Archibald "Archie" Macpherson (born 1937) is a Scottish

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 ...

commentator and author. He has been commentating on Scottish football, via both

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, for over four decades.

Early life

Macpherson was born and raised in the Shettleston area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

. His father had played as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for Shettleston, Dalry Thistle and Largs Thistle.

Broadcasting career

Macpherson has worked for the BBC, STV,

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previ ...

Radio Clyde Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Baue ...

and Talksport although he initially struggled to gain a foothold in broadcasting. Indeed, his first job was as a teacher where he supplemented his income by getting short stories published in local newspapers. Such efforts paid off and helped Archie gain his initial big break at the BBC. He continued to work as a teacher until 1969 when he joined the BBC on a full-time basis and remained with the corporation until 1990.

Popular perception

Macpherson has made his own personal appearances within Scottish popular culture. Famously he once appeared on Rikki Fulton's ''

Scotch and Wry ''Scotch and Wry'' is a Scottish television comedy sketch show produced by BBC Scotland and starring Rikki Fulton and a revolving ensemble cast which over the years included Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, Claire Nielson, Juliet Cadzow and John Be ...

'' (a prominent comedy sketch show screened by

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irela ...

) being mistaken for former University Challenge host Bamber Gascoigne. In the

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...

's cult novel '' Trainspotting'' he re-voiced his commentary of

Archie Gemmill Archibald Gemmill (born 24 March 1947) is a Scottish former footballer. During his career, he won the European Cup and three English league titles, and captained his national side. Gemmill scored the third Scotland goal in a 3–2 win again ...

's famous goal for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

at the 1978 World Cup as a sex scene unfolded at the same time, both pieces of action climaxing simultaneously. He was also the regular figure of the BBC TV network's sport coverage. He had appeared on

Grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap al ...

for the Scottish football league results and presented some sports bulletin in Breakfast Time when Bob Wilson or

David Icke David Vaughan Icke (; born 29 April 1952) is an English conspiracy theorist and a former footballer and sports broadcaster. He has written over 20 books, self-published since the mid-1990s, and spoken in more than 25 countries. In 1990, Ick ...

was on the day-off. He also occasionally commentated on matches in England for the network especially when the television rights to

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...

in 1988–90. His popularity saw him elected as Rector of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

in 1985, defeating Teddy Taylor, Margo MacDonald and

Richard Demarco Richard Demarco CBE (born 9 July 1930 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish artist and promoter of the visual and performing arts. Early life He was born at 9 Grosvenor Street in Edinburgh on 9 July 1930 the son of Carmino Demarco and his wife Elizabe ...

Awards

Macpherson was recognised at the 2005 Scottish BAFTA ceremony, picking up a prize for "Special Contribution to Scottish Broadcasting".

Modern day

Macpherson's last regular role was commentating on STV's coverage of

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

and

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

matches involving Scottish teams. Archie also became famous for his appearances on STV's '' Scotsport'', which aired highlights from the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

(SPL) on Monday nights during the football season, until its axe in 2008. Macpherson provides match predictions and analysis for betting-shop chain

Ladbrokes Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations a ...

. Macpherson is also an accomplished writer, and has penned a best-selling biography of Scottish football manager Jock Stein, and ''Flower of Scotland?'' about Archie's trials and tribulations whilst following Scottish football for the past four decades. ''A Game of Two-Halves : The Autobiography'' followed in 2009, and in 2014, he returned to fiction with the adventure novel ''Silent Thunder''. In 2020, Macpherson's latest non-fiction title ''More Than A Game: Living with the Old Firm'' was published by Luath Press.

Works

* ''Jock Stein: The Definitive Biography'' * ''Flower of Scotland?'' * ''Action Replays (1991)'' * ''A Game of Two-Halves : The Autobiography (2009)'' * ''Silent Thunder (2014)'' *''More Than A Game: Living with the Old Firm,'' Luath Press, 2020,

References

More Than a Game on AmazonSilent Thunder at Amazon

External links

Archie Macpherson Luath Press Author's PageArchie Macpherson Tribute website

Archie Macpherson author's page at Amazon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, Archie Journalists from Glasgow Scottish association football commentators Scottish sportswriters Rectors of the University of Edinburgh 1937 births Living people Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees