BBC prepares to hand over Grand National, jewel in its racing crown
When the Aintree classic was first televised in 1960 it was a jaw-dropping 10 minutes of hectic exhilaration, sheer wonder and palpitating alarmsAround five o'clock on Saturday afternoon it will be...
View ArticleSpare a thought for memory of poor Portsmouth and Port Vale | Frank Keating
Two grand old clubs are struggling with poverty and point deductions, but they should both be held dear for their place in English football historyThe 10-point reduction for a league club's financial...
View ArticleFrom Desperate Dan's Harringay haymaker to a new boxing Hall of fame | Frank...
Harringay's prizefighting would have been celebrating its 75th anniversary this very spring had it not been converted into Sainsbury's north London warehouse in 1958Boxing returns to the Royal Albert...
View ArticleStockholm 1912 set the gold standard for the modern Olympics | Frank Keating
Great Britain's leading athletes of a century ago included a man who would later win the Nobel Peace prizeAn aptly relevant centenary falls this Saturday afternoon. It will be precisely 100 years since...
View ArticlePG Wodehouse's Mike would open the batting for my XI | Frank Keating
JL Carr, Shehan Karunatilaka and Joseph O'Neill have written cricket fiction well but PG Wodehouse is its finest servantThe wretched weather has at least given cricketers of all levels plenty of time...
View ArticleAfter a call to Scotland Alf Ramsey got the nod as England manager | Frank...
Fifty years ago the FA was kept waiting by a cheerfully tipsy millionaire's shooting party before it got its manFriday night's "home international" at the City of Cardiff Stadium stirred those of a...
View ArticleCue the coconut shells and tip the brown trilby to Frankel | Frank Keating
The champion of the Flat and his illustrious four-footed forbears occupy a place in the heart normally reserved for chasersSimply the fact that a rousing gathering of the clan at Ascot on Saturday was...
View ArticleThe days of rugby's grassroots giant-killing are but part of history | Frank...
The meaningless autumn internationals can't hold a candle to the crusade-cum-carnival tours of yesteryear, when Llanelli, Munster and Newport famously beat the All BlacksIf any romantic rugby union...
View ArticleKeeping up with the Joneses is a tough job for Davieses and Williamses |...
More Joneses have played rugby for Wales than any other name, with a spurt since the turn of the millennium keeping the Davieses and Williamses at bayWales's wild-haired propmeister Adam Jones has...
View ArticleExpeditions to the subcontinent are stern tests for any England captain |...
History tells us that England tours to India can present unique challenges to inexperienced captainsWe can only wish the best of everything for Alastair Cook as England's debutant captain leads his...
View ArticleRich heritage of All Black and red provides enduring rugby narrative | Frank...
For most of the last century Wales established the closest blood-brother affinity with New Zealand because only they could provide any close sort of gameThe depleted (and, of late, distinctly...
View ArticleWilliam Hill's book shortlist finally recognises valour over misery | Frank...
Last year any sporting literature that conveyed entertainment seemed off limits but the judges seem in a happier place nowSponsors William Hill claim that its "Bookie" prize for 2012's sports book of...
View ArticleTraditionalists are left feeling black and blue by commercial greed | Frank...
Commercial regimes at Twickenham and Cardiff City have upset the romantics by their eagerness to change the colours of much-loved strips that go back generationsWhite tornadoes! Tradition having...
View ArticleDavid Coleman obituary
The BBC's leading sports presenter for more than four decadesThe death of David Coleman at the age of 87 signs off an already distant era when television broadcasts of Britain's national sporting...
View ArticleFrank Keating: a celebration, part one – video
As 2013 draws to a close we remember Frank Keating, one of Britain's most celebrated sportswriters who died this year aged 75. Frank was a fixture in the Guardian and the Observer for nearly five...
View ArticleFrank Keating: a celebration, part two - video
The second part of our highlights from an evening in memory of Frank Keating, the legendary Guardian sports writer who died in January. Following on from the first part of our highlights, today's...
View ArticleThe incomparable Dixie Dean - interview: from the archive, 24 November 1977
Frank Keating talks to Dixie Dean, the pride of Everton, who even at the age of 70 can spin a tale or twoThere are some old Everton supporters who still swear on their mam’s grave that this is true: It...
View ArticleMuhammad Ali obituary
One of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions the world has seen, with courage, conviction and wit that made him an inspirational figureMuhammad Ali, who has died aged 74, was acclaimed by many as...
View ArticlePeter Alliss obituary
BBC commentator known as ‘the voice of golf’ who had a successful career as a playerPeter Alliss was one of the pioneer broadcasters who learned their trade as they went along and, as most of them put...
View ArticleMurray Walker obituary
Motor racing broadcaster whose ‘pants on fire’ commentaries were loved by listeners and viewers over seven decadesSeldom can any frontrank outside-broadcast commentator have had a longer span at the...
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