{{Short description|Australian radio sports commentator}} {{For|the politicians|George A. Lovejoy (New Hampshire politician)|George A. Lovejoy (Washington politician)}} {{Use Australian English|date=January 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} '''George Lovejoy''' (15 December 1923 – 4 February 2003) was an Australian radio sports commentator who is known for his broadcasts of Queensland rugby league football matches in the 1950s and 1960s. He called rugby league for 19 years – 652 games straight – and coined the phrase 'the greatest game of all'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meares |first1=Peter |title=Back To The Studio |date=2011 |publisher=ABC Books |location=Australia |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Back_To_The_Studio/XUeHoYSnFygC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Lovejoy&pg=PT41&printsec=frontcover |access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref>
Nicknamed "Mr Football", Lovejoy worked for the 4BH station<ref>{{cite book | last = Gregory | first = Helen | author-link = | title = Expressions of Mercy: Brisbane's Mater Hospitals 1906–2006 | publisher = Univ. of Queensland Press | year = 2006 | location = | pages = 125 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=beK7qUKE4r4C | doi = | isbn = 0-7022-3552-0 |id={{ISBN|9780702235528}}}}</ref> and was a household name in Queensland in the days before television was widespread. A plaque commemorating his career adorns Suncorp Stadium's Sports Media Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.suncorpstadium.com.au/default.asp?PageID=80 |title=Sports Media Hall of Fame at suncorpstadium.com.au |access-date=11 August 2008 |archive-date=19 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719221803/http://www.suncorpstadium.com.au/default.asp?PageID=80 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The Australian Society of Sports History's annual George Lovejoy Memorial lecture is named after him and was inaugurated in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harms |first1=John |title=Almanac Rugby League: Yes, Virginia, there is meaning in rugby league |url=https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/yes-virginia-there-is-meaning-in-rugby-league-2/ |website=footyalmanac.com |publisher=The Footy Almanac |access-date=29 September 2025}}</ref> Delivered in Brisbane, it is in the same mould as New South Wales' Tom Brock Lecture.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Oberhardt | first = Mark | title = Mark 'The Ear' Oberhardt gives the lowdown on sport | work = The Courier-Mail | place = Australia | page = | language = | publisher = Queensland Newspapers | date = 4 October 2009 | url = http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/local-sport/mark-the-ear-oberhardt-gives-the-lowdown-on-sport/story-e6frepno-1225782574802 | accessdate = 25 October 2010}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://rl1908.com/Rugby-League-News/George-Lovejoy.htm George Lovejoy at rl1908.com]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovejoy, George}} Category:Australian radio personalities Category:2003 deaths Category:Australian rugby league commentators Category:1923 births
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