sport news Exclusive interview: Popular co-comms man Ally McCoist leaves social media to ... trends now
He's become the voice of football. It seems that Super Ally is just about everyone’s favourite co-commentator. Behind the mic, he’s the nation’s number one.
If you watch live TV football, Ally McCoist is hard to miss. BT Sport, Sky Sports, ITV Sport and Viaplay, the channel formerly known as Premier Sports, are all more than happy to have him on board. That’s on top of his regular radio appearances on TalkSport.
The former Rangers and Scotland striker is a media mainstay and his popularity rating has never been higher. Not that he’s constantly monitoring public opinion. Another couple of McCoists take care of that.
Ally McCoist has been praised for his comms on social media - not that he uses those platforms
‘I don’t keep my ear to the ground,’ says Ally, ‘but my boys keep me up to speed on social media and the weird and wonderful world that it is. My older boys, Alexander and Argyll, tell me I’m doing alright in terms of the general opinion on co-comms so that can only be a good thing. I love it, I absolutely love it. If I told you the truth, I probably prefer it to the studio analysis. I like commenting on the action as you see it. There are times when you have to make a call without seeing a replay and you can get it wrong. But there’s something about the rawness of doing it live that I enjoy.
‘I’m of a vintage where people would just discuss the game but there’s a large section of social media which talks about the pundits, the commentators, the co-commentators. And I get that, because everybody’s got different opinions on it. But my boys are across it and, if there’s a mistake made, they’re first on me right away, I can guarantee you that.’
What is it about McCoist’s inimitable style of broadcasting that’s made him the rarely-disputed people’s choice?
He acknowledges that fans sat at home want to be enlightened on the things they don't see
‘I think the one thing the viewer and the listener want more than anything – well, I’m saying one thing, there are probably a couple of things –.I think they want to be informed about things that, perhaps, they don’t see. And I think, one of the key things, and it might sound obvious, I think they want to hear people enjoying themselves. A lot of criticism that’s levelled at commentators and co-commentators is that they don’t seem to be enjoying the match or enjoying the occasion. Clearly every game isn’t going to be a four-all thriller and we’ll all be raving about it. But, effectively, I think the viewer and the listener want to listen to people who appreciate and enjoy the job they’re doing. I think that’s key.’
For Ally’s fans, it’s not always about him finding the right words. Sometimes his legendary cheeky-chappy chuckle is all the soundtrack they need.
‘If there’s a monotonous drone on the other end of the microphone, as much as you might be enjoying the game, there’s every chance you’d turn the volume down. At the same time you can’t go on there and be Billy Connolly. You’ve got to have a balance. And you’ve got to call it as you see it.’
He says he accepted the World Cup final was not a great game for 60 minutes, until it exploded
Ask Ally about his favourite commentary and he doesn’t need to dig too deep into the old memory banks. The Qatar World Cup final in mid-December was the gift that just kept on giving. ‘That World Cup final was, dear me, what a game of football. And people forget, and it’s understandable, it wasn’t a great game for an hour. Argentina dominated France. Then, it was as if someone got a hand grenade, took the pin out, threw it on the pitch, the whole place blew and away we went. We were off and running. It was amazing. It’s probably because it’s fresh in the memory as well. Doing a World Cup final is obviously a big thing and one I was blessed to do. But to do that World Cup final? Brilliant.’
While McCoist was commentating in
