Kenneth Wolstenholme
| Kenneth Wolstenholme DFC & Bar |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
17 July 1920 Worsley, Lancashire, England, UK |
| Died | 25 March 2002 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Football commentator and presenter |
| Known for | Presenting: Match of the Day Football comment: "They think it's all over" |
Kenneth Wolstenholme, DFC & Bar (17 July 1920 – 25 March 2002) was an English football commentator for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s, most notable for his commentary during the 1966 FIFA World Cup which included the famous phrase "some people are on the pitch...they think it's all over....it is now!", as Geoff Hurst scored England's fourth goal.
Wolstenholme was born in Worsley, Lancashire. His family were Primitive Methodists and his brother attended Elmfield College. He attended Farnworth Grammar School, where Alan Ball, Jr. (on whom Wolstenholme commentated in the 1966 World Cup Final) was also a pupil some years later.
Wolstenholme started his career as a journalist with a newspaper in Manchester, as a member of the RAFVR he was soon called up. In 1941, Wolstenholme qualified as a bomber pilot and was posted to 107 Squadron, flying Mark IV Bristol Blenheims out of RAF Great Massingham, Norfolk. At the start of 1943 he transferred to de Havilland Mosquito with 105 Squadron, part of Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett's No. 8 Group RAF Pathfinder Group. Wolstenholme completed more than 100 highly hazardous sorties over Occupied Europe and in May 1944 was awarded the DFC. The following year he won a Bar to his DFC for his continual bravery in raids on Germany in a period of exceptionally heavy night fighter activity. He finished the war as an acting Squadron Leader, having spent its last stages working in the RAF's public relations department.
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