Guy Mowbray sits in a Berlin café and recalls our meeting on the night England beat Serbia in their opening game of the tournament. In short, it wasn’t the most rosy conversation about England’s performance in Gelsenkirchen, but the BBC’s chief commentator recalls his own words at the end of that match.
“I hope they[the BBC]include it in their final edition,” he says. “I was trying to rationalise the performance and I said: ‘Teams that win tournaments tend to grow in tournaments’. I don’t tend to remember these things, but I hope that over time they will come to pass.”
Just four days after the Serbia game, Mowbray described England’s 1-1 draw with Denmark with these words: “My God, it was difficult to watch at times.”
In a nutshell, that captured the mood of the nation back then, but here are England, on the brink of breaking their 58-year tournament drought after a rather remarkable run of knockouts.
“It shows how much English football has evolved under Gareth Southgate,” Mowbray said. “When I was growing up, teams like Italy and Germany always found a way to go deep in tournaments. And if you look at Greece in 2004 and Portugal in 2016, I understand the initial criticism of Gareth[Southgate]but you only have to look at his numbers now.”
Guy Mowbray to commentate on Euro 2024 final for BBC for millions of fans at home
Mowbray said the phrase ‘Teams that win tournaments tend to grow in tournaments’ after the Three Lions battled to a 1-0 victory over Serbia in the opening match of Euro 2024.
The BBC commentator made good on his promise to buy Alan Shearer, left, a beer after the co-commentator expressed his frustration following England’s dismal 1-1 draw with Denmark.
Being the BBC’s lead commentator for England matches is a job packed with responsibility and one that Mowbray has held since replacing John Motson as lead commentator in 2010. The 52-year-old has commentated on almost 1,400 matches throughout his 20 years at the BBC.
On Sunday night, when Gary Lineker takes over, Mowbray’s voice will narrate the action for millions across the country.
“I never prepare a script, but the pressure is always there. I always get that feeling of panic in the morning when I’m showering or walking the dog. There’s a Word template I use for my notes that has too much detail and I carry a portable printer with me everywhere. Alan Shearer always yells “Printer!” before we leave because I always leave it,” he says.
Mowbray and Shearer will commentate on the Euro 2024 final for the BBC, while Sam Matterface will be joined by Lee Dixon and Ally McCoist on ITV.
“I talk to Sam a lot. It’s nice and quite cathartic for both of us,” Mowbray reveals. “There are only two of us who have had the experience of representing England on TV during a big tournament, so it’s nice to be able to vent to each other. It’s the best job in the world, but we both know what the other is going through.”
England did not reach a final between 1966 and 2021, but for both it will be their second final in three years. For Mowbray, who grew up in York and left studying business at Bradford University in 1991, it is the closest he has come to living his dream of being a player. When his late father told him he could get paid to watch football, he got the idea of becoming a commentator.
“If I wasn’t a commentator I’d move heaven and earth to be here. Before a game I use my binoculars to read the flags on the pitch. I’ll do the same on Sunday. I don’t think there’s a club in the top eight divisions that isn’t represented. That’s what it’s all about, supporting your country and Gareth is a big part of that unity on and off the pitch,” he says.
Mowbray said it was “cathartic” to speak to ITV’s Sam Matterface as the only other commentator covering England on television during the tournament.
The BBC commentator highlighted the celebrations following Ollie Watkins’ winner against the Netherlands, saying we are “lucky” to be able to watch England in the latter stages.
Mowbray praised the unity forged by Gareth Southgate both on and off the pitch
‘You only have to look at the scenes where Ollie Watkins scored. Before I came here I watched a video of the England-Scotland game in 1975, in the British Home Championship, and I thought: how could we not win a trophy with players like Kevin Keegan and Alan Ball? Never mind that we won, we didn’t even qualify for the four tournaments between 1972 and 1978. Think of 1984, 1994 and 2008 too. We are very lucky to witness this.’
And so when Mowbray takes to the stage and takes his seat in the Olympic Stadium on Sunday night in Berlin, he will do so as the voice of some 30 million viewers and as an England fan.
“There will be millions of people watching us, but I can’t see them, so that’s how I try to cope,” he says. “People think the media don’t want England to win, but I always remember Iceland’s defeat at Euro 2016. The atmosphere in the press tent afterwards was so low. We all want them to do well and win.”
Do you have a line ready if football comes home?
“No,” he says. “I’ve got a skeleton of notes of things not to be missed, but just look at how we’ve come home in each of the knockout rounds. Whatever comes out will come out. The greatest comment of all time was Kenneth Wolstenholme’s in 1966: ‘They think it’s all over… but it already is.’ The timing was perfect.”
What would it mean to him if England beat Spain?
“I’d rather cry and let it out now,” he says. “It would be the best thing that could happen to me and I think I would be the opening act for the next two years.”
FAVOURITE MOMENT OF EURO 2024?
Both Jude Bellingham and Ollie Watkins’ goals from an England perspective are simply sensational, but Arda Guler’s goal against Georgia was something else. I was right behind him and I’ll never forget the noise inside that stadium that day. My God. And I was 19 too.
Before Turkey’s upcoming game against Portugal, I told Sam Matterface to take off his headphones for the anthem because, honestly, it made my head spin. What a noise!
Mowbray singled out Arda Guler’s goal and Turkey’s celebrations against Georgia as highlights