I recently come across references to and clips from the Saint and Greavsie show, which back in the day I was a fan off and to this day remain my historic favourite football pundits.

According to Wikipedia: “Saint and Greavsie was a British television show in which former footballers Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves discussed current football themes such as the day’s matches. It ran on ITV from 1985 to 1992. Englishman Jimmy Greaves and Scotsman Ian St John were successful footballers in the 1960s, but they did not play for the same club; Greaves spent the bulk of his career with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, while St John played mainly for Liverpool. Their collaboration as television football pundits started with On the Ball in World of Sport. The segment was highly popular, leading to the commissioning of Saint and Greavsie as a programme in its own right immediately after the demise of World of Sport in September 1985. A key characteristic of the show was comedy, with St John prompting Greaves to jokes and jibes.”

These days, I watch hardly any football on the television and don’t keep up with the current crop of football pundits. When I did, I was overall disappointed because I felt a sense of self importance and wokery, e.g. allowing Gary Linekar to spout his political views and sacking Matt LeTisseur for not going along with those of his show’s owners. But in fairness, those who do the punditry usually knew what they are talking about and were every bit as knowledgeable as my dynamic duo. But they just weren’t in the same class of Saint and Greavsie, who both played the game at the highest level (Greaves was my boyhood hero) and I found to be a compelling double act, who loved the game. Their chemistry and humour were amazing, and while seeming to be light on some of the finer points of the game and those involved (along with what was going on behind the scenes) still provided useful insights that were much appreciated.

I saw them as football’s equivalent to Morecombe and Wise and the Two Ronnies and whether one was a fan or not of the beautiful game, they were well worth watching. I note YouTube have a number of clips of the two in action. My favourite is one involving Donald Trump (see here). Saint and Greavsie are much missed!