Wally meets...Sky TV presenter and Hartlepool United fan Jeff Stelling
Christmas – there’s a good nine-letter word for Jeff Stelling to sign off as the host of Countdown.
His last episode in the chair of daytime TV’s popular game of anagrams, conundrums and brain-teasers went out last week with pouting sidekick Rachel Riley in tears and his beloved Hartlepool United in freefall.
Relegated – there’s another nine-letter word to strike fear into the hearts of Stelling and his fellow Poolies.
After eight home defeats on the bounce, with only one goal into the bargain, manager Mick Wadsworth (nine letters again) walked the plank.
And after three years in the Countdown hot-seat, Stelling, 56, (in festive mood, will now concentrate his tortured puns and encyclopaedic football knowledge on Soccer Saturday – Sky Sports’ flagship teleprinter for armchair fans, where he presides over his splendid performing seals Charlie Nicholas, Matt Le Tissier, Phil Thompson and Paul Merson.
It is a compliment to ringmaster Stelling’s mix of inspired buffoonery and broadcasting expertise that he has become the face of Saturday afternoons.
Stelling has been in the chair for 15 years now, and Soccer Saturday even has its own permanent, eco-friendly studio.
“It’s also the place where the BBC shot that sequence with the baby polar bears for Frozen Planet – because it’s freezing in there,” says Stelling of his stalag at Sky HQ. “It’s brand new, state of the art, the greenest office building in Europe. And the coldest.
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and it’s a great compliment others have tried to replicate the programme.
“When he was chief executive at the FA, I bumped into Brian Barwick once and he told me how we used to break his heart when he was head of sport at ITV and they had brought out their own version, the Goal Rush. He said that when he walked down his local high street on a Saturday, if he wasn’t at a game, every branch of Dixons or Currys would have Soccer Saturday on every TV.
“At a match, every TV in the boardroom, or in the stadium concourses, would be showing us as well, and he said, ‘There was no point in trying to compete with you, Jeff, because we’re never going to get anywhere near you.’ That was a fantastic pat on the back.”
Stelling’s enthusiasm for the game illuminates a dreary morning in Isleworth as he promotes the Soccer Saturday Super 6, the free-to-enter online accumulator with a weekly jackpot of £100,000 (www.skysports.com/super6).
Perceived as even-handed by fans across every partisan divide, he is arguably the most popular man in English football, well-qualified to deliver a seasonal message of hope for the game after a dark week of racism charges.
“One thing I would like to stop in 2012 is the ritual hanging, drawing and quartering of referees,” he says.
“I went to the Chelsea-Man City game with my kids the other week and a lot was made of the penalty incident where David Silva was clearly upended in the box.
“To me, the reason Mark Clattenburg didn’t give it was because there have been so many occasions where players have thrown themselves to the ground, at the slightest touch, and they have tried it on.
“There is no use in managers coming out and slaughtering refs when they don’t hammer their own players for cheating, diving, simulation, call it what you like.
“Instead of hanging refs out to dry, we need to use technology or make better use of the fourth official.”
And as a supporter of his local team, he has a heartfelt message for the BBC.
“The Football League Show should be a jewel in their crown, but they treat it disgracefully,” he scowls. “I’ve lost count of the times I’ve fallen asleep while trying to stay awake to see the only goal at Hartlepool because it’s on at 1am.”
That’s why Stelling is the voice of Saturday afternoon. He speaks for all of us.
Jeff Stelling was speaking on behalf of Soccer Saturday Super 6, the free online predictor game with a weekly jackpot of £100,000. Go to skysports.com/super 6 for more details.
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