When John Motson spied on Scotland for England boss Terry Venables during Euro 1996

John Motson, who has sadly passed away at the age of 77, is best remembered as the legendary BBC Match of the Day commentator and the voice of football for fans across generations.

But during the European Championships in 1996, there were suspicions that, in addition to his duties behind the microphone, he was also performing a cloak and dagger operation for the England national team.

Scotland manager Craig Brown had been tipped off that a spy would be in the stands taking notes from his training session to pass to England boss Terry Venebles ahead of their Wembley showdown. That man was Motson.

However, having been informed of the potential subterfuge, Brown ensured he stayed one step ahead by deliberately changing his plans to throw Motson off the scent.

Football commentator John Motson, who has died at the age of 77, was suspected of spying on Scotland training sessions for England manager Terry Venables during Euro 1996.

“We heard he [Motson] was in and he was very friendly with Terry Venables, so would be watching us – I was told Motson was spying, which is quite normal to spy on the opposition,” Brown recalled.

“We were going to play with a back three, but we set up a team for training with a back four [instead]. We were also into short corners at the time, so we took a lot long over the back, which was the opposite of what we were trying to do, so not to give them anything.

“We also had throw-ins we used, but in that session we didn’t use them and did different ones, with different people taking them. So if John Motson went back with any information, it’d be total nonsense.”

The tactic failed to pay off as England won 2-0 through goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Gascoigne but the outcome could have been different had Scotland captain Gary McCAllister converted a penalty-kick to level the match with 12 minutes remaining.

“McAllister said himself that he thought if he’d scored the penalty, we’d have won the game – we were getting in the ascendancy,” Brown lamented.

“It’s easy to say with hindsight that [Ally] McCoist should have taken that penalty, but McAllister was the designated taker and was very accomplished at it. He quite modestly went on television and took the blame afterwards, but I said there’s no blame – the blame is if it’s a deliberate mistake you make, but not one that’s unintentional.”