EXCLUSIVE: 10 World Cups, a million air miles and still going strong at 80! Legendary TV commentator JOHN HELM on an unforgettable life meeting Ali, Clough and Mandela… and why Maradona is the greatest player he’s ever seen live

  • TV commentator John Helm has shared the best moments of his storied career
  • The 80-year-old is gearing up to broadcast the FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina
  • Helm revealed iconic manager Brian Clough was his most 'thrilling' star he met

Legendary television commentator John Helm waited until he was 17 to first go abroad but has more than made up for it since.

Ten World Cups, five Olympics and a million air miles later to cover 35 different sports in 68 countries, the most remarkable thing about 80-year-old Helm is that he’s still doing it.

This week, he’s in Argentina for the FIFA Under 20s World Cup that starts on Saturday. He remains as enthusiastic for the tournament as he was covering Brazil at the 1982 World Cup or interviewing Muhammad Ali, Brian Clough or Nelson Mandela — whom he quizzed about his beloved Yorkshire cricket.


‘It’s special going back to Argentina because that was my first World Cup in 1978,’ he tells Mail Sport.

‘I’d gone as a producer for the BBC. They were short of a commentator for the third-place play-off between Brazil and Italy so I stepped in. Nelinho scored with an incredible swerving shot but I don’t think my reaction was particularly profound. Something like “Wow!”.

Legendary television commentator John Helm (above) is still going strong at 80 years of age

Diego Maradona has gone down in history as one of the greatest ever players
Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and Diego Maradona lead Helm's dream team in attack

Helm gave Mail Sport a dream line-up of players he's seen over the years, and insisted that an 18-year-old Diego Maradona against Scotland (left) was the best he'd ever watched in the flesh

Helm was born and raised in Baildon, near Bradford. Cricketer Jim Laker’s sister taught him shorthand and he spent a decade in local papers before moving to Radio Leeds in 1970. 

Though he’d previously been to Rimini on a youth trip, his first overseas sports broadcasting job was going with Don Revie’s Leeds United team to Sparta Prague in the Fairs Cup.

His big breakthrough came in 1982 when he was selected by ITV to cover Scotland’s World Cup group in Spain and was thrilled when they were drawn with Brazil’s galaxy of stars headed by Zico and Socrates.

‘Denis Law and I ended up covering Brazil all the way through,’ he says. ‘The Italy- Brazil knockout game is still the best I’ve seen. It was a bit unprofessional but I desperately wanted Brazil to win — Paolo Rossi got a hat-trick and I could have cried.

‘The next best was an Under 17s game between Portugal and Cameroon by a lake in Finland. Portugal were leading 5-0 after 70 minutes and it ended up 5-5!’

As a boy, Helm was always fascinated by travel. He collected international stamps and dreamed of visiting India and New Zealand when their cricket teams visited Bradford for tour matches. 

That enthusiasm for travel has rewarded him with a lifetime of witnessing incredible sporting events and meeting extraordinary people. 

'Brian Clough was the most thrilling and dangerous': Helm was excited to meet the iconic boss

'Brian Clough was the most thrilling and dangerous': Helm was excited to meet the iconic boss

‘Brian Clough was the most thrilling, and dangerous,’ he recalls. ‘He guaranteed you the lead on the sports bulletins but was unpredictable. I remember him threatening to ban the BBC because our radio commentators Bryon Butler and Peter Jones were so good, he felt they’d stop fans going to the match.

‘I was in Cape Town when Yorkshire cricket were the first team to visit South Africa post-sanctions. I went to a Nelson Mandela rally because someone tipped me off the exit he’d be leaving by. I got in a few questions about the tour and its importance.

‘Muhammad Ali had an incredible aura and I was impressed by Ruud Gullit at Italia 90. He did five interviews in a row in five different languages. It inspired me to try to take up Spanish myself. The best player I saw live was Diego Maradona. He was 18 when he played against Scotland at Hampden Park and sold the goalkeeper George Wood an outrageous dummy to score.

