THE 1999 European Cup Final between Manchester United v Bayern Munich was probably the most awaited match that the whole nation has wanted to see.

I had to settle for the TV. But despite the result - the unbelievable finish - one thing spoiled it for me . . . ITV's commentary team of Clive Tyldesley and Ron 'I'll tell you what, Clive' Atkinson.

The whole match was spent with those two yakking on all the time about irrelevant things.

Ron Atkinson annoys me and many others because he is engaged as an "expert summariser," but he just talks throughout the 90 minutes despite Clive Tyldesley, or whoever is behind the mike, trying to describe the action.

The difference with the BBC's coverage is that theirs is very professionally done, with John Motson - the king of football commentators - and Trevor Brooking, who only comments when Motson asks him for an opinion.

I enjoy watching football, but ITV is spoiling their coverage by cutting it off for advertisements. At the European Cup Final, just after Manchester United had received the trophy, what do ITV do as they were just about to go on a lap of honour? They showed a few adverts instead.

For heaven's sake, why couldn't they let us all enjoy probably the most dramatic end to any European Cup Final ever staged?

If ITV get the contract again for next season's Champions' League, they've got to improve their coverage a lot and get rid of so-called expert 'Big Ron'.

Give me the BBC any day. The sooner they get the contract back to screen the big games like the FA Cup finals, European matches, etc, the better!

M HIBBERT, Ivan Street, Burnley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.