In his timesdiary of 13th October last year Patrick Kidd recorded, under the heading “Football Boss’s Sweet FA” that Kenneth Tynan’s claim to be the first person to say the f-word on British television has been debunked by Duncan Hamilton. In his book about England’s World Cup triumph in 1966, Answered Prayers, Hamilton reveals that John Cobbold [(1927-1983) #575], the eccentric chairman of Ipswich Town during Alf Ramsey’s time as manager, got there three years before Tynan in an interview for local television. A reporter asked what exactly he did at the club. “F*** all,” Cobbold replied. Unlike Tynan whose lapse led to four parliamentary motions and Mary Whitehouse writing to the Queen, Cobbold escaped censure.
The following day Patrick recorded that the first use of the f-word was not Kenneth Tynan in 1965, nor, as I wrote yesterday, John Cobbold in 1962. Mark Mason alerts me to Ulster Television’s magazine show Roundabout in 1959, when a chap whose job was to paint the many railings beside the River Lagan in Belfast was asked how he found it. ‘F***ing boring’ he said. There was not a single complaint.
Talking of Alf Ramsey, it is said that he had problems with words. Hamilton lists some of his malapropisms, such as There is s great harmonium in our dressing room; We are pushing at an open jar and It’s so hot the compensation is running down the walls. That may explain why he could be terse with journalists. One asked for a quick word. “Goodbye” Ramsey said, “but I suppose that is not the quick word you were hoping for.”
Anthony Cobbold
