Editing Kenneth Wolstenholme

{{short description|English football commentator}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Kenneth Wolstenholme
| image              = Kenneth Wolstenholme.jpeg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Kenneth Wolstenholme
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=yes|1920|7|17}}
| birth_place        = [[Worsley]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2002|3|25|1920|7|17}}
| death_place        = [[Galmpton, Torbay|Galmpton]], [[Devon]], England
| nationality        = British
| other_names        = 
| known_for          = Presenting: ''[[Match of the Day]]''<br/>Football comment: "[[They think it's all over]]"
| occupation         = Football commentator and presenter
| module             = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
| allegiance   = {{Flagu|United Kingdom|1912|size=23px}}
| branch       = [[File:RAF-Badge.svg|25px]] [[Royal Air Force]]
| serviceyears = 1939–45
| rank         = [[File:UK-Air-OF3.svg|25px]] Acting [[Squadron leader]]
| awards = [[File:UK DFC w bar BAR.svg|50px]] [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|DFC & Bar]]
}}
}}

'''Kenneth Wolstenholme''', [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|DFC & Bar]] (17 July 1920 – 25 March 2002) was an [[List of British football commentators|English football commentator]] for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best remembered for his commentary during the [[1966 FIFA World Cup Final]]; in the closing minutes, Wolstenholme commented on a series of [[Pitch invasion|pitch invaders]] as [[Geoff Hurst]] dribbled down the pitch before scoring, saying "some people are on the pitch, [[they think it's all over]]!" The phrase has become deeply embedded in [[British popular culture]]. As Hurst proceeded to score, Wolstenholme added: 'It is now!'

==Early life==
Wolstenholme was born in [[Worsley]], [[Lancashire]]. His family were [[Primitive Methodism|Primitive Methodists]] and his brother attended [[Elmfield College]]. He attended [[Farnworth Grammar School]], where [[Alan Ball Jr.]] (on whom Wolstenholme commentated in the 1966 World Cup Final) was also a pupil some years later. Wolstenholme began his career as a journalist with a newspaper in [[Manchester]].

===Military service===
As Wolstenholme was a member of the [[Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve]], he was soon [[Mobilization|called up]] at the outbreak of the [[Second World War]]. By 1941, he had qualified as a bomber pilot and was posted to [[No. 107 Squadron RAF|107 Squadron]], flying [[Bristol Blenheim]] Mk. IVs out of [[RAF Great Massingham]], [[Norfolk]]. At the start of 1943 he transferred to [[de Havilland Mosquito]] with [[No. 105 Squadron RAF|105 Squadron]], part of [[Air Vice-Marshal]] [[Don Bennett]]'s [[No. 8 Group RAF]] [[Pathfinder (RAF)|Pathfinder]] Group.

Wolstenholme completed more than 100 highly hazardous sorties over [[Occupied Europe]] and in May 1944 was awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|DFC]]. The following year, he won a Bar to his DFC for his continual bravery in raids on Germany in a period of exceptionally heavy [[night fighter]] activity. He finished the war as an acting [[squadron leader]], having spent its last stages working in the RAF's public relations department.

==Sports broadcasting==
After the war, he became a freelance journalist, working for [[BBC Radio]] before moving to television in 1950. In 1955, he provided a location report from Salford for the BBC's coverage of that year's election night coverage.

He covered the [[1959 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final]] between [[Kilkenny GAA|Kilkenny]] and [[Waterford GAA|Waterford]] for BBC Television, an experience which moved him to describe [[hurling]] as his second-favourite sport in the world after his first love, football.<ref>{{cite news|first=Kenneth|last=Wolstenholme|url=http://daltonr.wordpress.com/2007/02/08/52/|title=Why Keep This Great Game Such A Big Secret?|newspaper=Sunday Press|date=13 September 1959|access-date=8 February 2007}}</ref>

In March 1954, Kenneth Wolstenholme and Barney Mulrenan co-commentated on the first football match to be broadcast on TV in Wales, South Wales Amateur Football League v the Worcestershire Football Combination from the Maindy Stadium in Cardiff<ref>'Television Notes and News', Lichfield Mercury. 26 February 1954, p20 - retrieved via British Newspaper Archive</ref> 

Wolstenholme commentated on many [[Association football|English domestic football]] games of the 1950s and 1960s, including the first ever game featured on ''[[Match of the Day]]'' in 1964. He covered the [[FA Cup]] final in 1951 and then every year from 1953 to 1971, the year of [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]]'s "double". For the [[BBC Sport|BBC]] he commentated on the [[1960 European Cup Final]] between [[Real Madrid]] and [[Eintracht Frankfurt]] at [[Hampden Park]], widely regarded as one of the greatest football matches ever played. Real won the match 7-3 before a record European Cup Final crowd of 127,000, all their goals scored by Puskas and di Stefano.

==="They think it's all over"===
Wolstenholme's unscripted delivery in the closing moments of the [[1966 FIFA World Cup Final]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] included fourteen words that are among the best known in British sport commentary.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/3020805/Class-of-66-pay-tribute-to-voice-of-football.html |title=Class of '66 pay tribute to voice of football |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=26 March 2002}}</ref> With [[England national football team|England]] leading 3–2 against [[Germany national football team|West Germany]], a small pitch invasion took place during injury time just as [[Geoff Hurst]] scored to put England 4–2 ahead. The events prompted Wolstenholme to say:

{{cquote|Some people are on the pitch... [[they think it's all over]]...  it is now!}}
"It is now" was added in an almost matter-of-fact way after Hurst had scored the goal. Since 1966, the phrase "they think it's all over" has become well known in modern English. Although unrehearsed, and spoken in the particular circumstances of the game, the words echoed to an extent those of German commentator [[Herbert Zimmermann (football commentator)|Herbert Zimmermann]] – "It's over! Over! Over! Germany are the World Champions" – when West Germany won the [[1954 FIFA World Cup Final|1954 World Cup]] against [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter=It's Over! Over! Over!'|author= Paul Legg|title=History Today|date= July 2014|page= 41}}</ref>

===Later career===
After the 1966 World Cup, Wolstenholme continued his broadcasting career in the UK and Europe. In 1967 he travelled to the [[Estádio Nacional]] in [[Lisbon]] to cover [[Celtic F.C.|Celtic]] overcoming [[F.C. Internazionale Milano|Internazionale]] in the [[1967 European Cup Final|European Cup Final]]. A year later, he commentated at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]] as [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] defeated [[S.L. Benfica|Benfica]] to take the [[European Cup 1967-68|1968 European Cup]]. He was the BBC's main man at the [[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970 World Cup]] but he almost took out an injunction when the BBC threatened to demote him in favour of [[David Coleman]] if England reached the final. Wolstenholme commentated on the final between [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]] and [[Italy national football team|Italy]]. He left the corporation in 1971 after Coleman was installed as the BBC's top commentator, his final BBC commentary being on the [[1971 European Cup Final]] between [[Ajax Amsterdam|Ajax]] and [[Panathinaikos F.C.|Panathinaikos]] at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]].

Wolstenholme later commentated for [[Tyne Tees Television]] in the mid to late 1970s, but re-appeared on TV to provide reports and occasional features for [[Channel 4]] when they earned rights in the early 1990s to show [[Serie A]] games from [[Italy]], but ill health forced him to retire. He also took on an acting role, appearing in the [[BBC Radio 4]] [[comedy]] series ''[[Lenin of the Rovers]]'' in 1988 as football commentator Frank Lee Brian. In 1990, he was a guest star on the first episode of parody satellite television station [[KYTV (TV series)|KYTV]] on [[BBC2]]. 

Wolstenholme, who had been a supporter of [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] since childhood, was a guest of honour at the club's final game at [[Burnden Park]] in April 1997. He also narrated the club's ''End of an Era'' video which was released as part of Bolton's move from Burnden Park to the [[Reebok Stadium]].

In 1998, Wolstenholme made a special appearance in [[EA Sports]]' videogame ''[[World Cup 98 (video game)|World Cup 98]]'', as the sole commentator on the game's classic World Cup matches, recreations of historic World Cup finals that included sepia-toned renditions of the 1930 and 1938 editions.

==Legacy==
His phrase was used as the title for the sports quiz programme ''[[They Think It's All Over (TV series)|They Think It's All Over]]''.

The words "They think it's all over, it is now" are engraved on a flagstone in Churchgate, in [[Bolton]] town centre,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bardsley |first1=Andrew |title=Bolton had its own part to play in 1966 World Cup final win |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/14652545.amp/ |access-date=27 October 2022 |publisher=Telegraph & Argus |date=30 July 2016}}</ref> alongside quotes from other celebrities from Bolton.<ref>{{cite news |title=The word on the street is Bolton |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/the-word-on-the-street-is-bolton-1038035 |access-date=27 October 2022 |publisher=Manchester Evening News |date=18 January 2013}}</ref>

[[Bill Oddie]] wrote a song about Wolstenholme for the BBC Radio comedy show ''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]'' which includes the lines: "I'm going Wolsten-home/And you can't get Wolsten ''(worse than)'' him!" In another sketch on ''ISIRTA'' a contestant in a television quiz show was awarded Wolstenholme as a prize.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

==Personal life==
In 1944 he married his wife, Joan. She died in 1997. They had two daughters, one of whom predeceased him.{{cn|date=June 2021}}

Wolstenholme lived in [[Galmpton, Torbay]], Devon until his death.

==See also==
*[[1966 FIFA World Cup Final]]
*[[They think it's all over]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* Frank Malley: ''[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/mar/26/newsstory.sport6 Obituary: Kenneth Wolstenholme]'', [[The Guardian]], 26 March 2002
* Charles Starmer-Smith: ''[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/3020805/Class-of-66-pay-tribute-to-voice-of-football.html Class of '66 pay tribute to voice of football]'', [[The Daily Telegraph]], 26 March 2002

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolstenholme, Kenneth}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:English association football commentators]]
[[Category:English sports broadcasters]]
[[Category:BBC sports presenters and reporters]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force pilots of World War II]]
[[Category:British World War II bomber pilots]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force squadron leaders]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:People from Worsley]]
[[Category:People educated at Farnworth Grammar School]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II]]