Choose Archie: Trainspotting, shrieks & sexy football

Archie Macpherson joked that he found out the literal meaning of sexy football after becoming an overnight sensation and a worldwide smash in the process due to the film Trainspotting.

The Scottish football broadcaster was asked to re-record his famous commentary from Scotland’s 3-2 victory over Holland in the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina for the cult movie, which was released on February 23 1996.

Footage of Archie Gemmill's wonder solo goal against the Netherlands - which won goal of the tournament - features on the TV screen in the background as Renton (Ewan McGregor) has sex with Diane (Kelly Macdonald).

The iconic scene ends with Renton uttering the famous line: “I haven’t felt that good since Archie Gemmill scored against Holland in 1978.”

Macpherson, who also commentated on the infamous 'Hampden Riot' 1980 Scottish Cup final between Celtic and Rangers, revealed that he didn't even bother reading the script for Danny Boyle's 1996 picture as he just focused on the fee that he would receive for redoing his original descriptive account.

While he was a veteran broadcaster, he was a very reluctant movie star. Despite that, Macpherson insists that he was quids-in with his French friends after he viewed the film in a cinema in the Champs-Elysees - and reckons he gained a larger following for that moment alone than during all of his time presenting Sportscene.

"To be honest, I went into that Trainspotting venture blind," Macpherson told The Celtic Way. "I got a phone call from Danny Boyle - who eventually won the Oscar for the film Slumdog Millionaire - and he needed me to redo my commentary for the film because over the course of time the commentary sound had faded and it needed some work.

"I went to London and I did it for him a few times before I got it right. In fact, if memory serves me correctly he got me to record it 14 times before he was satisfied. He had sent me a script but I didn't bother reading it as I couldn't have cared less. I read the cheque he was going to give me for redoing the commentary!

"I saw Trainspotting in Paris and all of my French friends thought I was the bee's knees. It has kind of stuck with me - I had a bigger audience for Trainspotting than I ever had for Sportscene that's for sure. It is certainly not the worst thing to be remembered for."

Macpherson contends that throughout his decades-long career only one goal stands next to Gemmill's unforgettable counter: Kenny Dalglish's superb clinching header in the 2-0 victory against Wales that ensured Scotland's passage to that very World Cup.

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Dalglish's, though, came back to haunt Macpherson by turning his face red with embarrassment at the highly prestigious Sports Review of the Year Awards in 1977.

He added: "The Archie Gemmill goal for obvious reasons has always stuck in my mind as well as Kenny's goal for Scotland against Wales at Anfield in 1977.

"That was actually the loudest shriek I've ever had in a commentary. I was highly embarrassed by that eventually as they showed a clip of it at the BBC Sporting Review of the Year in London and I was in the audience. I was right through the screen at that point.

"It is a tremendous moment in sport though - it qualified Scotland for the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina and erased any doubt that we were going to be there."

This piece is an extract from the latest Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

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