Jack was a reporter on Radio Blackburn in the 1970s,what happened to him, I have lived in the south since 1978 so I wouldn't know, is he still alive?
Michael Ryan was a commentator on Burnley Club Call, he did most Saturday home games, anybody know what he is doing now

Radio Lancs sacked Jack Holden when the one team he supported were promoted to the Premier League in 1992 - that's over 25 years ago and he wasn't a young man then.

Wasn't Jack Holden on the very 1st reality type show...castaway on an Island, not sure if it was the one where Ben Fogle first popped up..probably wrong.

I seem to remember that Jack Holden passed away a good few years ago.

I've tried to search on the Internet for them both but I can't find anything

tybfc wrote:I seem to remember that Jack Holden passed away a good few years ago.

I’d assumed there was a good chance he would have.


Was the other bloke the one who did our Stockport Wembley video in 1994 who referred to the teams as gladiators and kept calling Stockport ‘The men from Cheshire’?

gtclaret wrote:I've tried to search on the Internet for them both but I can't find anything

I didn't know Michael Ryan.

But I was very good friends with Peter White of the then Lancashire Evening Telegraph who introduced me to Jack Holden.

Pete passed away in the 90's and I haven't seen Jack since but as I said I heard that he had also been long gone.

ClaretTony wrote:I’d assumed there was a good chance he would have.


Was the other bloke the one who did our Stockport Wembley video in 1994 who referred to the teams as gladiators and kept calling Stockport ‘The men from Cheshire’?

That was Mark Briggs.

Whatever happened to David Jones?

ClaretTony wrote:I’d assumed there was a good chance he would have.


Was the other bloke the one who did our Stockport Wembley video in 1994 who referred to the teams as gladiators and kept calling Stockport ‘The men from Cheshire’?

As mentioned that was Mark Briggs. He still writes for the local paper. Nice chap.

David Jones...Radio Lancs version...shudders...

From what I remember at Radio Lancs (Blackburn):

Jack Holden - Rovers
Paul Agnew - PNE
Len Chenery - Non League
David Jones - Covered everyone

Can't remember who covered our games though.

David Jones' clothing would have covered everyone! Was it Guy Havord that covered our games?

Herts Clarets wrote:David Jones' clothing would have covered everyone! Was it Guy Havord that covered our games?

Guy Havard did the Plymouth game! Jimmy Mullen’s Claret and blue armada will set sail for Wembley!

Michael is still living in Burnley but doesn't do the radio anymore. He goes to all the home games and quite a few away. I would be surprised if he isn't on here.

Spijed wrote:From what I remember at Radio Lancs (Blackburn):

Jack Holden - Rovers
Paul Agnew - PNE
Len Chenery - Non League
David Jones - Covered everyone

Can't remember who covered our games though.

alan west did a lot of our games.

quoonbeatz wrote:alan west did a lot of our games.

It was Norman Shakeshaft who covered Preston at the time Holden was doing Blackburn and when they covered Bolton it was Frank Booth.

We didn’t have a regular but often got Norman Turner - he was the one who once referred to Peter Noble as Nobby Stiles.

Steve-Harpers-perm wrote:Guy Havard did the Plymouth game! Jimmy Mullen’s Claret and blue armada will set sail for Wembley!

He did and Guy Havord must have been hurting. He’s a Plymouth fan.

Spijed wrote:Whatever happened to David Jones?

Couldn’t get through the turnstiles.

Spijed wrote:From what I remember at Radio Lancs (Blackburn):

Jack Holden - Rovers
Paul Agnew - PNE
Len Chenery - Non League
David Jones - Covered everyone

Can't remember who covered our games though.

Keith McNee and, following his untimely death, Alan West (affectionately referred to by the talentless Radio Lancashire anchorman Peter Edmondson as 'String Vest')

BTW, Am I the only person who, on hearing the name Len Chenery, can't help singing "Len Chenery, Len Chenery, Len Chen, cheroo"?

Sausage wrote:Keith McNee and, following his untimely death, Alan West (affectionately referred to by the talentless Radio Lancashire anchorman Peter Edmondson as 'String Vest')

BTW, Am I the only person who, on hearing the name Len Chenery, can't help singing "Len Chenery, Len Chenery, Len Chen, cheroo"?

