Archie Macpherson

Archibald Macpherson (born 1937) is a Scottish football commentator and author. He has been commentating on Scottish football, on radio and television, for over four decades.

Macpherson was born and raised in the Shettleston area of Glasgow. His father had played as a centre forward for Shettleston, Dalry Thistle and Largs Thistle. He achieved a BA in Education and was a teacher in North Lanarkshire in the late 1950s.

Macpherson has worked for the BBC, STV, Eurosport, Setanta Sports, Radio Clyde and Talksport although he initially struggled to gain a foothold in broadcasting. His first job was as a teacher where he supplemented his income by getting short stories published in local newspapers. Such efforts paid off and helped him gain his initial big break at the BBC. He continued to work as a teacher until 1969 when he joined the BBC on a full-time basis and remained with the corporation until 1990.

Macpherson has made his own personal appearances within Scottish popular culture. He once appeared on Rikki Fulton's Scotch and Wry (a prominent comedy sketch show screened by BBC Scotland) being mistaken for former University Challenge host Bamber Gascoigne.[citation needed ] In the film adaptation of Irvine Welsh's cult novel Trainspotting he re-voiced his commentary of Archie Gemmill's famous goal for Scotland against the Netherlands at the 1978 World Cup as a sex scene unfolded at the same time, both pieces of action climaxing simultaneously. He was also a regular figure of the BBC TV network's sport coverage. He appeared on Grandstand to round up the Scottish football league results and presented some sports bulletins for Breakfast Time when Bob Wilson or David Icke were off. He also occasionally commentated on matches in England for the network, especially when the television rights to Scottish Cup belonged to Scottish Television in 1988–90.

His popularity saw him elected as Rector of the University of Edinburgh in 1985, defeating Teddy Taylor, Margo MacDonald and Richard Demarco.

Macpherson was recognised at the 2005 Scottish BAFTA ceremony, picking up a prize for "Special Contribution to Scottish Broadcasting".

His last regular role was commentating on STV's coverage of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches involving Scottish teams. Archie also became famous for his appearances on STV's Scotsport, which aired highlights from the Scottish Premier League (SPL) on Monday nights during the football season, until its axe in 2008.

Macpherson has written a best-selling biography of Scottish football manager Jock Stein, and Flower of Scotland?, about his own trials and tribulations whilst following Scottish football for the past four decades. A Game of Two-Halves : The Autobiography followed in 2009, and in 2014, he turned to fiction with the adventure novel Silent Thunder.

In 2020, Macpherson's book More Than A Game: Living with the Old Firm was published by Luath Press.

Two years later, Macpherson published his latest book on sport: "Touching the Heights: Personal Portraits of Scottish Sporting Greats", which was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year 2022.

More Than a Game on Amazon

Silent Thunder at Amazon