Eddie Waring

Edward Marsden Waring (Eddie Waring) (born February 21, 1910 in Dewsbury, Yorkshire – October 28, 1986) was a British sports commentator and television presenter.

After a period as manager of Dewsbury RLFC, Waring became well known as the voice of rugby league commentary on the BBC. His style could sometimes alienate followers of the game, believing it to be conforming to stereotype. During the 1960s, his eccentric mode of speech (rugby league was Template:PronEng) and northern accent began to be widely impersonated, largely due to the influence of Mike Yarwood. Students formed the Eddie Waring Society in his honour.

Waring branched out, appearing as a presenter on the television series, It's a Knockout, and as the UK's representative on the international umpiring team for the European version of the show, Jeux Sans Frontieres, where his striped blazer made him easy to spot.

Eddie also had an endearing sense of humour, taking on occasional appearances in such famous TV comedy programmes as The Morecambe and Wise Show and The Goodies.

Famous and Favourite Quotes

His favourite expression, "It's an up and under", became a notable catchphrase in the 1970s. An "up and under" is a rugby tactic consisting of kicking the ball in a high arc, while the rest of the team rushes toward the landing point, hoping to gain possession and field position.

The Times newspaper in March 2006 published a list of 25 favourite sporting quotes and one of Waring's appeared there:

• "Eee, poor lad" - said by Waring, when in 1968 Wakefield Trinity rugby league player Don Fox made a feeble kick, missing from in front of the posts during the Challenge Cup final against Leeds - the miss handed the cup to his opponents,

• "Aye, aye...! It's an awkward one the boy's got to deal with it" - referring to an up and under in the Challenge Cup final between Leeds and St. Helens in 1978

• "It's a test of a lot of things: speed, strength, courage and....faith... I suppose." - Comment on the dying minutes of the same final

• "Thats one ton of Rugby you're looking at there... Beef, brains, brawn....muscle.... The lot of it.

• "He's goin' for an early bath" - frequently heard during a game when a player was sent off the field for a serious foul.

References

• The Times - Sport section 2 March 2006.
• Paul Fox, ‘Waring, Edward Marsden [Eddie] (1910–1986)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 17 Feb 2008

Books

• Being Eddie Waring: The Life and Times of a Sporting Icon by Tony Hannan (ISBN 1845963008)
• Eddie Waring on Rugby League by Eddie Waring (ISBN 0584103581)
• Ruby League: The Great Ones by Eddie Waring (ISBN 072070300X)

External links

• Eddie Waring at IMDb
• BBC recap of Eddie Waring's career
• Article about Eddie in the Independent
• Biography