THFC6061
Paul Robinson
BBC's Charlotte Green to read classified football results
Former Radio 4 newsreader to replace James Alexander Gordon, becoming the first female voice to take the role
The BBC has made radio history by appointing the first female voice to read its classified football results.
Charlotte Green, the former BBC Radio 4 newsreader, will call full time on male domination of Saturday afternoon scores when she steps behind the microphone for the first time on 28 September.
Green said: "I'm delighted to be offered this opportunity as I've been a football fan all my life. In fact as a six-year-old I used to sit at the dining room table reading the football scores out loud from the newspaper, so this really is a dream come true. It is a huge honour to take over from James Alexander Gordon."
Green replaces James Alexander Gordon, the familiar voice of the classified football results for four decades before he bowed out in July. Gordon announced he was to retire following surgery to treat throat cancer.
The appointment of Green, who has been described as the most attractive voice on the airwaves, marks a surprise return to the BBC only months after taking voluntary redundancy.
She was one of the longest-serving announcers on Radio 4, alongside Harriet Cass, and has specialised in newsreading since 1998 after two decades with the corporation.
Green appeared to have sealed her permanent departure from the BBC only last month, telling Country Life magazine that "received pronunciation, or accent-less accent, is on the wane." She added: "The BBC's days of employing people who sound like me are more or less over."
But her pronouncement – this time, at least – was premature. Green now occupies a broadcasting institution, delighting and disappointing football fans by announcing the 5pm results.
Green was described as "one of radio's most iconic voices" and a "great football fan" in an email to Radio 5 Live staff by Paul Blakeley, the station's deputy controller.
Richard Burgess, the head of BBC radio sport, said: "We are delighted to welcome Charlotte to 5 Live and we are really looking forward to hearing her distinctive voice reading the classifieds, made so famous by James Alexander Gordon. She is a broadcaster of true calibre and I know she will bring clarity and warmth to the role."
An alumni of Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls in Elstree, Hertfordshire, Green joined the BBC in 1978 after graduating from the University of Kent.
She is a keen Tottenham Hotspur fan, but years of strict impartiality at Radio 4 are sure to rule out any stifled inflections when reading the scores of their north London rivals, Arsenal.
Green famously suffered a fit of the giggles on the Today programme when presenter James Naughtie whispered off-air that the earliest recording of the human voice sounded like a bee trapped in a bottle.
"Excuse me, sorry," she said through stifled laughter, before giggling into silence for several seconds in the usually dry bulletin. "It's 10 minutes past eight," intoned Naughtie.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/06/bbc-charlotte-green-classified-football-results
Former Radio 4 newsreader to replace James Alexander Gordon, becoming the first female voice to take the role
The BBC has made radio history by appointing the first female voice to read its classified football results.
Charlotte Green, the former BBC Radio 4 newsreader, will call full time on male domination of Saturday afternoon scores when she steps behind the microphone for the first time on 28 September.
Green said: "I'm delighted to be offered this opportunity as I've been a football fan all my life. In fact as a six-year-old I used to sit at the dining room table reading the football scores out loud from the newspaper, so this really is a dream come true. It is a huge honour to take over from James Alexander Gordon."
Green replaces James Alexander Gordon, the familiar voice of the classified football results for four decades before he bowed out in July. Gordon announced he was to retire following surgery to treat throat cancer.
The appointment of Green, who has been described as the most attractive voice on the airwaves, marks a surprise return to the BBC only months after taking voluntary redundancy.
She was one of the longest-serving announcers on Radio 4, alongside Harriet Cass, and has specialised in newsreading since 1998 after two decades with the corporation.
Green appeared to have sealed her permanent departure from the BBC only last month, telling Country Life magazine that "received pronunciation, or accent-less accent, is on the wane." She added: "The BBC's days of employing people who sound like me are more or less over."
But her pronouncement – this time, at least – was premature. Green now occupies a broadcasting institution, delighting and disappointing football fans by announcing the 5pm results.
Green was described as "one of radio's most iconic voices" and a "great football fan" in an email to Radio 5 Live staff by Paul Blakeley, the station's deputy controller.
Richard Burgess, the head of BBC radio sport, said: "We are delighted to welcome Charlotte to 5 Live and we are really looking forward to hearing her distinctive voice reading the classifieds, made so famous by James Alexander Gordon. She is a broadcaster of true calibre and I know she will bring clarity and warmth to the role."
An alumni of Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls in Elstree, Hertfordshire, Green joined the BBC in 1978 after graduating from the University of Kent.
She is a keen Tottenham Hotspur fan, but years of strict impartiality at Radio 4 are sure to rule out any stifled inflections when reading the scores of their north London rivals, Arsenal.
Green famously suffered a fit of the giggles on the Today programme when presenter James Naughtie whispered off-air that the earliest recording of the human voice sounded like a bee trapped in a bottle.
"Excuse me, sorry," she said through stifled laughter, before giggling into silence for several seconds in the usually dry bulletin. "It's 10 minutes past eight," intoned Naughtie.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/06/bbc-charlotte-green-classified-football-results
