Motson’s career began in the newspaper business as a reporter on the Barnet Press and the Sheffield Morning Telegraph, where he first covered football. It began to take off when the BBC hired him in 1968 as a sports presenter on Radio 2. Three years later, he replaced Kenneth Wolstenholme at Match of the Day. After initially having a small role on MOTD, Motson covered the famous FA cup third round replay between Hereford United and Newcastle United on 5 February 1972, which the BBC anticipated as a five minute segment following their two main games. Non-league Hereford won the match 2-1; it became the main featured game on the show and launched Motson’s career. Since 1979 Motson has commentated on all the major championships: World Cups, FA Cups, and European Championships. Most recently, he was commentator for the 2008 European Championships[disambiguation needed] Final. He was commentating on the FA Cup Semi-final of 1989 between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest when the Hillsborough Disaster occurred. Motson found himself commentating on a tragedy rather than a football match, and he would later appear as part of the Hillsborough enquiry, since he had been a witness. Apart from a brief spell in the 1990s, when his friend and rival Barry Davies was selected for two FA Cup final commentaries and the 1994 World Cup final, Motson has been the dominant football commentary figure at the BBC since the late 1970s. His first FA Cup Final as commentator was 1977 in the match between Manchester United and Liverpool. John Motson is famed for his sheepskin coat, which, on satirical quiz show They Think It’s All Over, he revealed that he bought from a man in Hornchurch along with 7 identical coats, hoping that they would span his career. When Premier League television highlights moved to ITV in 2001, and MOTD was no longer a weekly fixture in the schedules, Motson returned to radio on BBC Radio Five Live’s coverage of the Premiership, but continued to make frequent appearances on live TV coverage and contributions to BBC Sport’s website – which he has been doing since the site was launched in July 2000. Motson resumed his weekly place on Match of the Day when the rights returned to the BBC in 2004, although he has also continued to perform occasional radio commentaries. He has stated that the FA Cup final between Coventry City and Tottenham Hotspur in 1987 was “the finest FA Cup final I’ve ever had the pleasure of commentating on”. Motson lives in Hertfordshire with his wife, Anne, and their son Frederick (Derby County F.C. fan).