; and if it is your outside broadcast, you can ask the director for specific shots to illustrate the point that you or your co-commentator is making. Being at the stadium is always better.

Q. What else do you do?

Voiceovers, sports programme making, corporate hospitality hosting.

Q. What do football commentators do in the summer?

Every 2 years, more football at the World Cup and European Championships. Football from other parts of the world. Prepare for the next season.

2009-10 season full commentary matches.

These are the matches that I have done full live 90 minutes commentary on this season. This is a considerably shorter list than in previous seasons, as for the first time in many years I did not have a regular broadcaster for whom I covered Champions League matches; and UEFA retained the rights to the new Europa League, unlike in previous years when clubs were able to sell their own rights to their home matches in the UEFA Cup.
The following matches were done for the following broadcasters - BBC TV, Channel Five, Eurosport, CSI Sports, IMG Media, Pitch International and Setanta Sports Ireland; and were either live to air or done live for later edits.

1. xx v xx European U19 Championship

2. Chelsea v Milan

3. Chelsea v Club America

4. Bayern Munich v Milan

5. Boca Juniors v Milan

6. Wehen Weisbaden v Wolfsburg

7. Arsenal v Atletico Madrid

8. Arsenal v Rangers

9. Darlington v Leeds

10. Bury v West Bromwich Albion

11. Everton v Wigan.

12. Germany v South Africa

13. Chile v Venezuela

14. Germany v Azerbaijan

15. Venezuela v Peru

16. Portsmouth v Bolton

17. Bayern Munich v Rott Weiss Oberhausen

18. Birmingham v Bolton

19. xx v xx World U20 Championship1/10

20. Leeds v Charlton

21. xx v xx World U20 Championship 6/10

22. Venezuela v Paraguay

23. Germany v Finland

24. Hull v Portsmouth

25. xx v xx World U17 Championship 25/10

26. Gruether Furth v Stuttgart

27. xx v xx World U17 Championship 28/10

28. QPR v Leicester

29. Stoke v Wolves

30. xx v xx World U17 Championship 4/11

31. Derby v Coventry

32. Reading v Ipswich

33. Hull v Stoke

34. Germany v Egypt

35. Tottenham v Wigan (9-1 !!)

36. Porto v Chelsea

37. Scunthorpe v Leicester

38. Portsmouth v Burnley

39. Birmingham v West Ham

40. Wolves v Burnley

41. QPR v Bristol City

42. Middlesbrough v Manchester City

43. Manchester United v Leeds

44. Malawi v Algeria

45. Egypt v Nigeria

46. Zambia v Tunisia

47. Egypt v Benin

48. Ghana v Nigeria

49. Nigeria v Algeria

50. Doncaster v Reading

51. Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim

52. West Ham v Birmingham

53. Nottingham Forest v Middlesbrough

54. Unirea Urziceni v Liverpool

55. Bolton v Wolves

56. Germany v Argentina

57. Nottingham Forest v Swansea

58. Everton v Bolton

59. Schalke v Bayern Munich

60. Norwich v Leeds

61. Stoke v Hull

62. Fulham v Wigan

63. Crystal Palace v QPR

64. Portsmouth v Aston Villa

65. West Ham v Wigan

66. Burnley v Liverpool

67. Charlton v Leeds

68. Bolton v Birmingham

69. Nottingham Forest v Blackpool

70. Germany v Malta

71. Bayern Munich v Werder Bremen

72. Dagenham & Redbridge v Morecambe

73. Charlton v Swindon

74. Morecambe v Dagenham & Redbridge

75. Spain v Switzerland (Euro 17 Champs)

76. Spain v Portugal (Euro 17 Champs)

77. Turkey v England (Euro 17 Champs)

78. Spain v Turkey (Euro 17 Champs)

79. England v France (Euro 17 Champs)

80. Dagenham & Redbridge v Rotherham

81. Germany v Bosnia & Herzogovina

And finally....

Me as a young dj at college, in either 1982 or 83. It makes my kids laugh!