Everybody knew him through his broadcast journalism but he did not have a different personality away from the TV. Golfing friend Ken Wallace said Arthur had insisted his funeral should be on a Monday or Wednesday, so as not to clash with the pair’s outings on a Tuesday and Thursday at Glasgow Golf Club where Arthur was a member for 42 years. Arthur Montford (25 May 1929 – 26 November 2014) [1] was a Scottish Television sports journalist, best known for his 32-year tenure as the presenter of Scottish Television's Scotsport. Indeed, with Archie McPherson and others at the BBC, he was one of the pioneers of sports broadcasting in Scotland, his career covering the era of canned film of games that were rushed to the Glasgow studios to be broadcast to cathode ray tubes, up to the age of constant live satellite transmissions, electronic video machines and instant replays. Montford’s audition in Maryhill Burgh Hall was dismal, but he was given another chance at the Theatre Royal and more than passed muster.

Greenock and the Academy gave him a lifelong love of the town’s club Morton FC, and his friend from schooldays, Douglas Rae, now owns the club. Born in Glasgow, Montford was raised in Greenock where he acquired a lifelong love for the local football team, Morton. He chose a hymn - The Day Thou Gavest Lord, is Ended - because it was played at his mother Peggy’s funeral in 1977.

He also presented the Scottish version of World of Sport on STV and Grampian - with live coverage from England of events which were often not shown in their entirety due to the regional sporting events taking place in Scotland, Scotsport Special was also aired on Cup Final day, when the Scottish Cup Final was taking place on the same day as the Wembley event, with the Wrestling also being moved from its pre-lunchtime slot on Cup Final days back to the expected 16:00 slot in Scotland. She said she had had a “wonderful” father whose only cross word with her had been to tell her it was cold outside as she stepped out as a teenage wearing a mini skirt and platform shoes. In May 2010, Montford received the SPFA Special Merit award for his services to football broadcasting and journalism alongside fellow broadcaster Archie Macpherson. Though again he did not shout about it, his politics in the 70s favoured the SNP, and he helped the late Margo McDonald in her campaign in Govan in 1973.

Thanks to his friend, Douglas Rae, at whose house Montford’s second marriage took place with Rae as best man, Montford was appointed director of Morton FC, and latterly became honorary vice-president. He attended Greenock Academy, where he was one of a band of rebels who tried — unsuccessfully — to introduce soccer to the rugby-playing school. STV were told by rivals BBC that there was no room for their cameras in the gantry in Hampden’s South Stand. These went well, and when BBC sports editor John Wilson joined Scottish Television in 1957, he asked Montford to join him in the new commercial visual age.Scottish PFA chief Tony Higgins, who played in Arthur’s commentary heyday, said: “He was a giant of his time. In all, he hosted over 2,000 editions of the programme that made him a household name across Scotland.

In May, 2010, he and his friend and fellow broadcaster Archie Mcpherson were awarded the SPFA Special Merit award for services to football broadcasting and journalism. Montford was President and captain of Glasgow Golf Club, and was Rector of the University of Glasgow, 1974-1977. After retiring from television at the age of 60, Montford left STV and continued to comment on Scottish football, both in the national press and in the matchday programme at Morton, he also concentrated on playing golf at Glasgow Golf Club at Killermont. Julie said as a child she imagined her grandad could see her as she watched on TV while he presented one of the many editions of Scotsport. The world of Scottish football can be a divisive place at times, but news of the death of Arthur Montford at the age of 85 in November 2014 was met with sadness and tributes from all parts of the game there.His dramatic exclamations and phrases during match commentaries became part of Scottish popular culture, and included "what a stramash", "up go the heads", and (all too frequently) "Disaster for Scotland". A packed Bearsden Cross Church, near Glasgow, heard how Arthur, who died last week aged 85, had still been writing his golfing column for Bunkered magazine until the final weeks of his life. Yet it is precisely Montford’s verbal style that he is loved for and his erudite expressions could enliven the most trying of sporting events. This was an early highlight in a career that would take in half a dozen World Cups, 380 domestic and European games as commentator including 38 Old Firm matches, and some of the most memorable moments in Scottish football – in 1973, he really did say “disaster for Scotland” when goalkeeper Ally Hunter let a shot from Zdenek Nehoda of Czechoslovakia through his hands at Hampden on an unforgettable night when Scotland came from behind to qualify for the 1974 World Cup.

Then, at the age of 28, he was signed-up as an announcer with the new commercial broadcaster Scottish Television ahead of its launch on 31 August 1957. While there he covered numerous sports, but it was football that became his main sport, and he was asked by the BBC’s well-known producer Peter Thomson to do some match reports for radio.On his retirement at the age of 60 in 1989, he concentrated on playing golf at Glasgow Golf Club at Killermont. A diligent rector, he was reckoned by students to be on their side, and at the height of his fame he helped all forms of charity no matter their background, lending his name to good causes such as the Simon Community and Talbot Association. Montford spent 32 years as the presenter of Scottish Television’s Scotsport programme where he was best known for his football coverage, although he was also covered a range of other sports, especially golf. The gentleman who had been briefed to be the new Sports Editor at STV was John Wilson and he couldn't believe that I was so bad.