Clitheroe man becomes voice of BBC football results

Mike West, who is a well-known broadcaster on BBC Radio Lancashire, has been appointed to read the football results on Final Score, and in doing so becomes just the third person ever to do the job.

Sony Award winning host Mike, who lives in Clitheroe, takes over from octogenarian Tim Gudgin, who has been reading the scores every Saturday since 1995. Before him it was the legendary Len Martin.

Mike joined The Clitheroe Advertiser and Times as a junior reporter in 1974, soon becoming chief reporter.

He made the switch from weekly newspapers to reporting at Radio Lancashire – or Radio Blackburn as it was then known – in 1978. Originally from Liverpool, Mike who moved to the Ribble Valley with his family in 1970 and was a pupil at Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, spent more than 30 years at Radio Lancashire.

During that time, he went freelance in 1991, has been a news reporter, producer and hosted the breakfast show.

He has also presented the award-winning “Talkback” show, which invited listeners around the North West to air their views on topical issues, had numerous reports on the BBC World Service and, more recently, the weekend sports bulletins.

He will now no doubt be dreading the score that haunted both Gudgin and Martin – “Forfar 5, East Fife 4”. For the record, this has happened just once and that was under Martin’s reign.

Mike will take the lip mic in the sports department’s new Salford base for the first time next week.