Hamilton Bland

Last updated

Hamilton Bland (born 1943) was a leading BBC swimming commentator, once known as the "Voice of Swimming".

Bland originally worked at Rugby School before he became the chief coach to the British Olympic team from 1968 to 1972.

Bland was employed as a swimming commentator by the BBC from 1975 to 1998. He was dropped from the role due to allegations of corruption arising from his employment by the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) as Facilities Advisor. In this position Bland advised bodies such as councils who were planning construction or development of swimming pools, as an example Bland worked as swimming consultant on the Ponds Forge pool in Sheffield. [1] It was alleged that Bland took secret commissions from suppliers who were then recommended by him in his position as facilities advisor. The ASA sacked Bland after they found him guilty of bringing the sport of swimming into disrepute, although Bland himself denies any wrongdoing. [2] [3]

Bland then set up a company (Sportizus Ltd) dealing in celebrity memorabilia which, although initially successful, eventually went into administration in 2006. [4] He now works as a public speaker.[ citation needed ]

In 2011 Bland won a court case against Coventry City Council claiming that his Mercedes had been damaged by potholes. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Coleman (footballer)</span> Welsh footballer and manager (born 1970)

Christopher Patrick Coleman is a Welsh professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Super League Greece club Atromitos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Walker</span> British motorsport commentator and journalist (1923–2021)

Graeme Murray Walker was an English motorsport commentator and journalist. He provided television commentary of live Formula One coverage for the BBC between 1976 and 1996, and for ITV between 1997 and 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Atkinson</span> Football player and manager

Ronald Frederick Atkinson is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Butcher</span> English football player and manager

Terry Ian Butcher is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town.

Mark Gordon Robins is an English football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Coventry City in the EFL Championship. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier League with Norwich City and Leicester City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Pressley</span> Scottish footballer and manager

Steven John Pressley is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He was most recently the manager of Carlisle United.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coventry Airport</span> Airport in Warwickshire, England

Coventry Airport is located three nautical miles south-southeast of Coventry city centre, in the village of Baginton, Warwickshire, England. The airport is operated and licensed by Coventry Airport Limited. Its CAA Ordinary Licence allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Powell</span> English footballer and manager (born 1969)

Christopher George Robin Powell is an English football coach and former player, who was most recently head of coaching at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur's academy.

Lee Kevin Carsley is a former professional footballer who is head coach of England U21.

Clive Harold Everton is a sports commentator, journalist, author and former professional snooker and English billiards player. He founded Snooker Scene magazine, which was first published in 1971, and continued as editor until September 2022. He has authored over twenty books about cue sports since 1972.

Richard Edward Shaw is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is under-23s coach at Championship side Watford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Whing</span> English football player and manager (born 1984)

Andrew John Whing is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a right back. He is currently the head coach of National League club Solihull Moors.

Nicholas Jeremy Eaden is an English football coach and former professional footballer, he is a senior professional development coach at EFL League One side Barnsley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Fox</span> Association football player (born 1986)

Daniel Fox is a former professional footballer who last played as a defender for East Bengal in the Indian Super League. He represented England at under-21 international level, has since been selected for Scotland national team, making his debut in the November 2009 against Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Wells (politician)</span>

Jim Wells is a Northern Ireland politician, formerly of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Down from 1998 to 2022; he was one the longest serving MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Wells is also a former Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and was a councillor on Down District Council from 2001 to 2011.

James McPake is a professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Dunfermline Athletic. McPake played for Livingston, Greenock Morton, Coventry City, Hibernian and Dundee. He mainly played as a defender, although he started his career as a forward. McPake played once for Northern Ireland, in 2012.

Exhall Grange School is a special school located in Ash Green just outside Coventry in Warwickshire, England. The school meets the needs of children and young people age from 2 to 19 years with physical disability, visual impairment, complex medical needs, and social, communication and interaction difficulties.

Frank Stephen Bunn is an English former professional footballer who is the U23 coach of League One club Wigan Athletic. He holds the Football League Cup record for the most goals (six) by a player in a single match, achieved in 1989.

David John Pleat is an English football player turned manager, and sports commentator. Pleat made 185 Football League appearances for five clubs, scoring 26 goals. He had two spells as manager of Luton Town, and four as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

Paul Anthony Hickson was a British former swimming coach, originally from Leicestershire. He coached the British Olympic swimming team at two Olympics in the 1980s, but behind his sporting prowess, he had been a determined and devious serial rapist of teenage female swimmers, who had misplaced their trust in him.

References

  1. ↑ Architects Journal 17 July 1991 (p34 and p45)
  2. ↑ "'Voice of swimming' sacked". BBC News. 11 May 1998.
  3. ↑ "`Voice of Swimming' sacked over bribes". The Independent. 12 May 1998. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  4. ↑ "Memorabilia chain runs into trouble". Coventry Telegraph. 11 September 2006. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "Driver Wins Pothole Payout From Coventry City Council". Coventry Telegraph. 5 September 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-09-29. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.