John Motson will have a number of programmes dedicated to him over an evening to mark his retirement from the BBC.
BBC Two will air a one-off documentary, ‘Motty: The Man Behind The Sheepskin’, a special episode of ‘Mastermind’ hosted by the legendary football commentator – who has been behind the mic for 50 years – and Gary Lineker will present another doc, ‘Countdown To The Full Motty’.
He said: "I’m truly humbled that the BBC is dedicating such a special evening to me.
"I’ve been very lucky to have witnessed some incredibly special moments in football and I look forward to sitting down with my family, and many football fans in the country, to look back on the past 50 years."
Motson – who is famed for wearing a sheepskin coat – will recall numerous football stories as he takes a trip around several football grounds in documentary ‘The Man Behind The Sheepskin’, which will also feature appearances from Gary, Ian Wright, Noel Gallagher and Sir Rod Stewart.
The commentator – known affectionately as Motty – will grill swimmer Mark Foster, England women’s footballer Alex Scott, commentator Jonathan Pearce and boxer Anthony Crolla in ‘Motty Mastermind’ as he takes over from John Humphrys as quiz master.
Gary will introduce a special countdown of Motson’s greatest football commentaries from his 50 years behind the mic in ‘Countdown to the Full Motty’.
Motty’s final BBC commentary will take place on ‘Match of the Day’ on May 13 when he reports on Crystal Palace v West Brom.
Motson will also have his own special Twitter emoji, which will go live on the social media site on May 11 at 11am until May 21 at 11:59pm, of himself holding his microphone should Twitter users write one of the following hashtags: #JohnMotson, #ThanksMotty, #ThanksMotson and #ThankYouMotty.
John Motson to be honoured with night of BBC shows
