by Sutekh »
10 Mar 2021 13:32
Forbury Lion I remember the gantry above the Southbank where I assume the radio commentators all sat, accessible via a very tall ladder - There was one incident where a female was delivering teas and struggled to climb the ladder. She wasn't wearing a skirt but still managed to draw the attention of the Southbank and a wolf whistle or two
Think the TV commentators sometimes got to sit up there with the camera on the rare occasion the club were on a highlights programme (or even rarer live tv coverage). Aside from half of the game used to inaugurate the floodlights in the mid 50s I don’t believe Elm Park hosted coverage of a live match until Sky did the Birmingham FA Cup game at the beginning of the 90s.
As I recall, radio broadcasters and media journos got a place in the North Stand just by the players tunnel though I don’t think live radio commentary on Reading games become a regular thing until the early 90s.