Slater has been more than just a commentator for Notts County. In 1965, in his previous role as a newspaper reporter, he played an instrumental part in helping to save the club from bankruptcy. Then, during 18 stressful months up to December 2003, he used his radio broadcasts to keep supporters informed as the club fought yet another successful battle against financial oblivion.
Notts County FC, with whose players, managers, directors and supporters he has formed many close friendships down the years, is in Slater’s blood and he has no plans to retire. “People have asked me many times whether or not I’m planning to retire and the answer is always ‘no’”, he says. “I’m fortunate to enjoy robust good health, otherwise I would not have reached 2,000 matches and would not be able to contemplate carrying on.”
However, one thing he is very concerned about is the future of clubs like Notts County who struggle to exist within an English game that is currently awash with money at the highest level but pays little attention to the financial plight of those below the Premier League.
Slater adds: “I have deep concerns over the future of Notts County because the club lacks investment and the quality of players it can afford is extremely limited. I think there is a good deal of selfishness now on the part of the bigger clubs in England. They have more than enough money to live on, but the game at the lower levels is struggling. I think that’s grossly unfair and that the bigger clubs are very selfish.”

27 years on, modern digital technology means that Slater’s silky smooth voice comes across crystal clear. But there is little actual difference in how he goes about his business. “Sheer poetry” is how one reporter recently described Slater’s commentating style, but the modest 73-year-old says he simply adheres to the same broadcasting principles that were ingrained in him ahead of that first game at Lincoln City nearly 40 years ago.
Slater recalls: “I first sat at the feet, as it were, of a man called George Yeatman, who was my mentor as well as being my producer. On my first Monday morning he sat me down in his office and said to me: “The first rule of radio is this: if you don’t sound as though you’re enjoying it, how can you expect listeners to enjoy it?’ I try to remember that at all times and I just hope that over the years I’ve continued to have a sense of enjoyment about it and conveyed that to the listeneis. In local radio we’re broadcasting to people of a defined locality, many of whom wish they could be at matches but are ill, too old and frail, are working or have family responsibilities, and if I have a sense of enjoyment and pleasure about my commentary, it will help them to have a sense of enjoyment and pleasure. I think I’ve been pretty consistent and I tell it as I see it. Whether Notts’ football is good or bad, I say so. I try to broadcast with integrity and I think our listeners believe me when I say it’s been a good or bad performance. If I’m still achieving that after nearly 40 years on the Radio Nottingham microphone then I feel satisfied.”

Home or away, come rain or shine, Slater is there behind the microphone at every Notts County match. He hosts phone-in shows, is a member of their ex-players’ association and in 2001 he was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting and the community.
Slater’s first radio commentary coincided with a 5-0 defeat for Notts County against Lincoln City in August 1968, but things have not always been bad and there are five magical moments that stand out. “In terms of away wins, I don’t think there has been anything to beat the 1-0 League Cup win at Leeds United in October 1975,” Slater tells FIFA magazine. “Leeds had reached the European Cup final a few months earlier while Notts were in the Second Division, and what made it more dramatic was that the only goal was scored by a Scottish winger, Ian Scanlon, who’d been recruited from a junior club but cannot be traced by anybody now. Everybody wants to know where Ian Scanlon is, but nobody can find out. He’s thought to be in Scotland, but beyond that nobody knows. The other great days commentating on them were in 1981 when Notts went to Chelsea and won 2-0 to win promotion to the First Division (now the Premier League), a 1 -0 away win at Aston Villa on the opening day of season 1981-82 and winning promotion play-off matches against Tranmere and Brighton at Wembley in 1990 and 1991.”
As football has evolved down the years, so too has radio commentary. As recently as the mid-1980s, many commentaries were done by telephone and Slater recalls the 1981 match at Chelsea – arguably Notts County’s greatest day – as one of the most demanding of his life.
Slater explains: “It was a remarkable day for me, because budget constraints meant BBC Radio Nottingham could only afford second-half commentary. I was on my own, had no producer or summariser and the telephone line I had was only one-way. In other words, I had no idea whether the listeners back in Nottingham were receiving my commentary. In the first half I sat in the press box and phoned in score-flashes every 15 minutes. Then after delivering a half-time report I had to move from the press box to the broadcasting point in another part of the stand. It meant that although the studio could hear me, I had no feedback. Sports producer Mick Wormald, who was presenting the programme back in Nottingham, read out a sequence of words ending with … ‘Colin Slater at Stamford Bridge’ and a friend in the press box, who was listening on the telephone, pointed at me to start speaking. I talked for 50 minutes non-stop without knowing whether the listeners could hear me. But, yes, it was received and the commentary is still there in the archives.”