Special breed with Latics at heart

Gordon Lawton in the commentary position

THIRTEEN seasons after first picking up the microphone, Gordon Lawton's commentary at AFC Wimbledon was always designed to be his last.

He posed for photographs in the press section at Kingsmeadow - typically, hamming it up for the camera's benefit with a series of comedic gestures at first - as part of a farewell gesture.

Only four months before, the man from Castleton who first rolled up to set up a club lottery back in 1986 had been elevated to the position as football secretary.

He had decided to take a back seat from 2017-18 to concentrate on his new backroom duties.

Now, following his passing, there is not so much a gap as a chasm to fill at Athletic.

Within the small offices of the Main Stand at SportsDirect.com Park, the recent paint job which has seen club memorabilia temporarily taken down now represents a prescient mark of respect.

It will take far more than a cosmetic makeover to take away the memories of 'Gordy' that lie ingrained within the very fabric of the club.

"He had taken on retirement from commentating and unfortunately, that photograph became an end-of-life momento," said his long-time co-commentator Roy Butterworth, of the image taken by another travelling companion to away games and good friend Alan Howarth.

Tributes have poured in from throughout the game that prove just how deeply respected and hugely likeable Gordon was.

A man with a gift for a carefully judged wind-up, he was also a terrific radio commentator in the opinion of Roy, another who has been there and seen it all over the years down Sheepfoot Lane.

"MOVE"

"For me, he was the best ball-by-ball commentator I have come across," Roy added. "Gordon could talk through a move that had already taken place while the game had moved on. It is a difficult thing to do.

"We brought in John Helm recently, who is FIFA's main English-speaking commentator who is out in the Confederations Cup right now. He found it difficult to do the radio commentary as it's so different compared to doing it with live pictures.

"He was absolutely excellent."

Not everyone appreciated Gordon's popular brand of excitable commentary, though.

One occasion at Scunthorpe in 2007, when the hosts were hanging on to a 1-0 lead with only nine men on the field only for Gary McDonald to equalise deep in added time, his reaction on the air led to retribution inside the press box.

"There was a siege on the Scunthorpe goal," said Roy. "Their striker Andy Keogh came out with the ball, ran it to halfway and kicked it up the tunnel then ran back to the goal area.

"We were talking about this and a woman in front was turning round and glaring.

"Then, we equalised. Gordon leaned over and did a Brazilian-style 'Gooooal!' close to her ear.

"A handbag suddenly came over and whacked him right round his head! It was all good fun.

"The banter was truly off the scale in the media car. It will never be the same again - as Gordon won't be there for us to abuse, or to give us a dose back!"

In an interview in his new downstairs office near the start of this year, Gordon described how proud he was to become football secretary.

"Oldham fans are a special breed, aren't they?", he said back then.

Gordon Lawton - a hugely regarded commentator, employee, supporter and human being - certainly was just that.