Clive Tyldesley

Clive Tyldesley (Born 25 August 1954^{[citation needed]}) is an English sports commentator, who since 1998 has been the main football commentator for ITV. He has commentated on eleven Champions League finals, five FA Cup Finals and numerous World Cup and European Championship matches.

Career

Tyldesley was born in Radcliffe, Bury, initially without a tongue and with only one ear- later rectified with extensive surgery and was educated at Kirkham Grammar School. He began his career in local radio in Nottingham before joining Liverpool's Radio City in 1977. After succeeding Elton Welsby as sports editor, he began commentating during a highly successful era for his favourite team, Liverpool F.C., in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He also covered Everton F.C.'s rise to prominence in the mid-1980s. Tyldesley was on-air at the scene of the Heysel disaster during the 1985 European Cup Final.^{[citation needed]}

He also broadcast during the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, which saw 96 Liverpool fans die,although he was not present on the day. Throughout his time he also commentated on other events such as Rugby League, the Grand National and even the Pope John Paul II's visit to Liverpool.

Early ITV career

Tyldesley joined Granada Television in the late 1980s as a commentator on their Kick Off and Granada Soccer Night programmes. He also anchored Granada's coverage of Lancashire cricket until the sport was dropped by the channel in the early 90s, and also covered rugby league for the region.

Between 1988 and 1992, ITV held exclusive rights to the Football League. They would show one match live on Sunday afternoons, and no weekly highlights programme. However, they would show all the goals from Division One during the half time interval of their live match, and Tyldesley would usually provide the voiceover.

BBC (1992-1996)

Tyldesley joined the BBC as they obtained highlights rights for the new Premier League in 1992. For four years he worked as a commentator on Match of the Day and Sportsnight. Despite proving himself as an accomplished performer, he was unable to dislodge John Motson and Barry Davies and only covered four live matches in his entire time there. These were two matches at the 1994 World Cup, one at Euro 96 and an FA Cup tie between Sheffield United and Aston Villa. After being consigned to basketball at the 1996 Olympics, he left the BBC.^{[citation needed]}

Return to ITV (1996-present)

Tyldesley returned to ITV at a time when veteran football commentator Brian Moore was beginning to scale down his commitments. Over the next two years, Tyldesley was frequently heard commentating on live matches for the ITV network, as well as making occasional regional appearances on Granada, where he started his TV career. However, Moore was still used for most major finals.

Moore retired after the 1998 World Cup, and Tyldesley was soon made the network's leading football commentator, despite attempts to poach John Motson from the BBC.

Tyldesley has commentated on 3 World Cup finals for ITV (2002, 2006 and 2010), 2 European Championship finals (2000 and 2004) and 5 FA Cup Finals (1999,2000, 2001, 2009 and 2010), as well as successes for Manchester United and Liverpool in the Champions League.

He provided commentary for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final.

Computer games

Tyldesley and Andy Gray provide commentary in the seven most recent versions of EA Sports' football games: FIFA 06, FIFA 07, FIFA 08, FIFA 09 (PC, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP FIFA 12 consoles TBA only; he's replaced by Martin Tyler for other consoles and PC in FIFA 10 and FIFA 11). Tyldesley is also heard in another of EA's football games, 2006 FIFA World Cup. He is also present in Euro 2008 and UEFA Champions League 2004-2005 and 2006-2007 along with Andy Townsend. He and Townsend are the Commentators for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (video game). He also provided commentary for Championship Manager 2, the last in the franchise to feature verbal analysis. He also provided commentary for the PlayStation 1 video game This is Football.

Personal life

Tyldesley is a lapsed Manchester United fan. Speaking to the BlueMoon Podcast, he explained that he had been brought up following the club, but his enthusiasm had "diluted" while he worked at Nottingham Forest.^[1] He is also a supporter of the Labour Party and in 2010 he hosted a husting between the leadership contenders.^[2] He often commentates Champions League matches which are broadcast on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

References

• Smyth, Rob (29 October 2004). "Matt Smith: The ITV smoothie talks about being a gay icon, why Thierry Henry is the nicest man in football, and whether Clive Tyldesley is a United fan". The Observer (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2004/oct/29/smalltalk.sportinterviews. 

1. ^ Mooney, David. "BlueMoon Podcast Season 3 Episode 7 - Adie Mike". Podcast. Blue Moon. http://www.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/podcast/episodes/047-AdieMike.mp3. Retrieved 19 November 2011. 
2. ^ "David Miliband says Labour may face years out of power". BBC News. 31 July 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10827320. 

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