Praise and Grumble

It's 6.15pm on a summer's evening, and Nigel Johnson is arriving at BBC Stoke's centre in Hanley for a sports-team meeting. Or so he thinks....

Man and boy

Nigel first expressed an interest in broadcasting when his father brought him to Radio Stoke in 1969. Nigel's father was an officer of the local league, going in to talk about the local cricket season which was coming to an exciting end. (Nigel was part of a Porthill cricket team pressing for the North Staffs championship that year).

Nigel takes up the story: "I enquired about whether I could get into broadcasting, and I was referred to the legendary John Abberley - who now works for the Sentinel.

John was very kind, and asked me to cover one of the last cricket games of the season. As I was reporting the game, over the phone, I heard the phone go dead - as I was just three minutes into the report. Well, that was enough for me: I thought my career was over, almost before it had begun!"

In fact, it was all a misunderstanding, and the next year Nigel was invited back, to cover Stoke City away games.

The rest is history. Nigel has been covering Stoke, and the other two teams in Radio Stoke's patch, Port Vale and Crewe Alex, ever since. He has commentated on over 1500 games.

Surprise

Back to that summer evening...

Mary Fox waylays a surprised Nigel

As Nigel walks in, he is - to his surprise - waylaid by presenter Mary Fox, who puts a microphone up to him and congratulates him on his anniversary.

Behind her, a curtain is withdrawn - to reveal some of the great names of local football, including Stoke legend Denis Smith and the present SCFC manager, Tony Pulis. Over thirty of the great and good had come together for a small celebration to mark Nigel's milestone.

Also among the other guests were John Rudge (the former Port Vale manager now with Stoke City as their director of Football), Ivan Gaskell (now a Match of The Day reporter), Peter Coates (the chairman of Stoke City), Jean Gough (the daughter of Sir Stanley Matthews), John Abberley, and Gudjon Thordarsson (former Stoke manager, now with Crew Alex).

Denis Smith, Tony Pulis - and Nigel

Roger Johnson, Nigel's son, who is now a professional BBC TV football reporter himself, sent an audio message too!

Future

In his speech, Nigel confessed that he always expected every year to be his last - that he would be hauled in, and told his services were no longer required.

Perhaps it is that humility that means he has never got bigger than the job - the job of bringing Stoke City's games, in all their action and excitement, right into the homes of Radio Stoke's listeners. May he carry on for another forty years..

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This is the second celebration of Nigel's achievements. To see the summary of his achievement in reaching the 1500 Matches milestone, click on the link in the top right-hand corner of this page.