Frequently asked questions.
Q. How did you start doing football commentary?
I joined BT Clubcall in 1986 and then Mercia Sound in Coventry the following year; this was when I did my first radio commentaries. My first TV commentary was in 1996.
Q. When did you join the Match of the Day team?
In the summer of 2004; for the return of the programme to BBC TV after ITV had covered the Premier League in highlights form for the previous three seasons.
Q. MotD shows highlights; do you commentate on the entire match, or do it afterwards?
Quite frankly, it is ridiculous when people say that the MotD commentators dub their words on afterwards. We are at the grounds; do 90 minutes live commentary, and then do the post-match interviews. Sometimes for technical reasons you have to re-do a line or two of commentary; but in six seasons of working on the programme I have only once had to re-dub a goal call. Please see these two blogs from MotD editor Paul Armstrong.
How the Premier League is covered
Are the commentators actually there?
Q. What is the difference between commentating on a match when you are at the stadium and when you are commentating off-tube?
When you are doing a match off-tube (ie by watching it on a monitor, please see the photo on the home page) you are totally reliant on what the match director is choosing to broadcast; as you are seeing exactly what the viewer is seeing. So if an incident occurs off-the-ball and out of picture, you have no idea what has happened, and it is only when the slow-motion replay starts that you can ascertain what has occured. If a number of players are going for the same ball in the penalty area; from a corner or free kick for example, and one of them scores, you have to be certain who has got the final touch if you are going to name the scorer. If the director then cuts to a shot of a player, you have to hope it is the player who scored, believe me it doesn't always happen! You can always take your time in identifying the scorer if it is uncertain; you simply must not guess, as getting a goalscorers name wrong is unacceptable. Frequently a substitution will be made and the first you know of it when doing the match off-tube is that a new player gains possession.
At a stadium you see the whole picture; and if it is your outside broadcast, you can ask the director for specific shots to illustrate the point that you or your co-commentator is making. Being at the stadium is always better.
Q. What else do you do?
Voiceovers, sports programme making, corporate hospitality hosting.
Q. What do football commentators do in the summer?
Every 2 years, more football at the World Cup and European Championships. Football from other parts of the world. Prepare for the next season.
2009-10 season full commentary matches.
These are the matches that I have done full live 90 minutes commentary on this season. This is a considerably shorter list than in previous seasons, as for the first time in many years I did not have a regular broadcaster for whom I covered Champions League matches; and UEFA retained the rights to the new Europa League, unlike in previous years when clubs were able to sell their own rights to their home matches in the UEFA Cup.
The following matches were done for the following broadcasters - BBC TV, Channel Five, Eurosport, CSI Sports, IMG Media, Pitch International and Setanta Sports Ireland; and were either live to air or done live for later edits.
1. xx v xx European U19 Championship
2. Chelsea v Milan
3. Chelsea v Club America
4. Bayern Munich v Milan
5. Boca Juniors v Milan
6. Wehen Weisbaden v Wolfsburg
7. Arsenal v Atletico Madrid
8. Arsenal v Rangers
9. Darlington v Leeds
10. Bury v West Bromwich Albion
11. Everton v Wigan.
12. Germany v South Africa
13. Chile v Venezuela
14. Germany v Azerbaijan
15. Venezuela v Peru
16. Portsmouth v Bolton
17. Bayern Munich v Rott Weiss Oberhausen
18. Birmingham v Bolton
19. xx v xx World U20 Championship1/10
20. Leeds v Charlton
21. xx v xx World U20 Championship 6/10
22. Venezuela v Paraguay
23. Germany v Finland
24. Hull v Portsmouth
25. xx v xx World U17 Championship 25/10
26. Gruether Furth v Stuttgart
27. xx v xx World U17 Championship 28/10
28. QPR v Leicester
29. Stoke v Wolves
30. xx v xx World U17 Championship 4/11
31. Derby v Coventry
32. Reading v Ipswich
33. Hull v Stoke
34. Germany v Egypt
35. Tottenham v Wigan (9-1 !!)
36. Porto v Chelsea
37. Scunthorpe v Leicester
38. Portsmouth v Burnley
39. Birmingham v West Ham
40. Wolves v Burnley
41. QPR v Bristol City
42. Middlesbrough v Manchester City
43. Manchester United v Leeds
44. Malawi v Algeria
45. Egypt v Nigeria
46. Zambia v Tunisia
47. Egypt v Benin
48. Ghana v Nigeria
49. Nigeria v Algeria
50. Doncaster v Reading
51. Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim
52. West Ham v Birmingham
53. Nottingham Forest v Middlesbrough
54. Unirea Urziceni v Liverpool
55. Bolton v Wolves
56. Germany v Argentina
57. Nottingham Forest v Swansea
58. Everton v Bolton
59. Schalke v Bayern Munich
60. Norwich v Leeds
61. Stoke v Hull
62. Fulham v Wigan
63. Crystal Palace v QPR
64. Portsmouth v Aston Villa
65. West Ham v Wigan
66. Burnley v Liverpool
67. Charlton v Leeds
68. Bolton v Birmingham
69. Nottingham Forest v Blackpool
70. Germany v Malta
71. Bayern Munich v Werder Bremen
72. Dagenham & Redbridge v Morecambe
73. Charlton v Swindon
74. Morecambe v Dagenham & Redbridge
75. Spain v Switzerland (Euro 17 Champs)
76. Spain v Portugal (Euro 17 Champs)
77. Turkey v England (Euro 17 Champs)
78. Spain v Turkey (Euro 17 Champs)
79. England v France (Euro 17 Champs)
80. Dagenham & Redbridge v Rotherham
81. Germany v Bosnia & Herzogovina
