[2] Montford was born on 25 May 1929 to the son of a journalist, Sid, who spent a long career at the Glasgow Evening News and Daily Record.
While there, he covered numerous sports, but it was football that became his main focus, and he was asked by the BBC's well-known producer Peter Thomson to do some match reports for radio.
[2] It was a golden era in Scottish football, and Montford was at the heart of it from the late-1950s through the glory days of the 1960s, the 1970s and all the way through to the late-1980s, always finding something positive to say about the game – even in Argentina in 1978.
During his time on Scotsport, Montford became famous for his trademark checkered pattern sports jackets, and some classic lines of football commentary, including What a Stramash!
[9] Montford also commentated or presented items on many other sports, particularly ice hockey – a favourite of his – and golf, where his work for ITV brought him to the notice of a wider public.
During the 1978 FIFA World Cup, a technical fault with the feed from Argentina prevented ITV from broadcasting Hugh Johns' commentary on the Scotland vs Peru game, so Montford's commentary, originally only intended for Scottish viewers, was used on the entire network (the same fault affected the BBC in reverse, with Scottish viewers having to listen to David Coleman instead of Archie MacPherson).
His recollections of some of golf's greatest players, moments, and tournaments were popular with the magazine's readers and he was the title's longest-serving regular contributor.