TOP stars of British sport have paid tribute to broadcaster David Coleman, who died on Saturday aged 87.
Mr Coleman's distinctive voice was synonymous with so many of the iconic sporting moments of the second half of the 20th century. The renowned athletics commentator worked for the BBC for 46 years, covering 11 summer Olympic Games, his final one in Sydney in 2000, and he also covered six football World Cups.
Sir Bobby Charlton, England's all-time record goal-scorer and one of the country's 1966 World Cup heroes, told BBC Radio Five ive's Sportsweek programme he had built up a personal friendship with Coleman.
"He was a very nice man and very dedicated to his job, he loved being a reporter and did his homework - I was really sad when he died," Mr Charlton said. "I was fortunate enough to travel with him when we played in Argentina. We spent a lot of time with each other because we couldn't think of anything better to do than talk about football."
Former England international Kevin Keegan hailed Coleman as a "master".
"Sometimes you can tell when people are out of their depths, but he had them all covered. You just felt he was a master of what he was covering and he knew everything about it, and he probably did. He just had that voice - he is a true legend."
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