CHRIS KAMARA stopped chasing the fella he was.
But the much-loved football pundit, 67, never needed to because he is still that man loved by millions.
His voice might not be the same since being diagnosed with speech apraxia three years ago.
But he is still just as excitable and enthusiastic, with the same sense of humour that made him a national treasure.
Donning an high-vis jacket and hard hat, Kammy meets me at a construction site in his childhood town Middlesbrough where they are building The Southlands Hub — providing top-class facilities for grassroots football.
As we try to make ourselves heard over the drilling, hammering and goodness knows what else, he quips, “Do you want me to stop those fellas? It’s my tea-break!”
And he could not help a couple of “Unbelievable Jeff” renditions — which are as funny as when he first unwittingly coined it quarter of a century ago working on Sky Sports’ iconic Soccer Saturday show.
He said: “I never knew I was doing it in the first place.
“I was at Manchester City. A few players were walking around inspecting the pitch and were saying as they passed, ‘Unbelievable, Jeff.’ And I had no idea what they were talking about.
“So Sky put a compilation together and then I realised I kept saying it.
“I ended up developing a character all of my own and knew I had to do that to survive.
“Now every day I’m around someone, they say, ‘Unbelievable, Jeff’ or they will remind me about the sending-off I once missed at Portsmouth!
“And long may that continue. I’ll never get fed up with people shouting it. I will though if it was to ever stop.”
Kamara made an emotional comeback as a pundit on Boxing Day when he covered Nottingham Forest v Tottenham — reuniting with pal and ex-Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling on Amazon Prime.
Despite suffering from a neurological condition which affects the speed of his speech, it was like he had never been away.
And Kamara also stunned viewers when he was able to sing at full tempo in a Scottish accent on TV show The Masked Singer.
Then he teamed up in May with Aled Jones to sing during half-time at Bradford, where he played and managed in the 1990s, to mark the 40th anniversary of the stadium’s fire disaster which killed 56 people.
He explained: “If I’m talking about something I love or am passionate about, my voice quickens.
“When I’m happy, it’s great — but if I’m not then finding the words becomes difficult.
“But singing is good. You can go with the flow of the music.
“I went on The Masked Singer as part of a magnificent trio with Aled and Russell Watson – oh, sorry, that should be a magnificent double act … and me!
If I’m talking about something I love or am passionate about, my voice quickens. If I’m not, it’s more difficult to find the words.
CHRIS KAMARA
“But it was then special to sing at Valley Parade on such a poignant occasion — capped off with the team winning promotion to League One on that last day against Fleetwood.”
Kamara was visibly emotional on Boxing Day.
And he said: “Forest made such a huge fuss, they laid out the red carpet, put my face on the big screen, got fans to give me a round of applause. I was like, ‘Wow, football thinks that much of me!’”
Although he has accepted his days of live punditry could be over — or at best restricted to an occasional one — Kammy misses it.
But he is proud to have been part of a Soccer Saturday team that revolutionised around-the-grounds coverage — taking it to a different level from the likes of BBC’s Grandstand and ITV’s World of Sport.
He said: “It was, ‘Unbelievable.’ When I first joined, we had Rodney Marsh, George Best, Clive Allen, Frank McLintock and Alan Mullery.
“I was the first ‘outside’ reporter so didn’t get to see those lads.
“But Phil Thompson, Charlie Nicholas, Paul Merson and Matt Le Tissier would stay in a hotel on Friday nights — and we’d meet with Jeff for a few beers. We created great chemistry.
“It’s the camaraderie and banter I miss.
“I still see Jeff. We worked a few weeks ago on Smoggie Queens. I can’t wait for that to be shown on TV soon.”
Kamara blasted Hartlepool owner Raj Singh for writing to all fellow National League clubs requesting for him to be banned from their boardrooms after speaking out against him.
He said: “What a bad move that was from the owner. Jeff loves that club and speaks from the heart.
“But anyone who dares show dissent to people in power at football clubs seem to get shunned.”
Kamara says football coverage has gone beyond what he ever imagined.
He laughed: “When I was growing up in Middlesbrough, we got our first TV when I was eight. You had to put coins into it to keep it going and often had to thump the top of the set to get a picture.
“Now nearly 60 years on, you can get access to almost every Premier League game!”
Kamara loves the town where he grew up and is delighted by Boro’s 100 per cent start to the Championship season after four games.
And the new facilities, due to open next spring, are being funded by the council in partnership with Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation — boosted by a £100,000 grant from the SkyBet EFL Building Foundations Fund, plus support from the government.
Kamara believes the hub will give youngsters a chance to not only follow in his footsteps but recent teen sensations that have taken the Premier League by storm.
He said: “We’ve got to get the kids off their phones and play football.
“Before the international break Arsenal brought on 15-year-old Max Dowman against Leeds. He was dynamite and won them a penalty.
“Then Liverpool brought on 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha against Newcastle late on and he scored their winner.
“And when you see what the Lionesses have done for women’s football, which is going through the roof, what more incentive do these kids want?”
While he might not be on our screens as often, Kammy is a regular at Premier League and EFL games in a personal capacity.
And he is enjoying precious time with family.
He said: “My health issues don’t affect day-to-day life. My voice has improved and it’s about getting the balance right in what I take on and resting with my family.
“I’ve had speech therapy, went out to Mexico three times for treatment which helped.
But my family said, ‘Enough now, you’re fine. We accept you as you are. Don’t keep chasing the fella who you were.”
Despite everything that has happened, Kammy concludes: “I still have an ‘unbelievable’ life.”
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