Bob Crampsey

[Since452]

Was thinking about how poor Sportsound had become these days and remembered growing up listening to Bob Crampsey on the program and being completely in awe of his knowledge. When he spoke you listened. Really nobody of that ilk these days. He didn't seem to have an affiliation to any club. Believe he was a head teacher at a RC school but might be wrong. Last of a kind was Bob Crampsey.

[G15 Hibs]

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Was thinking about how poor Sportsound had become these days and remembered growing up listening to Bob Crampsey on the program and being completely in awe of his knowledge. When he spoke you listened. Really nobody of that ilk these days. He didn't seem to have an affiliation to any club. Believe he was a head teacher at a RC school but might be wrong. Last of a kind was Bob Crampsey.

I'm sure the story was he was a Third Lanark supporter. He grew up near both Cathkin and Hampden and would go to watch Thirds one week and Queen's Park the next, as well as any other big games at Hampden. His brother Frank was a goalkeeper who played over 100 games for Queen's and Bob wrote a book on their history for their centenary in 1967.

Bob won Brain of Britain and had such incredible knowledge on so many subjects that whatever he said carried a gravitas that was unmatched on Sportsound and has never been replaced.

[hibbyfraelibby]

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Was thinking about how poor Sportsound had become these days and remembered growing up listening to Bob Crampsey on the program and being completely in awe of his knowledge. When he spoke you listened. Really nobody of that ilk these days. He didn't seem to have an affiliation to any club. Believe he was a head teacher at a RC school but might be wrong. Last of a kind was Bob Crampsey.

Crampsey was never on Sportsound...try Sportsreel it was that long ago!

[Since452]

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Crampsey was never on Sportscene...try Sportsreel it was that long ago!

.
He was definitely on Sportsound though

[Sammy7nil]

Bob was very good and enjoyed listening to him he might have stayed on a year or two too long. Unlike Chic who has been there about 30 years too long.

[Hiber-nation]

Bob would be turning in his grave if he heard the likes of English, Dodds and McCann.

[Is It On....]

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Bob would be turning in his grave if he heard the likes of English, Dodds and McCann.

Tom English is head and shoulders above the other 2 that you mention. He is a proper sports journalist, they are just ex footballers, one of whom is an apologist for bigotry

[Clarence]

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Bob would be turning in his grave if he heard the likes of English, Dodds and McCann.

Correct. His retirement effectively heralded a “Jerry Springerisation” of sports journalism. They’d rather provoke conflict and sensationalism than provide cerebral analysis and well structured eloquent reporting.

[Greenbeard]

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Crampsey was never on Sportsound...try Sportsreel it was that long ago!

I thought he was on Scotsport on STV.
Whatever, I agree his gravitas was immense. Dodds won't even know what that means.

[McSwanky]

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I thought he was on Scotsport on STV.
Whatever, I agree his gravitas was immense. Dodds won't even know what that means.

Crampsey was a radio guy. You're maybe thinking of Arthur Montford - another great commentator, but couldn't hold a candle to the great Bob IMO.

As for the current crop of 'experts' - to compare them in any way would be an insult to BC.

[Is It On....]

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Crampsey was a radio guy. You're maybe thinking of Arthur Montford - another great commentator, but couldn't hold a candle to the great Bob IMO.

As for the current crop of 'experts' - to compare them in any way would be an insult to BC.

Wasn't Arthur a Dumbarton fan? Great sports jackets as well 😂

[c31]

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Wasn't Arthur a Dumbarton fan? Great sports jackets as well 😂

Morton, I believe..

[Peevemor]

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Wasn't Arthur a Dumbarton fan? Great sports jackets as well 😂

Arthur's son Geoff was (maybe still is) a DJ in Glasgow. He's a friend of friends and I met him a couple of times. Strangely I was more star struck than when I've met other people who are famous in their own right.

[Jim44]

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Crampsey was a radio guy. You're maybe thinking of Arthur Montford - another great commentator, but couldn't hold a candle to the great Bob IMO.

As for the current crop of 'experts' - to compare them in any way would be an insult to BC.

Arthur Montford and his infamous dog-tooth and herring bone sports jackets that played havoc with the old black and white telly screens.

[scoopyboy]

Bob Crampsey was a gem of a man, we've not had anybody even close to him since he passed.

Had incredible knowledge and worked for both BBC and STV over his career outwith journalism.

One particular story made me respect him even more.

My Uncle Alex played for Pencaitland Amateurs when they reached the Scottish Amateur Cup Final two years in a row in the early 1960s, one year they got beaten 6-0 by Queens Park at Hampden (who changed their team entirely and played the team that was in the Scottish First Division beside Hibs at that time) and the other was a 1-0 loss to Bearsden at Powderhall.

Alex seemed to recall that highlights of the finals were shown on the tv and he wrote to Bob asking if he had any recollection of them. Bob replied promptly to state he could and he would try to locate them and get him a copy. He tried over a long period of time to locate them at both channels but alas couldn't get them. My Auntie Cathie still has the letters from Bob.

A great man who took time out to try and help someone who loved football as much as him.

[Groathillgrump]

I think I told this story on here years ago but I'll bore you all with it again.

I used to work for a book publisher and we were trying to get Bob Crampsey to write a book for us. He came in to see us to discuss the project and after the meeting I got chatting to him about football.

He casually dropped into the conversation the fact that he'd heard that Mo Johnston was about to sign for Rangers. To be honest, I thought Bob had lost the plot as days earlier Johnston had been paraded at Parkhead in a Celtic top, not to mention the fact that he was a 'Celtic-minded' catholic and Rangers at that point were still clinging on to their strict no catholics policy.

