Nowhere was his dedication and knowledge better illustrated than at the teleprinter as the football results came in. Sir Bobby Charlton, World Cup winner: "The players trusted David to be absolutely correct on certain things on the football field, he was a charming man. I couldn't tell you anyone else who was better." I just wonder if her dad, because he has obviously been the most influential person in her life, did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14 maybe: “Listen, you are never going to be, you know, a looker. You are never going to be somebody like a Sharapova, you’re never going to be 5ft 11in, you’re never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that. You are going to have to be the most dogged, determined fighter anyone has ever seen on the tennis court if you are going to make it,” and she kind of is.

After he had fronted Grandstand for a decade, he moved to a midweek slot with Sportsnight (1968-73), though later returned to the Saturday programme. From the early 1970s he was the BBC's senior football commentator, and from the early 80s concentrated on athletics. He brought a businesslike geniality to chairing A Question of Sport (1979-97); the programme's only other two presenters have been David Vine from its start in 1970, and Sue Barker till the present. He was also a co-host of the BBC Sports Review of the Year (1961-83). He still reported on football for another two years, before concentrating on athletics, and also continued to present big occasions, such as the Grand National and the World Cup. For example, Bill Bayliss sent us this gem from the Paralympics: 'They're making great strides with their swimming' Fantoni, Barry; Larry (2002). Private Eye's Colemanballs: No. 11. Private Eye Productions. ISBN 978-1-901784-30-5.

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It was perhaps because of this that Coleman was never frog-marched off to the minority sports - badminton or bowls, fencing or volleyball - where his sense of drama would have been misplaced. His legal wrangle with the BBC in the mid-1970s, which kept him off the screen for a year, centred on his complaint that he was used too parsimoniously and did not have enough editorial involvement. A contract wrangle kept him off the screen for almost 12 months in the mid-1970s. It was less about money and more about editorial control and the number of events he would cover. And the line-up for the final of the women's 400 metres hurdles includes three Russians, two East Germans, a Pole, a Swede and a Frenchman." Fantoni, Barry; Larry (1990). Private Eye's Colemanballs: No. 5. Private Eye Productions. ISBN 978-0-552-13751-5. Fantoni, Barry; Larry (1994). Private Eye's Colemanballs: No. 7. Private Eye Productions. ISBN 978-0-552-14279-3.

Until his retirement, motor racing commentator Murray Walker frequently featured in the column. His excitable delivery led to so many mistakes that they began to be labelled "Murrayisms". [1] Examples include "We've had cars going off left, right and centre", "do my eyes deceive me, or is Senna's Lotus sounding rough?", "with half of the race gone, there is half of the race still to go", "There is nothing wrong with the car, apart from that it is on fire", "That car is totally unique, apart from the car behind it, which is identical", and "The gap between them is now nine-tenths of a second; that's less than a second!".

From Fern Britton asking if a guest’s great grandfather had any children, to Anthea Turner urging people to use cars as fridges, to Geoffrey Boycott saying Indian police have “atomic weapons”, 2010 has been a vintage year. Fantoni, Barry; Larry (1988). Private Eye's Colemanballs: No. 4. André Deutsch. ISBN 978-0-233-98337-0. The 33 or 34-year-olds will be 36 or 37 by the time the next World Cup comes around, if they’re not careful.” Fantoni, Barry; Larry (2010). Private Eye's Colemanballs: No. 15. Private Eye Productions. ISBN 978-1-901784-54-1. Working from scant information and a closed circuit TV monitor, he held together the coverage of the unfolding horrors in Munich as Palestinian gunmen held hostage, and then killed, a group of Israeli athletes.