ARCHIE MacPherson is considered one of the doyens of Scottish football broadcasting - and will share his incredible life stories with audiences in Largs next month.

The well-known commentator has been behind the microphone working for the BBC, STV and Eurosport as well as Radio Scotland and Radio Clyde, for five decades.

He is heading to Barrfields Theatre on 29 February to be interviewed by journalist Graham Spiers, where he will chart his sporting highs and lows.

Archie is a former teacher who rose to prominence at BBC Scotland in the late 1960s and spoke to the News of family's close connection with Largs.

He said: "My father Hughie played for Largs Thistle and the town was his favourite place. I used to take him down just to walk around and visit Nardini’s.

"When I was in the Scottish Sports Council I was chairman of the Inverclyde National Sports Centre. I had a meeting there with then Prime Minister Jim Callaghan, where the ideas for a new Hampden emerged.

"It was also there I did the interviews with the Scottish players who were eye witnesses to the infamous Jimmy Johnstone rowing boat incident before the 1974 World Cup finals in Germany.

"So yes I have both emotional and professional ties with the town. I have also spent many holidays with my family in Millport."

Archie has always had a passion for junior football and grew up supporting his home town team Shettleston, where his dad also played.

He said: "He was a centre forward and also ran professionally, so his pace with his big asset. I remember my father telling me how much he enjoyed it at Largs Thistle, and on one occasion he was in the side which defeated one of the big names in the Juniors - Irvine Meadow - and the headline was 'Thistle Mow the Meadow'.

Archie also told how he remembers reporting on the night when Johnstone lost his way on a dinghy off Largs seafront after some drunken shenanigans.

He said: "I recall the story well. It was the wee small hours of the morning when Jimmy lost the oars, started drifting and had to be rescued. "Although it is remembered with some hilarity now, at the time it created a bit of a stir and resulted in a sour relationship between the press and the national team which lasted through the World Cup in Germany.

"It certainly wasn't funny at the time."

It was also a frosty beginning between Archie and legendary European Cup winning Celtic manager Jock Stein at the start of the young broadcaster's career.

Archie recalled: "He had a feeling that the BBC was populated by people who were all bluenoses - and he held on to that belief for some considerable time.

"Our relationship soon improved and I got to know Jock well. We travelled the world together and I like to think I opened his eyes up to the neutrality of the BBC.

"Jock's special ingredient was he understood men - leaving aside his vast football knowledge, he could see into people and knew what made them tick."

Archie is an expert on Stein, who died as the result of heart attack after the Scotland's World Cup play-off victory over Wales in 1984. He said the night was 'one of his saddest moments in broadcasting'.

Archie commentated on some great European nights for Scottish football clubs through the 1980s as Dundee United and Aberdeen made their mark on Europe.

He said: "At that point in time you could have filled the Scotland team three times over with the amount of talent we had. Sir Alex Ferguson was always very approachable, until we had a falling out, while I found Jim McLean very dour until you touched upon something he was interested in - then he could be spellbinding."

From the Mo Johnston saga as he changed colours and surprisingly signed for Rangers to the adversity when Ally McLeod's Scotland crashed out in the Argentina World Cup 1978, Archie has seen many highs and lows.

Although associated with football, Archie also covered the 1988 Seoul Olympics for the BBC.

Archie recalled: "I remember getting the phone call in the middle of the night from the editor of Grandstand to tell me that Ben Johnson had failed a drugs test.

"For me it tainted the whole experience of covering the event. The 100m race is the blue riband and it ruined the rest of the Olympics.

"The credibility of the games disappeared in one phone call."

Archie said that he is also full of admiration for two time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, whose mum Judy has close links to the area.

He said: "He is a magnificent athlete. The fact that he has won three majors is remarkable."

It is that winning mentality that Archie wants to see in the Scotland national team as they prepare for a Euro 2020 play-off that could take them to their first major tournament since the World Cup in France in 1998.

He said: "Having experienced so many disappointments, I am not going to make any predictions, but we played well in the last few games. With the younger players in our side we might just have a chance."

Tickets for Archie's show are available from ticketsource.co.uk/Barrfields