AN EAST Lancashire journalist, dubbed Mr Action Replay, has published the edited highlights of a television career that has seen him rub shoulders with world leaders and sporting giants.

Clitheroe-born Bryan Cowgill, 78, created the TV institution Grandstand, which is to come to an end after 48 years, and broke all viewing figures with his coverage of the 1966 World Cup final.

He invented the action replay, gave the likes of David Coleman and Frank Bough their big breaks and has been commended by the Pope for his work.

As Head of BBC Sport in the 1960s and early 70s, he also launched Match of the Day, became controller of BBC1 and later chief of ITV's largest company, Thames Television.

His book, Mr Action Replay, charts the ups and downs of a remarkable career that has seen him meet the likes of Margaret Thatcher, the Queen, Muhammad Ali and Douglas Fairbanks Jnr.

Educated at Pendle Primary School and Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, he later became the Royal Marine Commando's youngest commissioned officer at the age of 18.

He briefly worked as a reporter at the Clitheroe Advertiser, where his grandfather George was editor, before getting a job with the BBC in 1955 after seeing an advert on a page of the Daily Telegraph left open on a train seat.

Bryan, retired and now living in Stratford-Upon-Avon, said: "I've had a fortunate life and one that I thought could make an interesting book.

At school I always enjoyed theatre and drama and developed an interest in the art and craft of storytelling when I used to occasionally bunk off school to visit one of the three cinemas that Clitheroe had in those days.

"I always say that I got into sport via TV and not the other way round.

"It interested me because it involved live television, which is TV at its most dramatic.

"Grandstand was way ahead of its time and I was saddened when I heard it was to be cancelled.

"It felt like the passing of a dear old friend, but its time had come.

"I was particularly proud of the World Cup in 1966.

"Our audience for the final, 27million, still remains the biggest ever audience in this country.

"I feel that my work has been carried on and improved no-end in the super-slow motion and countless camera angles of Sky TV sports coverage.

"My sports work was summed up when someone asked me what sport can do for television, and I said it can make it fashionable.

"That's never been truer than today."

Bryan, who grew up in Cowper Street, oversaw live satellite coverage from Mexico of the 1968 Olympic Games and 1970 World Cup.

In 1973, after a decade in charge of the sports department of BBC Television, he was promoted to Controller of BBC1.

Despite coming from a sports background, he was able to oversee a successful era of programming across all types and genres, with the introduction of popular new sitcoms such as Porridge and The Good Life.

Mr Action Replay, is £14.99, published by Sports Masters International. It is available from Cowgills Newsagents, Market Place, Clitheroe, and Kaydee bookshop, Moor Lane, Clitheroe. It is also available by enclosing a cheque for £14.99, including posting and package, to Mr Action Replay, PO Box 4372, Stratford-Upon-Avon, CV37 1DU.