When David Beckham announced that he was stepping down as England captain the day after we were knocked out of the 2006 World Cup he said the words “I have lived the dream”. Beckham’s dream of captaining England is not an uncommon dream of those who follow the national team here in England. So it may come to a surprise to you that my dream wasn’t to captain England at Football or even Rugby; partly because I wasn’t anywhere near good enough and partly because the weight of expectation of carrying this often under-achieving nation wouldn’t be my cup of tea.
No, my dream was to commentate on a live sporting event. Those who live in Tyseley, particularly Olton Boulevard West will know I used to commentate my own games, mainly because my pals were often grounded; I’m looking at you Hargreaves. I look back and cringe a little when I think of the amount of times I shouted ‘Shearer’ when I scored a goal, but little did I know that over 25 years later, I would actually fulfil my dream.
On Sunday 31st May 2026, I was asked by the owner of BCFC Fanzine to commentate on a Spanish lower league playoff final. It’s hardly the World Cup final, but let me tell you I was as nervous as if it was. The game itself was an absolute rollercoaster. (Check out our youtube channel for coverage and shorts.) I knew very little about the players prior to the game, I now know them all, I felt as if I was a part of those last minute celebrations as if I was there, I may as well have had my shirt off like Juan Carlos did as he ran down the wing in celebration.
The game ended 2-0 and Atletico de Marbella won promotion in the most dramatic fashion. This game had it all, penalty calls, a last minute winner that was controversially chalked off by the referee, who then took his assistants off the pitch as the fans took offence to the poor call and then after a 40 minute delay (which I did my very best Jeff Stelling impression and relayed the information I was being given) the game resumed, and like a Hollywood script, Atletico de Marbella scored again, this time the goal was given and the players, fans, coaches and even John went absolutely crazy.
My commentary reflected exactly how I felt at that moment. 22 players whom I had never heard of before, bar the aforementioned Juan Carlos and his teammate YiYi, created a moment in time that I will never forget. I lost all of my composure and just let the raw emotion of the moment out into my microphone and onto the internet via our live Youtube stream and in that moment I realised I had lived my dream.
Now I have lived my dream, what’s next? Who knows. All I know is I have the bug and keep your eyes peeled!
Keep Right On
Andrew