Four decades behind the mic – Alumni Stories, Edwin Overland

We recently had the opportunity to chat to former student Edwin Overland who has had not one, but two successful careers, for many years working both jobs at the same time.

Edwin left York St John in 1964 armed with a Certificate in Education and headed straight for his first teaching job in Stamford Bridge.  Little did he know that although he would go on to forge a successful teaching career, his love for sports would lead him into a parallel sports broadcasting role that would last nearly forty years. ‘I was delighted to have chosen St John’s College, it was a great place and I loved my time there,’ Edwin said. ‘The college had an excellent reputation for training teachers and the city itself had everything, it was always my number one choice.’ Although Edwin stayed near York for his first job, he eventually returned home to Cambridgeshire, working first in a school in his parents’ village and then as a Deputy Head in the village of Leverington near Wisbech, where he stayed for the next 23 years.

It was once he was back in Cambridgeshire that Edwin began to explore his passion for sports broadcasting, and very soon he was working in both professions side by side. ‘As well as a love for teaching I had always had an ambition to be a sports broadcaster.  I started out in the early 1970s when video was just starting to emerge, doing the commentary for football matches for video companies. Around the same time I saw an advert in a magazine for audio commentary for Speedway; I was doing it all myself, recording the commentary on the night and selling tapes to the public. I ended up selling 150 copies of my commentary on the night when Michael Lee won the British championships in the late 1970s!’ Edwin soon became known as a sport broadcaster and in 1980 he became a regular announcer at the Speedway in Kings Lynn, which included commentary for BBC Radio Norfolk, and from 1982 he worked at Peterborough too.

During Edwin’s early speedway days he sent copies of his football commentary to the newly launched BBC Radio Cambridgeshire which, in 1982, resulted in a role as a main football commentator, firstly  for Cambridge United and then for Peterborough United in 1993. ’I had a great experience commentating with Cambridge United, which included FA Cup ties against Arsenal and Crystal Palace,’ remembers Edwin. ‘But when the regular commentator for Peterborough United moved on, it made perfect sense for me to move over to Peterborough, not only because it was closer to home, but also because I was a Posh fan growing up.’ At this point Edwin took  early retirement from teaching to allow him to focus on his passion for sports broadcasting , passion which developed  into working on videos for football and speedway as well as writing programme columns and match reports for local newspapers.

Over four decades in sports broadcasting Edwin has gained a great deal of admiration from his listeners. Local journalist Jamie Reed wrote: ‘Put simply, Edwin Overland is a legend, it’s an overused term but it’s fitting for a man who at 75 is one of the oldest and longest-serving announcers in the country. He has a special talent in delivering the spoken word, but more importantly, he has a God-given ability to make a listener – be it on the airwaves or on the terraces – feel at ease, informed and warm inside.’

After a career spanning almost 40 years, what are Edwin’s highlights? ‘Watching Posh in the play-off final was real highlight for me; we beat Huddersfield 3-0 at Old Trafford to secure promotion to the Championship, and it was a great day. Alongside that I would say Peterborough winning the elite league championship (the top league title in Speedway) in 2006, it was the second leg and we won it right on the last heat, it was just a fantastic occasion.’

 Finally, Edwin has a few words of advice for anyone with an interest in sports broadcasting. ’Go for it! There are great opportunities for those who are keen and interested, if you have the ability and the enthusiasm you’ll succeed!’

Thank you so much Edwin for talking to us, if you have a story to share about you’ve been up to since leaving, we’d love to hear from you! get in touch by e-mailing alumni@yoksj.ac.uk.