before the broadcast, main commentator and presenter David Coleman lost his voice, succumbing to the same flu illness that had already ruled Kenneth Wolstenholme out of covering that weekend's matches. Davies, who had stayed in the Queen's Hotel in Leeds on the Friday night, describes in his autobiography how he "barely had time to eat his cornflakes" on the Saturday morning before being put in a fast car and driven to London so he could commentate on the main match, Crystal Palace v Manchester United, and co-present the show with Frank Bough. As a BBC football commentator Davies covered nine World Cups (he also covered one with ITV, in 1966, making a total of ten covered) – including the 1994 final – and seven European Championships. He provided commentary for the final of the 1972 tournament in Belgium between West Germany and the USSR, but covered only two FA Cup finals in his career – the 1995 final between Everton and Manchester United and the 1996 final between Manchester United and Liverpool as John Motson regularly landed FA Cup finals after 1977. The rivalry between Motson and Davies started when the then senior commentator David Coleman was in a contractual dispute with the BBC and was therefore unavailable to cover the 1977 FA Cup Final, the most prestigious domestic game of the season. The more experienced Davies was expected to cover the match and Davies states in his autobiography that he had been told by the then football editor Sam Leitch that the game was his, and it came as a total shock to Davies when the BBC announced that Motson would be covering the match, especially as Motson had never done a "live" game for television before. Although Motson and Davies were often portrayed as firm rivals for the main commentary spot at the BBC, the pair have spoken of their respect for each other, with Davies insisting there has "never been any animosity" between them, and Motson warmly praising Davies in his own autobiography for his ability to cover a multitude of sports at the highest level. Davies was to enjoy most of his leading games in European Cup finals, which were covered by the BBC in alternate years (by agreement with ITV) during the era of English dominance in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He commentated on twelve European Cup finals in all - including triumphs