CELEBRATED World Cup commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme is one of the most unlikely pop stars.

At 76 he has unwittingly found himself starring on several ultra-trendy tracks with his immortal words: "Some of the crowd are on the pitch. They think it's all over . . . it is now."

So he would have expected the immortal phrase to appear on the new album Euro '96 - The Beautiful Game, out on Monday, wouldn't he?

"I didn't know anything about it," the amiable veteran sporting fanatic told Pulse.

"They certainly didn't ask me or the BBC if they could use it.

"Commentators these days do not get royalties. "They just get a set fee. But in 1966 they got residuals every time their work was used. They still apply."

Salford-born Kenneth can be heard on the 1996 remix of the New Order song World In Motion, originally released for the World Cup in 1990.

Now it seems he is set for another fall-out with the band, who incidentally hail from his home town.

"New Order were a little bit naughty last time they used my voice," he said. "But we contacted them and told them they had to pay. If they are using it again they should have asked permission."

Kenneth is eager to protect a phrase that has become part of world folklore.

The bands whose new and old footballing songs appear on Euro '96 would do the same. They include some of the biggest names in pop music - Supergrass, Pulp, Primal Scream, Massive Attack and The Lightning Seeds.

But the business is a bit of a mystery to Ken.

"Music? I don't know anything about it," said the devout Bolton Wanderers fan.

"I don't know a crotchet from a quaver. If I like it, I like it.

"Overtures, a bit of rap music, country and western.

"But I very much regret that I didn't learn music as a youngster.

"I came from a big family and my brothers and sisters all had music lessons but didn't do anything with it.

"When it came to me, my father thought 'I'll save some money on this fellow.' But, strangely enough, I was asked to go on Jazz FM for an item called Celebrity Choice. My choices were Fats Waller, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and others. I like all those and yet I have tapes of the Four Tenors, opera - it's a wide spectrum. But some of the modern stuff is well above my head." Not so the glorious game. Kenneth, who was educated at Farnworth Grammar School with Alan Ball senior, is still busy with projects like Channel Four's Football Italia show and a book about the 1966 Cup Final. He attended his first Trotters' game as a four-year-old.

Therefore you might imagine the Burnden Park side's performance this season has left him less than happy.

He said: "The premiership is four or five clubs and the rest are struggling against relegation.

"Charlton, Crystal Palace and Leicester were fighting for promotion, I don't think any one of them can call in the £10 or £15 million they would need to stay up."

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