Elton Welsby
Encyclopedia
Roger Elton Welsby is an English television sports presenter.
Liverpool College in the city of Liverpool
in Merseyside
.
Upon leaving school, Welsby initially sought a career in the insurance industry with the Royal Insurance Company, but soon found that a business office environment was not to his liking. He moved on to journalism and served as a local junior reporter for a local Merseyside newspaper for a short time. After being promoted to report exclusively on his first "love", sports in general, and soccer in particular, he became a prominent voice across the Liverpool sports and entertainment scene in the early 1970's. This brought him offers from local radio stations, and he quickly became a well known voice with Radio City handling weekly commentaries on the two Division 1 Merseyside soccer teams, Liverpool FC and Everton FC. It did not take long for his unique commenting style and pizazz to be noticed by the television media and so began his well-documented career in the TV industry.
radio station Radio City
as a sports reporter and commentator. In January 1978 he joined Granada Television
, working on its football programme The Kick Off Match and presented its 1980s successor Match Night until its demise in 1983. When Granada revived Kick Off in 1989, Welsby returned as presenter.
He was one of the anchors of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the last Olympic Games
to be covered by the network, and also presented the Saturday afternoon Results Service from the late 1980s onwards.
At the start of the 1988-89
season, ITV
began broadcasting exclusive live coverage of the Football League. It was the task of future BBC
Director-General
Greg Dyke
to oversee the coverage and he entrusted Welsby as presenter of The Match, anchoring numerous dramatic matches over the next four years-most notably Arsenal's 2-0 win against Liverpool in the last game of the season
which saw The Gunners snatch a last minute winner at Anfield.
The loss of top flight football to Sky Sports
in 1992 hit ITV Sport hard, and Welsby's final work for ITV
was as an anchorman at the 1992 European Championships. He was absent from the network's coverage of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, which saw newcomer Matthew Lorenzo
do much of the presenting, and the imminent arrival of Bob Wilson pushed Welsby further down the football presenting pecking order on ITV. Despite these apparent setbacks, Welsby managed to consistently out perform fellow anchor Jim Rosenthal in 'best of' polls conducted in the Greater Manchester
area.
Welsby continued to present regional sports programming
for Granada Television
until May 2000 when the station decided not to renew his contract. No explanation was given for the decision.
Welsby has occasionally returned as a guest on the Granada Soccer Night
programme, and in 2001 he returned to radio to present Elton Welsby's Soccer Saturday for North-West regional station Century FM
- a role he held for three years.
and Sarah Kennedy
. He is regularly involved in corporate and charity work, and is known for his close association with the Zoe's Place children's hospice.
Welsby is nowadays rarely involved in sports presenting, although he has recently been seen presenting Crown Green Bowls for Sky Sports
. In recent times, Welsby has toured the country with Ricky Tomlinson
in the theatre tour, An Evening with Ricky Tomlinson, where he interviews Tomlinson in character as Jim Royle.
in the song "A Country Practice", found on their 1998 album Four Lads Who Shook the Wirral
.
Welsby is referred to in Episode 4 of the BBC Radio 4
show "Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge
", where fictional impressionist Steve Thompson mockingly calls presenter Alan Partridge
"the non-thinking man's Elton Welsby".
Education
Welsby was educated at the independent schoolIndependent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
Liverpool College in the city of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
.
Upon leaving school, Welsby initially sought a career in the insurance industry with the Royal Insurance Company, but soon found that a business office environment was not to his liking. He moved on to journalism and served as a local junior reporter for a local Merseyside newspaper for a short time. After being promoted to report exclusively on his first "love", sports in general, and soccer in particular, he became a prominent voice across the Liverpool sports and entertainment scene in the early 1970's. This brought him offers from local radio stations, and he quickly became a well known voice with Radio City handling weekly commentaries on the two Division 1 Merseyside soccer teams, Liverpool FC and Everton FC. It did not take long for his unique commenting style and pizazz to be noticed by the television media and so began his well-documented career in the TV industry.
The ITV Years
Welsby began his broadcasting career on LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
radio station Radio City
Radio City 96.7
Radio City 96.7 is a British Independent Local Radio station, based in Liverpool, that serves Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales...
as a sports reporter and commentator. In January 1978 he joined Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
, working on its football programme The Kick Off Match and presented its 1980s successor Match Night until its demise in 1983. When Granada revived Kick Off in 1989, Welsby returned as presenter.
He was one of the anchors of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the last Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
to be covered by the network, and also presented the Saturday afternoon Results Service from the late 1980s onwards.
