Clive Tyldesley
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Clive Tyldesley is a British sports commentator known for his "words are my paint, football my canvas' style of broadcasting. He is notorious for over-exuberance and his appreciation of Zinedine Zidane.
Tyldesley was born in Lancashire and began his career in local radio in Nottingham before joining Liverpool's Radio City in 1977. He succeeded Elton Welsby as sports editor and produced many outstanding and evocative commentaries on an era of unparalleled achievement by Liverpool Football Club - often with Bill Shankly as his summariser. He also chronicled Everton's rise to prominence in the 1980's. Tyldesley also dealt skilfully and sensitively with the two tragedies that blight Merseyside's sporting history, Heysel and Hillsborough (although he wasn't present at the latter). In addition to football, Tyldesley covered many other events as a commentator, including rugby league, the Grand National and even the Pope's visit to Liverpool before joining the North West England ITV company Granada in 1989.
Tyldesley filled the role vacated by Martin Tyler and was selected as part of ITV's FIFA World Cup team at Italia 1990 as the fifth man behind Brian Moore, Alan Parry, John Helm and Gerry Harrison. His network presence grew via a stint as a reporter on the popular football magazine 'Saint'n'Greavsie' and he covered his first ITV live game in 1991 - a European Cup Winners Cup match between Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and FC Porto.
Tyldesley joined the BBC as they obtained highlights rights for the new FA Premier League in 1992. During four years there he worked as a commentator on Match of the Day and Sportsnight. Despite proving himself as an accomplished performer, he struggled to dislodge John Motson and Barry Davies and only covered four live matches in his entire time there. These included 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 - admitting a few tears were shed.
He returned to ITV in September 1996 as a straight replacement for Alan Parry - who'd joined BSkyB's Sky Sports - and his first match back was a UEFA Cup tie between Arsenal and Borussia Monchengladbach. Although this left Tyldesley behind the veteran Brian Moore in the pecking order, it did afford him greater opportunities for live football with Champions League, FA Cup and Football League matches on offer. Tyldesley accompanied Moore on ITV's coverage of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. At the end of the tournament, Moore retired, promoting Tyldesley to the role of ITV's senior commentator.
Tyldesley first major commentary as ITV's senior commentator was the1999 UEFA Champions League Final, in which Manchester United scored two late goals to beat Bayern Munich 2-1. One of his most famous lines came just before United's equalizer. He soliloquized into the microphone, 'Can Manchester United score? They always score!', with another one came just before David Beckham's corner kick and Ole Gunnar Solskjær's game winning goal, "As things stand, we're going into extra time with the golden goal, hanging likes a massive shadow over this final, unless, [Ole] Gunnar Solskjær can conjure up another". His words, "Manchester United have reached the promised land" provided the basis for the club's 2000 film Manchester United - Beyond the Promised Land. He has frequently referred to the game ("that night in Barcelona") in subsequent commentaries, sometimes receiving criticism for doing so. However during a later Bayern Munich vs Manchester United game, Tyldesley promised to donate money to charity each time he made such a reference.
Another memorable quote came in 2002, when a sixteen year old Everton player scored against Arsenal: 'Remember the name. Wayne Rooney!' Alongside commentating on every Champions League final from 1999 to the present day, Tyldesley led ITV's team at the European Football Championships of 2000 and 2004 and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
Tyldesley and Andy Gray provide commentary in EA Sports FIFA 06 and FIFA 07 football video games and in the UEFA Champions League 2004-2005 game. Tyldesley is also heard in another of EA's recent football games, 2006 FIFA World Cup along with Andy Townsend.
