Here´s a vintage classic. LWT´s “The Big Match”. On the show were some famous football players. Alan Mullery from Tottenham Hotspur. George Graham from derby rivals Arsenal. And the hattrick goal scorer from the 1966 World Cup Geoff Hurst from West Ham and I was also on the show. Filmed at Whittington Hospital (children´s ward) back in 1970. So why “Spurs all the time”? Watch to the end of the clip for an answer. The clip shows Brian Moore interviewing a Spurs fan “in the arms” of the Arsenal captain George Graham. Brian Moore makes the remark “what would your friends say”.
“The Big Match“
Recorded September/October 1970 and televised Boxing Day as a Christmas show the same year. From what I remember the children´s ward was very large and at one end LWT´s crew started putting up Christmas decorations and filming equipment. Really strange not being Christmas. I was 8 or 9 at the time.
So how did I end up on the show? Curiosity. Brian Moore caught me peeping in behind the screen that divide the recording area from the rest of the ward. If I had stayed in my “sick bed” that day I think the doctor´s would have discharged me when they made their rounds. So, I ended up on the “telly”. The next doctor´s rounds would not be until the following week so there I was spending an extra week on the ward, “full of beans”.
Brian Moore
So, what did Brian Moore want to know? The only question that I remember him asking me was “Alvin, what team do you play for?”. The same question he then asked me when they recorded the show. I thought he meant supported. Yes, not only did I get caught sneaking behind the wall screen, I ended up being interviewed on camera also.
Spurs all the time
So, my favourite PL-team? Look at the title above and if you listen carefully, you will hear it at the end of the clip – “Spurs all the time.”
Official Spurs Website | Tottenham Hotspur
Ifor Ward (whittington.nhs.uk)