Alec Weeks may have a different view from most fans of the TV coverage of the World Cup. For more than 40 years he was on the other side of the camera as a BBC sports producer.

Alec Weeks will settle down in his armchair to watch all the games when coverage of the World Cup begins on TV. But, unlike fans all over the world doing the same thing, he'll be looking at the matches from a different angle.

He'd find it difficult not to as he worked for the BBC for more than 40 years, moving from radio production into TV and Match Of The Day in the 1950s.

For three decades he was a sports producer and director, covering many of the most famous sporting events in living memory, among them the 1966 World Cup, numerous FA Cup finals and both summer and winter Olympics.

Now 79, he recalls his sporting life in his book, Under Auntie's Skirts: The Life And Times Of A BBC Sports Producer.

As the World Cup approaches, he predicts that England will at least reach the semi-finals, adding "I don't want to go any further than that."

What he's more certain about is the ability of the Germans - not to win the cup but provide TV pictures of the World Cup campaign for viewers around the globe.

"I can assure you the Germans will present the TV coverage in a good way. There's no question about it. They will do it very, very professionally," he says from his home on the South Coast, where he went to live after retiring.

"Some countries lean towards wider shots. They don't take a chance going to another camera for a tighter shot in case they miss something if they're slow. There are still countries who don't cover football properly.

"I'm very proud that after we'd finished the '66 World Cup, there was this steady procession from abroad to see how we covered sport, especially football. Some of the first were two German networks.

"We went over there and directed matches for them. We set a standard and I'm very proud that the rest of the world followed. Until then American television dominated the world of sport and then we were being poached for the US."

Actually watching a game from the spectators' viewpoint was unusual for Weeks before his retirement. He saw most of his matches from a BBC control room during the 23 years he produced and directed Match Of The Day.

Technology, such as lightweight cameras, has changed the way the game is covered on TV, and not always for the better in his opinion. "If you go to certain countries, they've got all this money and buy these things - video machines and slow motion machines - and play with them like toys, and coverage loses a lot of actual atmosphere," he says.

"When a goal is scored, the next 20 seconds are sacrosanct. The goal, the players' elation, the crowd reaction - that can't be repeated. All some of these countries want to do is show the goal backwards, upside down, it really is Mickey Mouse TV."

The tough part for him was the actual pre-production - "the organisation, right down to the last paperclip" - with the actual coverage proving a joy.

He was always keen on sport from being a young lad, joining a boxing club during the Second World War and following that through in the RAF. Boxing and athletics were his main sports but football, through Match Of The Day, FA Cup finals and the Olympics, occupied most of his working life.

As a youngster, Weeks supported his home team of Watford. He had a closer connection with the club when he went out with the manager's daughter during the war years.

He left the BBC at the retirement age of 60 but confesses that after six months "I was ready to jump off the pier". He seized the suggestion to go freelance.

"I thoroughly enjoyed that because it was nice to choose what you do and when you do it, and what you got paid. I did a lot of games for America, Australia and Saudi Arabia," he says.

"Now I miss it very much indeed. I packed it in in 1995, it's a young man's game. You have to be on your toes, it's just like being an athlete."

These days he believes there's too much live football on TV and would like to see other sports, such as boxing and cycling, featured more. He remembers the day when the FA Cup final was the only big event, with six hours uninterrupted coverage given to the build-up and the match itself.

He confesses that sometimes he watches games on the TV with the sound turned off, as he's none too keen on some of the current commentators. "I miss Kenneth Wolstenholme and David Coleman, Barry Davis. And I miss Brian Moore of ITV. He had a lovely voice."

* Under Auntie's Skirts, Book Guild Publishing, £17.99.