Broadcasting legend Jeff Stelling delights Ilkley audience

Alongside former Sky Sports colleague, and sometime sparring partner, Bianca Westwood, Stelling brought the same “favourite uncle” vibes he did when entertaining the nation on Soccer Saturday for over two decades.

“Cosy” is the adjective I’d use to best describe this “Evening With…” event, but that is no bad thing.

Stelling gave us some fascinating insight into his journey from working-class schoolboy in Hartlepool to the doyen of football broadcasting, via cutting his teeth in local journalism.

Jeff Stelling talks briefly in the show about being made an MBE earlier this year, and how proud he was that it was for his services to charity, as well as sport and broadcasting. (Image: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire.)

But otherwise, it was a slightly swearier evening than usual, peppered with tales about all of your Soccer Saturday faves, like Paul “Merse” Merson, “Champagne” Charlie Nicholas and of course, his close friend Chris “Kammy” Kamara.

Stelling had the audience in stitches on numerous occasions, while he also has a cracking five-minute segment about arguably the greatest British footballer of all time, George Best, who he worked with at the turn of the century.

Westwood always gave as good as she got when she was teased by Stelling for years on Saturday afternoon, often while she was at windswept outposts in the lower reaches of the Football League.

That relationship translated off-screen too on Wednesday night, with their affection for one another clear beneath the back-and-forth teasing.

I had the nickname “Statto” as a child, so on a personal level, Stelling’s little meanders into niche statistics regarding Josh McEachran and the Hamiltons that only he could possibly pick up on had me grinning in awe.

A brilliant memorabilia auction involving items related to Paul Gascoigne and Sir Geoff Hurst was the perfect way to round off the interval, while the second half audience Q&A kept us involved in the show.

And on a poignant note, in a room largely populated by men, Stelling’s segment on prostate cancer, for which he has done so much charity work was both heart-warming and instructive.

Mark Bright, Jeff Stelling, Steve Rider and Chris Kamara after finishing a charity march last year in aid of prostate cancer. (Image: Prostate Cancer UK/PA Wire.)

Who knows? He may even have saved someone’s life the other night.

It is a shame we no longer see Stelling on our screens every Saturday afternoon, but Wednesday’s captivating two-hour show brought to mind a popular cliché.

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.

• Stelling's tour runs until March 10, 2025, with his next two shows in Loughborough and Dudley on October 30 and October 31 respectively. You can buy tickets via the following link.