ELTON WELSBY was the face of football on TV in the 1980s, long before the days of satellite TV and the Premier League rebrand.
He was the presenter of arguably the greatest top-flight game of them all — when Liverpool met Arsenal in the final game of the season on Friday, May 26, 1989.
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The Gunners needed to win at least 2-0 at Anfield to beat Liverpool to the title.
Welsby handed over to Brian Moore for his famous Michael Thomas “it’s up for grabs now” as the Gunners dramatically won 2-0 to snatch top spot from under the noses of their great rivals.
Elton, 73, is now happily retired but has been persuaded by good friend Gary Cook to write his autobiography, Game For A Laugh.
He said: “Gary invited me on to his retro podcast a couple of years ago and we just seemed to hit it off straight away.
“For over an hour-and-a-half I told him a load of my stories and by the end of it Gary told me I had to write a book so that others could share these great old tales.”
It is easy to understand how a meeting between the two ended in this autobiography.
Welsby is captivating company, with so many memories of a golden age of the game before wall-to-wall football became the diet of the TV fan.
So often we are reminded of iconic players and games via internet clips — most of which we have seen a hundred times.
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The magic of Game For A Laugh is these are FRESH stories on giants of football — including some of Elton’s genuine friends such as Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, George Best, Denis Law and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Welsby reflected on how he arrived in the football media,
He said: “When I left school I went to work for Royal Insurance in Liverpool but hated every minute of it.
“I had to get out so I went and worked at Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool as a porter. I’d been there about 12 months and really loved it.
“But one day I was wheeling a patient past the hospital shop and saw the Liverpool Weekly News.
“I’d never heard of it. So I bought it, went into the porters’ room, had a cup of tea and noticed there was something like eight pages of sport.
“I needed a vocation and I saw this as a perfect step. So I wrote off to the managing editor, a guy called Ron Carrington, and the reply back was almost immediate.
“I went for an interview and was amazed to get a response within 48 hours, saying, ‘Come and join us’. That was my start in journalism, which was in 1970.
“I did four years at the Liverpool Weekly News but then Radio City was starting up in 1974 and I applied there.
“Ultimately, moving to Radio City caught the attention of Paul Doherty at Granada TV, and I joined Granada in January 1978.”
Welsby accepts that journalists’ access to top bosses and players in the 70s and 80s was hugely different to today. But having their trust was paramount.
He added: “There were no mobiles but if I needed a line for Radio City, I’d simply ring one of the Liverpool players at home.
“Bob Paisley became a close friend. If Liverpool were playing away, he’d ask how I was getting to the game and tell me to jump on the bus with them.
“And because Liverpool were more successful during that period than my beloved Everton, I was with them virtually 24-7.
“Bob would tell me stuff that he shouldn’t have told me. I could have sold so many of Bob’s stories to the nationals and earned quite a bit of money.
“But that was never my way. I was on the coach because Bob trusted me. He was a dear, dear friend.
“We were on our way back from a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough in 1977 and I was sat in my usual place at the front of the bus.
“Bob would often wear his slippers and at some stage during the journey he’d plonk himself next to me.
“I said to him, ‘The Boro lad Souness looked good’ and without flinching he replied, ‘Yes, we are going to sign him’. Bang! Just like that.
“That story would have been a major exclusive on Radio City but I just had to sit on it. That’s how it was then — I never betrayed a confidence.”
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When ITV got exclusive rights to top-flight football from 1988 to 1992, Elton never missed a game presenting The Match.
It started in October 1988 with Everton against Manchester United and Welsby was there right through until the last game ITV showed, a 2-0 win for Liverpool over Manchester United, which confirmed Leeds as champions.
And then there was the greatest finish ever to a top-flight season — until Aguero, anyway — as Arsenal’s win at Liverpool clinched the title on a famous Friday night, with Welsby presenting alongside his studio guest, Bobby Robson.
In the mid-1980s, after World of Sport had disappeared from our screens, ITV retained a results service programme and Elton anchored the show.
He added: “When I got back from the 1992 Euros, I got a call from my Granada boss, Doherty, telling me ITV had lost exclusivity to what was then First Division football.
“But he wanted me to carry on at Granada so all I really lost was the Sunday afternoons doing The Match.”
Welsby talks fondly about the icons he worked with.
He said: “I go back to my radio days with Bill Shankly — they broke the mould with Bill — nor will there ever be another Brian Clough, who I worked with on numerous occasions.
“The fact I came through unscathed is a great tribute to my relationship with Cloughie. He never ever had a go at me.
“But the guy I enjoyed working with the most would be Jack Charlton.
“People would often ask how Jack and I got on so well because we’re chalk and cheese. It didn’t matter, we just hit it off.”
As far as his first love Everton are concerned, Elton was sitting on the bench next to manager Howard Kendall when they won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1985 — providing the interview on the final whistle with Toffees’ jubilant boss.
He said: “That was the best night of my life. Nothing could ever eclipse that as an Evertonian, or as a professional.”
GAME FOR A LAUGH, Elton Welsby’s autobiography by Elton Welsby & Gary Cook, is available from eltonwelsby.com
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