Legendary BBC commentator John Motson has died aged 77.
His family announced his death this morning in a statement: ”It is with great sadness we announce that John Motson OBE died peacefully in his sleep today.”
Motson watched his first professional football at Portman Road in the early sixties while a boarder at Culford School in West Suffolk.
A Match of the Day stalwart from 1971 until his retirement in 2018, Motson was a familiar figure at Town during the glory days under Sir Bobby Robson and wrote a regular column in the club programme during the mid-seventies.
Motson, who for many years had a holiday home in Tunstall, played in a testimonial for Blues scout Ron Gray in Felixstowe in 1978/79, lining-up for a commentators XI, and in 2003 revealed he had bought shares in the club following the Blues’ period of administration.
"It isn't a speculative decision, I am not expecting to make a profit,” he said. "I think Gary Lineker said when he helped to rescue Leicester on a much wider scale. He said it's not so much an investment, it's a donation and that's really the way that I see it.
"It's a time when people who like the club can pull together and make a small contribution to make sure that what happened last year doesn't happen again.”
Motson, who attended the club’s Ex-Players’ Dinner in 2012, covered 10 World Cups, 10 European Championships and 29 FA Cup finals for the BBC. He is survived by his wife Anne and son Freddie.