"They will be dancing in the street’s tonight."
- "He kicked that ball like it were three pounds o' haggis."
- "He could sidestep three men in a telephone box."
- "When he goes like that he's like a mad giraffe."
- "Those props are as cunning as a bag o' weasels."
- "He's like a demented ferret up a wee drainpipe."
- "It's high enough, it's long enough and it's straight enough!"
- "He's all arms and legs like a mad octopus."
"They will be dancing in the street’s tonight." - "He kicked that ball like it were three pounds o' haggis." - "He could sidestep three men in a telephone box." - "When he goes like that he's like a mad giraffe." - "Those props are as cunning as a bag o' weasels." - "He's like a demented ferret up a wee drainpipe." - "It's high enough, it's long enough and it's straight enough!" - "He's all arms and legs like a mad octopus."
Bill McLaren was a man who represented all that is best about rugby union.
He was known as “The Voice of Rugby”, not just because of the beauty of his tone and the delight of his imaginative phrasing, but because he made rugby something that belonged to everyone who listened in, watched on, played or supported it,
The Bill McLaren Foundation
The Foundation was set up in March 2010 to help provide sporting opportunities for young people and promote sporting values within Scotland and beyond. It was also established to recognise the contribution Bill McLaren made to rugby through education and the development of an interpretative centre including Bill's extensive archive and his big sheets.
Your support of the Foundation will serve three purposes:
To develop and promote the sport of rugby union and its values.
To encourage and provide sporting opportunities for young people.
To create an educative centre, which will include the Bill McLaren Archive.
The Foundation raises funds through dinners, events, auctions and the sale of replicas of Bill’s Big Sheets. We also gladly receive offers from around the globe to support your one-off, annual or now-and-again fundraising events. Interested? Let us know!
Bill’s Big Sheets
Bill McLaren was “The Voice of Rugby” for five decades with the BBC and covered 700 matches in that time. His preparation was legendary - for each of his commentaries he would research players, the significance of the match etc, and bring it all together in a well formulated sheet of notes often containing over 1000 facts - Bill's Big Sheet. He was into ‘cut and paste’ long before computers; using scissors and Sellotape to add information from previous games he’d covered.
In his office at home, Bill would spend approximately 40 hours preparing a Big Sheet. If he had no or little information on a player, he would often phone them at home asking for height, weight, names of brothers and sisters, nicknames, and even what their favourite food was. If a phone call wasn’t possible, Bill would attend training sessions putting faces to names and to gather further player data, often with an impromptu interview with the famous Hawick Ball sweeties used as a bribe!
These sheets are the Foundation's unique selling point and are much treasured by rugby loving supporters. We have a selection of replica Big Sheets currently for sale at our events. Or for individual enquiries, please drop us a message via the contact form.