Anyway, as we all know his info turned out to be 100% spot on and I always regretted the fact that I never ran to the bookie's that afternoon to see what odds I could get on Johnston joining Rangers. I could've made a small fortune but at the time it all seemed too ridiculous to be true.

[PeeJay]

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I thought he was on Scotsport on STV.
Whatever, I agree his gravitas was immense. Dodds won't even know what that means.

Yeah, I remember him on STV's Scotsport all those years ago too when I still stayed in the UK, he changed later on to the radio - wonder how he would have got on in today's footballing world?

[McSwanky]

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Yeah, I remember him on STV's Scotsport all those years ago too when I still stayed in the UK, he changed later on to the radio - wonder how he would have got on in today's footballing world?

I stand corrected, can only assume that his Scotsport tenure was before my time. Sorry to Greenbeard!

[Alfred E Newman]

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I thought he was on Scotsport on STV.
Whatever, I agree his gravitas was immense. Dodds won't even know what that means.

You are correct, at least in the 1960s.
Bob Crampsey was the commentator on the long lost recording of the Napoli game. He obviously worked for the BBC in later years.

[Jim44]

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Was thinking about how poor Sportsound had become these days and remembered growing up listening to Bob Crampsey on the program and being completely in awe of his knowledge. When he spoke you listened. Really nobody of that ilk these days. He didn't seem to have an affiliation to any club. Believe he was a head teacher at a RC school but might be wrong. Last of a kind was Bob Crampsey.

I think the school may have been in Coatbridge. JJ Gilmour, singer with the original Silencers often references Bob Crampsey at his gigs as the Headmaster who expelled him saying he would come to nothing in life. Most of today’s presenters and pundits couldn’t hold a candle to him.

[The Count]

Rumour years ago that he was in the running to be the first Rector of Holyrood School in Edinburgh.Is cousin Fr Crampsey until recently was a priest at Sacred Heart.Once heard him interviewed on the radio and he was asked his favourite player.He replied Gordon Smith and the numpty interviewing him thought it was the Rangers player !!! Bob quickly put him right.

[EVENTUALLY]

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Rumour years ago that he was in the running to be the first Rector of Holyrood School in Edinburgh.Is cousin Fr Crampsey until recently was a priest at Sacred Heart.Once heard him interviewed on the radio and he was asked his favourite player.He replied Gordon Smith and the numpty interviewing him thought it was the Rangers player !!! Bob quickly put him right.

The radio discussion that I heard was a debate among the presenters and pundits in the studio and around the grounds prior to kick offs to identify the best Scottish player that they had seen. The merits of Jimmy Johnstone, Henrik Larson and Brian Laudrup and a few other notable players were offered until Richard Gordon invited Bob Crampsey to name the best player he has ever seen play in the Scottish Leagues and actually suggested Bob would endorse Laudrup who he did rate highly. Without hesitation Bob said that he had never seen anyone who was better than Gordon Smith and he went on to explain why the Prince of Wingers was unrivaled and should be heralded as the greatest without any shadow of doubt.

[Oscar T Grouch]

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Rumour years ago that he was in the running to be the first Rector of Holyrood School in Edinburgh.Is cousin Fr Crampsey until recently was a priest at Sacred Heart.Once heard him interviewed on the radio and he was asked his favourite player.He replied Gordon Smith and the numpty interviewing him thought it was the Rangers player !!! Bob quickly put him right.

That will be Holy Rood School, I went there and for some reason they loved telling us it was two words unlike every other Holyrood in Scotland

[superfurryhibby]

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That will be Holy Rood School, I went there and for some reason they loved telling us it was two words unlike every other Holyrood in Scotland

It should be two words though. As you know Holy Rood means Holy Cross, referring to miraculous intervention of the Chief when daftie King David was unhorsed and about to be impaled on the antlers of a crazed stag he's been hunting. I think the distaste for anything that resembled popery led to the place name Holy Rood becoming Holyrood and the change of pronunciation so that Holy became Holly.

[hibbyfraelibby]

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That will be Holy Rood School, I went there and for some reason they loved telling us it was two words unlike every other Holyrood in Scotland

Holyrood HS was named after the Holy Ruid aka the Holy Cross. Got on our wicks at Auggies where the real Holy Cross Academy merged with St. Andrews to form that school.

[Since452]

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I think the school may have been in Coatbridge. JJ Gilmour, singer with the original Silencers often references Bob Crampsey at his gigs as the Headmaster who expelled him saying he would come to nothing in life. Most of today’s presenters and pundits couldn’t hold a candle to him.

Aye very very knowledgeable man. Always spoke well of Hibs

[GonzoReturns]

It’s embarrassing to think of the ‘experts’ we now have to listen to (not that I listen to Sportsound anymore).

[Billy Whizz]

Probably a little known fact, but Archie Macpherson’s son, has a season ticket in the East beside us, and has done for many years

[Cat Stanton]

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Probably a little known fact, but Archie Macpherson’s son, has a season ticket in the East beside us, and has done for many years

Woof!

Does he look like his Dad?

Back on topic, I met Bob Crampsey once at some sort of social function years ago. Was struggling for small talk until I mentioned Hibs - and that was that. An hour of encyclopedic knowledge about Hibs through the decades then followed. Couldn't get another word in.

[MM19]

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Probably a little known fact, but Archie Macpherson’s son, has a season ticket in the East beside us, and has done for many years

When we were going to one of the Scottish Cup semi-finals against Rangers (which we won) in the seventies he was going to the match with a couple of laddies. One was wearing a huns scarf and the other one a Hibs scarf.