'I'm the luckiest person in the world' - BBC commentator Jim Neilly to become an MBE
- Published
Jim Neilly has been the voice of BBC Northern Ireland's rugby and boxing coverage for over 40 years
BBC commentator Jim Neilly has been recognised on the Queen's Birthday Honours list for a broadcasting career spanning six decades.
He is to become an MBE for his services to sports broadcasting and charity in Northern Ireland.
Having done his first commentary in 1978, Neilly has become the voice of rugby and boxing to the BBC Northern Ireland audience, covering eight Olympic Games, eight Rugby World Cups and over 300 international rugby fixtures.
"I am so pleased that people have recognised the work that has gone in," said Neilly, whose father was recognised with the same honour 30 years ago.
"I hope down the years, particularly at some of the big rugby and boxing events, my commentary has enriched people's experience of watching and listening to the event itself.
"I hope I have added to it in some way."
'The luckiest person in the world'
Neilly's first BBC commentary was the 1978 Ulster Schools' Cup final between Bangor Grammar and Annadale Grammar, and a year later he broadcast his first international game between Ireland and France.
While every facet of sport and technology has changed, Neilly insists that the fundamentals of good commentary remain untouched, and that the advice he received early in his career still rings as true as ever.
"It's an absolute privilege to be allowed anywhere near a microphone," Neilly was told as a young broadcaster.
"I still think of that when somebody says 'and now let's go over and join our commentary team'," he said.
Neilly made his first live broadcast in 1979
"You never lose that buzz. You take a deep breath and you think 'here we go again'.
"Yes, you've done it so many times before but when the referee blows the whistle and somebody kicks the ball off, you've no idea what's going to happen.
"To do live sport, and the highest level of live sport, has been an absolute privilege over the past 40-odd years.
"I'm the luckiest person in the world. It has been an absolutely wonderful way to have made and still be making a living."
'If you cheat in the dark of the morning...'
While rugby has been a notable part of his life from a young age, Neilly's voice has become equally as familiar to boxing fans.
"Rugby was my main sport, boxing was always my passion. My father was a big boxing fan," explained Neilly, who qualified as an international amateur judge during his broadcasting career.
"He used to get me up at all hours in the morning to listen to big fights over in the States on BBC Home Service. A guy called Raymond Glendenning was the commentator and they had summaries from a bloke called W. Barrington-Dalby."
"I was fascinated by this. There was this happening away across the pond."
Neilly commentated on many Ireland rugby union internationals from a box situated in the West Stand at the old Lansdowne Road
The success and longevity of Neilly's own commentary career is owed in large part to an appreciation of the importance of adequate preparation.
Typically, his mantra for doing his homework comes from the boxing world, and a quote from heavyweight legend Joe Frazier.
"Frazier said you can map out a life plan, you can map out a fight plan, but when things don't go to plan you've got to fall back on your basics.
"He said 'if you cheat on that in the dark of the morning, when the bright lights come on you'll get found out'.
"If I haven't done the same amount of preparation that I do every time, I feel uncomfortable.
"Sometimes on radio you don't have time to churn out the stats, 90% of it I don't actually use because there's no need to, radio is all about commentating.
"But I wouldn't be comfortable unless I had the preparation done for every single match, and I don't mind doing that at all, it's part of the whole thing."
The MBE recognises not only Neilly's broadcasting legacy but also his charitable work, which has seen him raise considerable funds for cystic fibrosis charities and Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI.
Over the past 18 years, Neilly has delved into his book of sporting contacts to invite a range of well-known faces over to speak at dinners and lunches at the Ulster Reform Club, with a donation going to charity each time.
Forty-two years into a broadcasting career, and despite the challenges presented by the global pandemic, Neilly still enjoys the role as much as ever.
"I hope that I have brought the games to life down the years," he reflected.
"And made people enjoy them even more than they would normally."