James Alexander Gordon

For other people named James Alexander Gordon, see James Alexander Gordon (disambiguation).

James Alexander Gordon
Born(1936-02-10)10 February 1936
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died18 August 2014(2014-08-18) (aged 78)
Reading, England
OccupationRadio broadcaster
Years active1972–2013
SpouseJulia
Children1

James Alexander Gordon (10 February 1936 – 18 August 2014) was a Scottish radio broadcaster, best known for reading out football results on BBC radio.[1]

Born in Edinburgh in 1936,[2] as a baby he was paralysed with polio and he spent a large part of his childhood in hospital.[3] He worked in music publishing before joining the BBC in 1972, becoming an announcer and newsreader (mostly on Radio 2) until the early 1990s. In 1974 he followed in the footsteps of John Webster, reading the classified football results, first on Radio 2 and later on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Popularly known as "Jag",[2] he used his intonation, when pronouncing the names of the clubs, to indicate whether a match had ended in a home win, away win or draw.[2]

Gordon also worked as a freelance voice artist, recording voice-overs and commenting on company videos.[4] He also recorded a sequence of fictional football results to introduce each scene in performances of Tom Wells' 2013 play, Jumpers for Goalposts.[5][6][7]

He announced his retirement from radio in July 2013 following surgery to remove his larynx after being diagnosed with cancer which rendered his voice too weak for broadcasting.[8] He was succeeded as the reader of the classified football results by former Radio 4 newsreader Charlotte Green from late September 2013.[9]

Death

Gordon died of cancer on 18 August 2014,[10] at the Sue Ryder Duchess of Kent Hospice in Reading.

References

  1. ^ Rawling, John (18 August 2014). "ames Alexander Gordon obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Hunter Davies (27 November 2000). "JAG, the man who has read the results for nearly 30 years". New Statesman. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  3. ^ Elliott, Jane (28 December 2002). "Football scores 5 Polio 0". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  4. ^ "From Arsenal to Liverpool to Wolves – James has the results (From Times Series)". 17 July 2003. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  5. ^ "Playwright Tom Wells on Jumpers For Goalposts". BBC News. 29 August 2013.
  6. ^ Shuttleworth, Ian (10 April 2013). "Jumpers for Goalposts, Watford Palace Theatre, UK – review". Financial times. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Jumpers for Goalposts, Bush Theatre". CultureWhisper. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  8. ^ "James Alexander Gordon to retire as football results reader". BBC NewsOnline. 24 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Charlotte Green replaces James Alexander Gordon on BBC Radio". BBC News Online. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  10. ^ "James Alexander Gordon: Voice of football results dies, aged 78". BBC News. 18 August 2014.