BBC threatened to go off air after Wimbledon commentator

A public protest by a Wimbledon icon once led to the BBC threatening to go off the air during their live TV coverage. Andrew Castle is currently working at SW19 for the final time as the Beeb's main commentator, having decided to step down after more than 20 years. It comes after he was informed that this summer would be his last in the role.

Castle took up broadcasting after an unremarkable playing career, with the 62-year-old never going beyond the third round at any Grand Slam. As a player, he is best remembered for launching an unusual protest during the National Championships in Telford, which angered the BBC. Castle was also hit with a retrospective fine and banned from playing for Great Britain in the Davis Cup.

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Speaking to The Telegraph, he reflected: "I was just bored, I’d been there for a week in Telford, and I saw this piece of cardboard, and I just put ‘No to the Poll Tax’ on it.

"It seemed like everyone else was saying the same thing back then, and actually I felt very strongly that the poll tax was terribly unfair. I was just a silly boy, but I had my views, and so I’ve stuck it up under the Prudential sponsor’s sign.

“The referee, Colin Hess, came up to me and said: ‘Andrew, dear boy, would you mind terribly taking that sign down?’ And I said: ‘No, I’m not going to take it down. Why would I?’ And he said: ‘The BBC are threatening to go off air.’

"Anyway, a couple more games went by, and he came again, and Colin’s just such a charming man. I said OK. So I turned it round and wrote ‘Hello, Mum’ on the other side.

"Well, they would call it going viral now, wouldn’t they? When I came off, I could tell it was bad from people’s faces, my brother David, my mum.

"The LTA charged me with bringing the game into disrepute and fined me £4,500. I was also gagged, so I couldn’t speak to the press, and banned from playing for Britain in the Davis Cup. I thought it was outrageous. They just loved power, and that really rankled me.

"When I was in the hearing, one of them tapped me on the bottom on the way out and said: ‘Don’t worry, Andy, just go and win a few more matches.’

"And I just thought: ‘Wow, that’s a bit patronising.’ But even now I can get into a black cab, and they’ll go ‘Andy… Poll Tax!’"

Castle previously insisted that he did not regret launching his protest against the poll tax, in spite of the consequences he faced.

Speaking in 2019, he said: "I think I would probably do it again. I had a bad year. I was getting very cross about the whole thing."

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