It doesn’t matter where in the world it comes from now: the two things that gave radio commentary exoticism and atmosphere have gone. Never again will it sound as if it was being shouted down a bad telephone line (was it, in fact?) and never again will a celebratory roar overwhelm the microphone and render in eloquent static.
Good voices can fill in: I can hear Alan Green talking as I type. But time is passing, Brian Moore is dead, David Coleman has retired and football commentary is long overdue the sort of treatment already meted out to Ski Sunday and Countryfile. Enjoy it while it lasts.
This comes from a Radio 5 production of c. 1996, so doesn’t have e.g. the 1999 Champions League Final, or, even more so, that of 2005. But otherwise it’s chronologically promiscuous and you’ll find some favourites amongst them:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR6A9YYnaYg]