Hugh Johns

Later that year, Johns richly descriptive tones, would be the perfect fit for an epic World cup semi final, in which Italy beat West Germany 4–3 after extra time.

Other memorable games that he covered, included the dramatic world cup qualifier on 17 October 1973, when Sir Alf Ramsey's England, failed to beat Poland at Wembley, in front of a 100,000 full house, and many millions watching the match live on ITV, missing out on a place at the 1974 FIFA World Cup finals tournament.

Johns was the regular commentator on ATV's Star Soccer, taking over from Peter Lorenzo shortly after the programme's launch in the London area in October 1965.

He continued working for ATV, and subsequently Central Television until the summer of 1982, when he was replaced by BBC radio 2 football commentator Peter Brackley.

His last major ITV duties came at the World Cup that year in Spain, where he covered the matches in group 2, featuring West Germany, Austria, Algeria, and Chile.

Johns registered his disgust several times, during his commentary on the match between West Germany and Austria, where the teams contrived their passage through to the next phase, at the expense of Algeria.

Until 1996 Johns continued to commentate for HTV Wales, making occasional network appearances on the odd international or Cup tie.

In an interview with ITV on his retirement he revealed that he helped to lubricate his vocal cords with a couple of pints of Brains Bitter every day and was a regular smoker.