Bill McLaren's Big Sheets
Bill was the best commentator the game has ever seen, due largely to the man himself, quiet unassuming and honest, finding the best in everyone and for those who were lucky enough to meet him, he never failed to inspire.
His commentary genius was no ‘fluke’ as he spent hours in preparation learning everything there was to know about the game, players, referee, grounds man, team doctor, and the ground and so on.
On the run up to every game Bill would start with a large blank piece of paper to which he added every detail to the match. In his office at home Bill created a database of players, officials, grounds etc and added this detail to create the work of art that his family call ‘Bill’s Big Sheets’. If Bill had no or little information he would often phone a player at home asking for height, weight, names of brothers and sisters, nicknames, and even what your favourite food was. Even if a phone call was not possible Bill would attend training sessions putting faces to names and also provide the player data with a impromptu interview with the famous Hawick Balls used as a bribe. Only a few of the original big sheets have been donated to ‘good causes’ and regularly fetch thousands of pounds.
During Bill’s career he developed these sheets from the 1950’s which were single colour through to the later years in multicolour with every detail having a purpose. In 1996 Bill commentated in Hawick’s victory in the first ever SRU Scottish Cup.
The foundation aims to release genuine authenticated copies to raise funds for the objectives of the foundation and these will appear as auction items in this site.
Should you or your organisation be interested in a specific big sheet please contact us giving as much detail as possible and we will seek permission from the trustees to see if there is an opportunity to release it.