Roy Waller (17 September 1940 – 6 July 2010) was a regular radio presenter on

BBC Radio Norfolk BBC Radio Norfolk is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Norfolk. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Forum in Norwich. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 1 ...

and was the main

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

match commentator for the station until 2007. He died in the

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) is a large National Health Service academic teaching hospital in the Norwich Research Park on the western outskirts of Norwich, England. The university hospital replaced the former, Norfolk and ...

on 6 July 2010, after battling with liver illness. Waller's funeral service took place at

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedral ...

on 23 July 2010. Known as "the voice of Carrow Road",http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=NOED12%20Sep%202010%2019%3A29%3A58%3A257 in September 2010, a commentary box at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. N ...

was dedicated to Waller's memory, and was unveiled by

Alan Bowkett Alan John Bowkett (born 6 January 1951 in London) is a British businessman, former Chairman of British company Redrow. He was Chairman of Norwich City football club, from 2009, until he resigned in 2015. Bowkett is also a Non-Executive Chairman ...

and Waller's widow, Sylvie, before a home game and to the applause of the fans.

Personal life

Roy was known for being a die-hard

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

fan. His deep

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

accent has often been the subject of light-hearted criticism from other football fans but he was popular among other football fans in Norwich. In March 2008, Roy was made Sheriff of Norwich. His popularity even led to him once being

gunge Gunge as it is known in the United Kingdom, or slime as it is known in the United States and most English-speaking areas of the world, is a thick, gooey, yet runny substance with a consistency somewhere between that of paint and custard. It has ...

d by

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

Noel's House Party ''Noel's House Party'' is a BBC light entertainment series that was hosted by Noel Edmonds. Set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo, it ran from 23 November 1991 to 26 March 2000 on BBC One, an ...

in the 1990s.

Weekday Show

Waller presented a daily show with

from the early 1980s until 2009. Roy Waller's last weekday show aired Monday to Fridays from 1pm to 4pm. The theme was an entertainment show featuring guests and fun "with music thrown in". Features included 'The Alternative News', 'Roy's Phonebook Challenge', 'War of the Work Force' and Norfolk drama 'Little Bexham'. The show regularly took calls and texts from the listeners. He stepped down from presenting a daily show on 19 September 2009 to focus on Rodeo Norfolk. His show was succeeded by Stephen Bumfrey who moved to the slot after presenting the breakfast show.

''Little Bexham''

Similar to

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural settin ...

'', ''Little Bexham'' was a sixteen-part drama from BBC Radio Norfolk. It was created by Norfolk author

Sue Welfare Susan Welfare (born 1963) is an English romantic fiction writer who also writes under the pseudonyms Kate Lawson and Gemma Fox. She is also the creator of BBC Radio Norfolk's first audio drama '' Little Bexham''. She attended Downham Market Gram ...

with the help of Roy Waller and former producer Amy Barratt. The first series aired in Autumn 2007 on Waller's afternoon, with an omnibus at the weekend.

Rodeo Norfolk

Despite finishing his daily show with

in September 2009, Roy continued to present Rodeo Norfolk on the station. The programme was a specialist music show focusing on the best in country music. The show also included special requests. It aired every Saturday between 9am and 12noon.Rodeo Norfolk
Retrieved 24 July 2010

References

External links

BBC Radio Norfolk Profile of Roy WallerEditor of Radio Norfolk – Tribute to Roy Waller
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Roy English radio personalities 1940s births 2010 deaths Deaths from liver disease