Yes, the only one

Keith McNee left the Burnley Express in the 1972 close season to join the then Radio Blackburn full time. It wasn’t for him though and he soon moved back to newspapers with the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Hard to believe it is over 30 years since he passed away. Too man was Keith and a good friend.

I remember David Jones mainly covering Blackpool. I remember him scarcely able to conceal his delight when they beat us once!

If seems RB has never had a dedicated Burnley reporter, which tells you all you need to know.

Who was the summariser (Dennis ?) who went to Newcastle in some role or other.

that whistle in Radio Lancashire used to stop me in my tracks ! "Goal action on BBC Radio Lancashire" haha

Spijed wrote:Who was the summariser (Dennis ?) who went to Newcastle in some role or other.

richard dinnis.

quoonbeatz wrote:richard dinnis.

That's him.

Did Jack take over from Alf Thornton? I remember Jack's bigotted pro Rovers - anti Clarets reporting, it used to really irritate me. He even had the accent to go with it.

Wasnt it one Micheal Ryan who decided to shoot up people in Hungerford in the 80s

Burnley Club Call, that takes me back a bit, spent a bob or 2 with them most Saturday nights/Sunday mornings.
We've made some progress since then.

I met David Jones at a "Merry Hell" Folk concert in Wigan a year or so ago. He was involved in editing/publishing a folk mag and I think lived in the Merseyside area or Cheshire. I first met him when I was at Edge Hill in Ormskirk mid 1970s.

basil6345789 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2018 4:46 pm

Did Jack take over from Alf Thornton? I remember Jack's bigotted pro Rovers - anti Clarets reporting, it used to really irritate me. He even had the accent to go with it.

And some on the msg board moaning about Phil Bird

Jack Holden was the most biased commentator ever ...but I have never forgot him ...I used to love and hate the goal action jingle...at the time it was usually a goal against the Clarets..

It seemed more often than not that when we got to 70 minutes we always let one in

Not having instantaneous access to scores was in a way a lot more exciting...

Makes it easy appreciating the last 30 years and especially the last 15 years ....

Makes me cringe when the expletives are posted now when a goal is scored against us or we have an odd defeat seems very unbalanced to me

David Jones pulled rank on Jack Holden the day Dalglish arrived.
Jack got packed off to Bury or some other far flung football outpost.
Kinda felt sorry for Jack that day.

Jack Holden lived in Glossop where he was a teacher at the local Grammar School. He published a book on the school's history and I think died about 20 years ago. Jack was responsible for one of my favourite quotes in a Burnley v. Rovers game when he announced 'the grisly spectre of an impending Burnley goal rubbed its hands behind the Rovers net.'

David Jones always struck me as a massive Blackpool fan - literally. Programme improved massively when Gary Hickson took it over.

The only dedicated Burnley reporter I can remember was Scott Reid - at least until the cricket season started! Don’t know if he’s still around - I hardly ever listen to it now.

Ian Chisnall was another with a massive bias towards Blackpool and a dislike of Burnley.

Scott Reid covers Lancashire county cricket now for the BBC Local radio.

Recall Alan West doing the local cricket too, my mate was playing in a final at Blackburn Northern, fielding on the edge with West in the van behind him. My mate could hear him commentating, the ball has gone high in the air and should be caught by the Whalley professional, no he’s dropped it and it’s gone for over the boundary for 6!

I’m pretty sure Dave Edmondson worked on radio lancs too, later to join Burnley in some executive role. He certainly supported them lot, knew his sons through cricket.

scouseclaret wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 23, 2023 9:33 am

David Jones always struck me as a massive Blackpool fan - literally. Programme improved massively when Gary Hickson took it over.

The only dedicated Burnley reporter I can remember was Scott Reid - at least until the cricket season started! Don’t know if he’s still around - I hardly ever listen to it now.

I'm sure I once read David Jones travelled to Turf Moor for a Blackpool game on the team coach !

I used to work on the Saturdays with Gary Hickson around the turn of the century. It was a brilliant experience, he taught me a lot about the production, very professional when on air, sound as a pound off it. One of those chaps who could do about 10 things at once. After finishing my duties, I always had the pleasure of sitting in his studio as the call-in was drawing to a close just to watch him at work.