At the start of the 1988-89
1988-89 in English football
The 1988–89 season was the 109th season of competitive football in England.-Hillsborough disaster:On 15 April, a crowd crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough killed 94 people and injured more than 300. A 95th Liverpool supporter died in hospital...
season, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
began broadcasting exclusive live coverage of the Football League. It was the task of future BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Director-General
Director-General of the BBC
The Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC.The position was formerly appointed by the Board of Governors of the BBC and is now appointed by the BBC Trust....
Greg Dyke
Greg Dyke
Gregory "Greg" Dyke is a British media executive, journalist and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing 'tabloid' television to British broadcasting, and reviving the ratings of TV-am...
to oversee the coverage and he entrusted Welsby as presenter of The Match, anchoring numerous dramatic matches over the next four years-most notably Arsenal's 2-0 win against Liverpool in the last game of the season
Liverpool 0–2 Arsenal (26 May 1989)
The final match of the 1988–89 English Football League season was contested on 26 May 1989, between Liverpool and Arsenal, at Liverpool's Anfield ground. By sheer coincidence, it was the match between the top two teams in the First Division and the teams were close enough on points for the match to...
which saw The Gunners snatch a last minute winner at Anfield.
The loss of top flight football to Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
in 1992 hit ITV Sport hard, and Welsby's final work for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
was as an anchorman at the 1992 European Championships. He was absent from the network's coverage of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, which saw newcomer Matthew Lorenzo
Matthew Lorenzo
Matthew Lorenzo is a British television presenter who has worked for Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel Four and GMTV.-Broadcasting career:Lorenzo was the first sports presenter to appear on Sky TV when it launched in 1989, after a career in newspapers, BBC TV and BBC Radio. He was poached by ITV to present...
do much of the presenting, and the imminent arrival of Bob Wilson pushed Welsby further down the football presenting pecking order on ITV. Despite these apparent setbacks, Welsby managed to consistently out perform fellow anchor Jim Rosenthal in 'best of' polls conducted in the Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
area.
Welsby continued to present regional sports programming
Soccer Night
Soccer Night was a regional television football programme on independent television in United Kingdom between the 1990s and 2008.-History:...
for Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
until May 2000 when the station decided not to renew his contract. No explanation was given for the decision.
Welsby has occasionally returned as a guest on the Granada Soccer Night
Soccer Night
Soccer Night was a regional television football programme on independent television in United Kingdom between the 1990s and 2008.-History:...
programme, and in 2001 he returned to radio to present Elton Welsby's Soccer Saturday for North-West regional station Century FM
Century FM
Century Radio was the brand name of a group of independent local radio stations in England. The brand was developed with the launch of 100-102 Century Radio in North East England in 1994, with John Myers as managing director and John Simons as programme director...
- a role he held for three years.
Other work
Welsby was the final presenter of British gameshow Busman's Holiday following on from Julian PettiferJulian Pettifer
Julian Pettifer OBE is a British television journalist. He was President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and is Vice President of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts...
and Sarah Kennedy
Sarah Kennedy
Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE is a British TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her own daily early morning radio show, The Dawn Patrol, on BBC Radio 2 from 1993, before announcing her decision to leave the show on 3 September, 2010.Kennedy was honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2005, when...
. He is regularly involved in corporate and charity work, and is known for his close association with the Zoe's Place children's hospice.
Welsby is nowadays rarely involved in sports presenting, although he has recently been seen presenting Crown Green Bowls for Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
. In recent times, Welsby has toured the country with Ricky Tomlinson
Ricky Tomlinson
Eric Tomlinson , known by his stage name Ricky Tomlinson, is an English actor and comedian, best known for his roles as Bobby Grant in Brookside, DCI Charlie Wise in Cracker and James "Jim" Royle in The Royle Family....
in the theatre tour, An Evening with Ricky Tomlinson, where he interviews Tomlinson in character as Jim Royle.
Cultural references
Welsby is name-checked by the Birkenhead band Half Man Half BiscuitHalf Man Half Biscuit
Half Man Half Biscuit, often "HMHB", are an English rock band from Birkenhead, Merseyside, active since the mid-1980s, known for satirical, sardonic, and sometimes surreal songs. The group comprises Nigel Blackwell , Neil Crossley , Ken Hancock , and Carl Henry...
in the song "A Country Practice", found on their 1998 album Four Lads Who Shook the Wirral
Four Lads Who Shook the Wirral
Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral is the seventh album released by UK rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 1998.The title is a pun on the phrase associated with The Beatles, "four lads who shook the world".-Track listing:...
.
Welsby is referred to in Episode 4 of the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
show "Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge
Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (radio series)
Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge is a BBC Radio 4 series of six episodes...
", where fictional impressionist Steve Thompson mockingly calls presenter Alan Partridge
Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour...
"the non-thinking man's Elton Welsby".