''Sport on Four'' was a long-running BBC radio sports programme aired on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

on Saturday mornings between 30 April 1977 and 4 April 1998. Its original presenter was former Welsh cricketer

Tony Lewis Anthony Robert Lewis CBE (born 6 July 1938) is a Welsh former cricketer, who captained England, became a journalist, went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage between 1986 and 1998, and became president of the Marylebone C ...

. In the early years the programme ran from 0810 until 0845, but was moved to the 0905-0930 slot at the start of 1987. In 1986 a series of guest presenters led ''Sport on 4'', including

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues singer and guitarist from Middlesbrough. A "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart" known for his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty five solo albums, two of which t ...

Harry Carpenter Harry Leonard Carpenter, OBE (17 October 1925 – 20 March 2010) was a British BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing. He was presenter of programmes such as ''Sportsnig ...

David Coleman David Robert Coleman OBE (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was a British sports commentator and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years. He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six FIFA World Cups from ...

Ian Wooldridge Ian Edmund Wooldridge, OBE (14 January 1932 – 4 March 2007) was a British sports journalist. He was with the '' Daily Mail'' for nearly 50 years. Biography Born in New Milton, Hampshire, Wooldridge left Brockenhurst Grammar School with two ...

Chris Brasher Christopher William Brasher CBE (21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British track and field athlete, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon. Early life and education Born in Georgetown, British Guiana, Brasher went t ...

Ron Pickering Ronald James Pickering (4 May 1930 – 13 February 1991) was an athletics coach and BBC sports commentator. Biography Pickering was born in Hackney. His father was a sign fixer. He became head boy at West Ham Secondary School (later to become ...

Barry Davies Barry George Davies MBE (born 24 October 1937) is an English retired sports commentator and television presenter. He covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC. Although best known for his football commentary, D ...

Des Lynam Desmond Michael Lynam, (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born television and radio presenter. In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, presentin ...

and others. Eventually,

Cliff Morgan Clifford Isaac Morgan, (7 April 1930 – 29 August 2013) was a Welsh rugby union player who played for Cardiff RFC and earned 29 caps for Wales between 1951 and 1958. After his playing career ended, Morgan made a successful career in broadca ...

- who had just retired as a senior BBC TV Executive - took over the presenter's role in the spring of 1987 and remained at the helm until the programme came to an end with schedule changes in April 1998. After the launch of BBC Radio 5 in 1990, Sport on 4 was given a lunchtime repeat on the new network, rebranded as Sport On 4 + 1. This repeat was dropped in 1994. Other BBC sports reporters and correspondents who contributed to the programme included Tony Adamson,

Christopher Martin-Jenkins Christopher Dennis Alexander Martin-Jenkins, MBE (20 January 1945 – 1 January 2013), also known as CMJ, was a British cricket journalist and a President of MCC. He was also the longest serving commentator for ''Test Match Special'' (TMS) on ...

Garry Richardson Garry Richardson (born 1956/1957) is a British radio presenter. He presented the Sunday morning sports programme '' Sportsweek'' on BBC Radio 5 Live until 15 September 2019, and remains a sports presenter on the weekday morning ''Today'' show o ...

, Ian Robertson, Renton Laidlaw,

Peter Bromley Peter Bromley (30 April 1929 – 3 June 2003) was BBC Radio's voice of horse racing for 40 years, and one of the most famous and recognised sports broadcasters in the United Kingdom. Early life Born at Heswall on the Wirral (then in Cheshire) ...

, Peter Jones, Bryon Butler,

John Inverdale John Inverdale (born 27 September 1957) is an English broadcaster who works for both the BBC and ITV. During his radio career, he has presented coverage of many major sporting events including the Olympic Games, Wimbledon, the Grand Nationa ...

and others. Its theme tune used an extract from The Shuffle by

Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approximat ...

. ''Sport on Four'' was replaced in the new Radio 4 schedule by John Peel's ''

Home Truths ''Home Truths'' was a weekly BBC Radio 4 programme which began on 11 April 1998 and was usually hosted by the DJ John Peel until his death in October 2004. In the Saturday 910am slot, it gradually became one of Radio 4's most successful programm ...

'' from 11 April 1998.

References

BBC Radio 4 programmes {{BBC-radio-stub