‘Sometimes I was in the right place to break big stories to the UK audience. At the Seoul Olympics, I was in the studio when a local contact called me to say Ben Johnson had tested positive.

‘In 1978 at a nearly-deserted broadcasting centre in Buenos Aires, some officials were huddled together, pointing at Willie Johnston’s name on the Scotland squad list and saying “Failed drugs test”.

Helm's significant breakthrough came in 1982 when he was selected by ITV to cover Scotland’s World Cup group - which saw the Scots face off against Socrates' star-studded Brazil team

Helm's significant breakthrough came in 1982 when he was selected by ITV to cover Scotland’s World Cup group - which saw the Scots face off against Socrates' star-studded Brazil team

‘I’ve never felt like retiring. It’s a privilege to be at these great events. Usain Bolt smashing the world record in Beijing? You couldn’t believe what you were watching.’

Helm keeps a fastidious record of all his trips and matches attended. He’s currently on 1,600 flights — amounting to a million miles in distance — and recently attended his 5,500th match as fan or broadcaster, Sheffield Wednesday v Exeter.

And yet his favourite line was just four words, delivered for ITV viewers at the ’86 Mexico World Cup. ‘The best commentaries are spontaneous and have brevity,’ he says. ‘When Michael Laudrup scored with a brilliant slalom run against Uruguay, I just said, “The boy’s a genius”. They had T-shirts made in Denmark printed with Michael’s face and my line, so I knew it’d been effective!

‘Another favourite moment was watching England Under 17s winning the World Cup in India. Being English, I felt like leaving my booth and going on to the pitch to celebrate.’

Of course, not everything is glamorous. ‘I did a Champions League game in Marseille, Terry Butcher alongside me, being sick into a bucket. I carried on. The only time I’ve left mid-match was in Mumbai. I had a chicken sandwich that caused big problems. I crawled out after 20 minutes leaving my co-commentator on their own.’

The iconic commentator recalled how Ruud Gullit (left, next to Sven Goran Eriksson in 1993-94) impressed him by delivering five interviews in a row in five different languages at Italia 90

The iconic commentator recalled how Ruud Gullit (left, next to Sven Goran Eriksson in 1993-94) impressed him by delivering five interviews in a row in five different languages at Italia 90

Even more alarming was the Concacaf women’s Under 17s championship in Nicaragua five years ago.

‘I left a match in the capital Managua to find no people or cars in the streets, and restaurants shut. It was weird,’ he recalled. ‘We drove back to the hotel and it was padlocked. A guard came out and ushered us in, telling us 70 people had been killed in civil unrest. We stayed locked inside the hotel for two days, then a phone rang at 4am with a “get out now” and they managed to take us to the airport and out the country.’

Since 2002, Helm has worked for FIFA delivering their overseas feed to 170 countries. That’ll be his job in Argentina, commentating on the host nation’s matches.

Married to Hildred for 55 years, he also worked for more than a decade on the Indian Super League where he was presented with a lifetime achievement award earlier this year.

‘My voice is known in some places,’ he smiles. ‘At passport control in Perth, Australia, the guard heard me talk and said: “What are you doing here?”.’

Helm also met legendary boxing star Muhammad Ali (pictured left against Leon Spinks in 1978)

Helm also met legendary boxing star Muhammad Ali (pictured left against Leon Spinks in 1978)

Helm will continue to speak into the microphone as long as he’s asked. He is still an active golfer, treadmill user, president of Baildon Cricket Club for more than 40 years and vice-president of local non-league team Bradford Park Avenue.

He’s also known genuine tragedy, reporting on the 1985 Bradford fire which killed 56 people at Valley Parade, his early training on newspapers journalistically useful in communicating the sense of shock around him.

‘It was decided there and then we would never show footage of the fire and the aftermath, it was simply too awful,’ he says quietly.

Such horror only puts into perspective how fortunate Helm feels to have enjoyed the career he has, and hopefully for some time to come. After the Under 20s World Cup, in which England compete, the next gig is already in the diary. ‘Japan in July. Water polo in the world aquatic championships,’ he says proudly.

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