The story of Sports Report is a 75-year-old history of sport .

This definitive official celebration Sports Report recounts the BBC radio programme’s rich history as well the British sporting moments it has covered.

For nearly 75 years, one BBC programme has been a constant factor in chronicling the way sport is covered, in all its many facets. It has been a window on the sporting world, all over the globe - packed tightly into just one hour, every Saturday evening, for the bulk of the year.

First broadcast in 1948, Sports Report is the longest-running radio sporting programme in the world and one of the BBC’s hardy perennials, in the top ten of longevity.

Patrick Murphy has been a reporter on the programme since 1981 and here he sift comprehensively through the experiences of his contemporaries and those who made their mark on Sports Report in earlier decades. He hears from commentators, reporters, producers, presenters, and the production teams who regularly achieved the broadcasting miracle of getting a live programme on air, without a script, adapting as the hour of news, reaction and comment unfolded. Drawing on unique access from the BBC Archives Unit, he highlights memorable moments from Sports Report, details the challenges faced in getting live interviews on air from draughty, noisy dressing-room areas and celebrates the feat of just a small production team in the studio who, somehow, get the show up and running every Saturday, with the clock ticking implacably on.

Sports Report is as much a history of sport as a BBC radio institution and Patrick Murphy pays handsome tribute to a programme that is still followed affectionately by millions.

This definitive tribute includes exclusive contributions from:

Des Lynam - Mark Pougatch - Eleanor Oldroyd - John Inverdale - Mark Chapman - Gary Lineker - Dan Walker - Sir Tim Rice - Lord Blunkett - Henry Winter - Garry Richardson - Daniel Taylor - Paul Hayward - Clare Balding - Jon Champion - Lee Child - Lord Coe - Sir Kenny Dalglish - Matt Dawson - Graham Gooch - Charlotte Green - Mike Ingham - Mark Lawrenson - John Motson - Jonathan Pearce - Harry Redknapp - Robbie Savage - Adrian Chiles - Ian McMillan - plus many more.