Our story
How a spilled cup of coffee launched a thousand sheets.
The Sports Commentators can be traced back to a boy messing around under the commentary box desk, a flask of coffee, and a father's prized handwritten notes. The Nescafe tsunami that ensued may have ruined the sheets, but it would later spark an idea that made that crying over spilled coffee worthwhile.
Where it started
A short, sharp kick wasn't enough to stop the giggles from the two boys huddled under the commentary box desk. But it was enough to knock over the flask of coffee across the commentator's hand-written commentary notes.
Coffee-stains or not, Charlie had never really looked twice at his father's reams of intricate, hand-written notes. To a ten-year-old boy they looked like very complicated homework. It was only when Nigel was diagnosed with dementia - the cruelest irony for a man who'd built his life around the ability to communicate - that he started to see those sheets differently. At first it was simply a lovely legacy of a commentary career of 40 years and over 1,000 games. But perhaps it might also be a unique way for others to remember a meaningful match.
How it grew
From one commentator to 60 great voices of sport.
A casual conversation with old family friend Max Tilney turned into a business idea: add the scores, frame the sheets, gift them to family and friends. Spread the word.
- The craft isn't unique to Nigel. When they approached other commentators, they discovered that every broadcaster prepares their own sheets. The hand-written craft is passed down from generation to generation.
- Not remakes. The real thing. Every sheet in the collection was prepared and used by a commentator during a live broadcast. Reproduced exactly as it was. Warts'n'all.
The people behind it
Founded by Charlie & Max.
Charlie Starmer-Smith
Co-founder. Son of Nigel Starmer-Smith, former BBC rugby commentator.
Max Tilney
Co-founder. Family friend and former TV producer.
Why it matters
10% of profits go to causes close to our heart.
Nigel's dementia diagnosis was the catalyst for everything. It's why we exist, and it's why we give back.
Supporting research, care, and the families living with dementia every day.
A charity for Grand Prix racing's unsung heroes: helping to put lives back on track when things go wrong
Founded by rugby legend Doddie Weir to fund research into Motor Neurone Disease.
The voices
Passed down from generation to generation.
Every commentator prepares their own sheets. The craft is often handed down between broadcasters - from Bill McLaren to Nigel Starmer-Smith to Nick Mullins, from Ken Wolstenholme to Barry Davies to John Murray, from Murray Walker to Ben Edwards to David Croft.
The craft
Not remakes. The real thing.
Every sheet in the collection was prepared and used by a commentator during a live broadcast. The team lineups, the tactical notes, the talking points, the scribbled observations as the match unfolded - reproduced exactly as they were.
- Supplied by the commentator who wrote it. We work directly with every commentator. No middlemen, no resale market.
- Reproduced, never recreated. Nothing retyped or tidied. The shorthand and corrections stay exactly where they fell.
- Signed editions are numbered. Selected prints signed by hand, with a certificate of authenticity.
Find your moment
The commentary notes are waiting.
10,000+ sheets from ten sports. The real notes. Hand-signed. Framed to order.