A few seasons back watching the cricket before the Bournemouth end of season game a bloke in a suit sat next to me, we got talking and it turn out be Guy Havord who was working for sky. We spoke about radio lancs and he said Burnley was a much more hospitable club to deal with than them lot down the road.

Spijed wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:18 pm

From what I remember at Radio Lancs (Blackburn):

Jack Holden - Rovers
Paul Agnew - PNE
Len Chenery - Non League
David Jones - Covered everyone

Can't remember who covered our games though.

Don't forget Norman Shakeshaft and in the early days of Radio Rovers didn't Frank Booth cover Bolton as well?

the_magic_rat wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 23, 2023 10:45 am

Don't forget Norman Shakeshaft and in the early days of Radio Rovers didn't Frank Booth cover Bolton as well?

Norman Shakeshaft - he would get the result, scorers, venue and attendance all in his first sentence and would always sign off with - this is Norman Shakeshaft of the Lancashire Evening Post.

Frank Booth was the Bolton reporter when the station covered them. I met him a few times, really nice man.

We never seemed to have a regular but Jack Holden, don’t get me started on him, he made Alf Thornton appear unbiased. Alf, by the way, was another really nice man but it will be many a year since he passed away. He was also a big Rishton cricket fan and Leisure’s dad used to wind him up virtually every match day there. There was another really nice man too, Leisure’s dad Jack.

Surprised nobody has mentioned that David Jones achieved something most of us can only dream about - playing for Burnley at Wembley!

He was in goal for our veterans team in the pre Sherpa Van Final warm up game in 1988. I remember Peter Noble played and for some obscure reason Gary Lewin, the then Arsenal physio was also in our line up. I think we lost 0-2 but can recall Jones hurling his massive frame about.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 08, 2018 3:44 pm

He did and Guy Havord must have been hurting. He’s a Plymouth fan.

I never knew that! Would never have guessed, did a professional job

Michaels my Dad - I can remember calling the clubcall number when I was younger to listen to him, I must have been about 6/7 in the mid 90’s.

Hasn’t done any commentary for a good while now, but we have season tickets in the longside and get to a few away games too.

Not sure about the other chap however.

I can confirm he wasn’t involved in Hungerford, however the name has followed him around since!

JohnDearyMe wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 23, 2023 11:55 am

I never knew that! Would never have guessed, did a professional job

Jimmy Mullen’s claret and blue armada!

Forgot about David Jones with his Blackpool bias! Amazing to think we relied on a goal jingle or ceefax for the score!

Jack Holden.

I remember a game towards the end of one of the seasons in the late 80's where Rovers were chasing promotion, Jack was boasting how there was going to be a massive crowd at Ewood, as Nuttall Street was the busiest he'd seen it in nearly twenty years.

Attendance announced as just over 12,000

Jack Holden: “just coming up on half time here at Ewood Park the score is Blackburn 0 Ipswich 3, and it’s all Rovers”

Back in the day when you used to record the games on a c90 cassette , particularly if i was attending the game id get my sister to start the recording and switch the tape over at half time. I recorded the rovers v burnley game when we took the darwen end roof off. Jack was reporting from the radio booth which was in the away end. Illl never forget playing it back and hearing… “ I’m reporting to you now from beneath the commentary desk as the burnley fans continue to demolish the roof And are now trying to break into my booth….

Listening to Jack Holden’s reports from Rovers matches was hilarious. It’d always sound like Rovers were doing brilliantly and the other team hadn’t had a sniff until it got to the end of the report when you’d find out they were losing 2-0.

Ha ha love this.

Mine was a similar recollection of Jack Holden and his Rovers bias.

I can remember Radio Blackburn going over to him for a mid first half report in which he didn’t announce the score line until the end of his report which went something like this;

“Stuart Metcalfe reigns supreme in the middle of the park and has prompted numerous attacks, Tony Parkes has won every tackle and Derek Fazackerley unbeatable in the air. John Byrom is terrorising the opposition with his powerful runs and I’ll hand you back to the studio with the score of Rovers 0 Southampton 1.” . Unbelievable Jeff.