Martin Tyler | |
|---|---|
 Tyler coachingHampton & Richmond Borough, 2017 | |
| Born | (1945-09-14)14 September 1945 (age 80) Chester, England |
| Education | Royal Grammar School, Guildford University of East Anglia |
| Occupations | Football commentator Football coach |
| Employer(s) | Sky Sports,SBS Australia,IMG,Premier League Productions |
Martin Tyler (born 14 September 1945) is an Englishfootball commentator and coach. He worked as a commentator forSky Sports from 1990 to 2023, covering thePremier League andUEFA Champions League, as well as other domestic and international competitions. Tyler had previously commentated forITV in the 1970s and 1980s. He provided his voice to the football video game seriesFIFA from 2005 until 2019.[1] In 2003, he was voted the FA Premier League Commentator of the Decade.[2] Since 2005, Tyler has worked as a coach for a number of teamsmanaged byAlan Dowson.
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Tyler was a ghostwriter on football punditJimmy Hill's column inThe Times and reported matches under his own name for the paper. At Hill's urging, he took a job behind the scenes on LWT'sThe Big Match. His job was solely a production role, but at one match he did his own commentary on a tape recorder and handed it in to his bosses.
On 28 December 1974, ITV regionSouthern Television's regular football commentatorGerry Williams was indisposed, and Tyler made his commentary debut atThe Dell describing a Second Division clash betweenSouthampton andSheffield Wednesday. Six weeks later he was asked back, soon becoming a regular commentator.
In 1976, Tyler moved toYorkshire Television and began to make an impression on ITV Sport bosses, who included him in the team for the1978 World Cup. Another change of region came in 1981 as Tyler moved toGranada in his nativeNorth West. In 1982, he led ITV's World Cup team, covering every England game and the final alongsideIan St. John.
Throughout the 1980s, Tyler established himself as the ITV network's number two commentator behindBrian Moore. He led the team at the1984 European Championships and also commentated all the main matches at the1986 World Cup except the final, for which Moore flew out from London. From 1983, ITV began to show liveFootball League matches, with Tyler involved in several such broadcasts over the next seven years.
The frustration of being the number two commentator saw Tyler search for new opportunities and, despite his own reluctance, he signed a deal withBritish Satellite Broadcasting's Sports Channel in 1990 at the urging of his agent John Hockey. There he covered liveFA Cup games,England internationals and the Scottish League. Tyler's voice was still heard on ITV for another two years as they carried the commentaries he provided for the Football League's overseas broadcasts. British Satellite Broadcasting's merger with Sky meant the Sports Channel becameSky Sports in 1991. He then led the Sky commentary team, spearheading the network's coverage of the FA Premier League from its inception in 1992 until the conclusion of the 2022–23 season.[3][4] On Sunday 16 August 1992, on Sky Sports, he commentated on the first pay-TV match in the history of the English football championship,Nottingham Forest–Liverpool.[citation needed]
In April 2003, in thePremier League 10 Seasons Awards, Tyler was voted as the Premier League Commentator of The Decade by fans and a specially assembled panel of football experts. After learning of the honour Tyler stated, "I'd like to thank everybody who voted for me and express my gratitude to all my colleagues at Sky Sports. This award is as much for them as myself and reflects our approach to football. My job has also been made easier by the thousands of individuals within the game who've answered my daily requests for information with the attention and care that make this job so enjoyable."[citation needed]
In 2005, Sky began a rotation policy with their leading commentators. Top matches were shared more equally between Tyler,Alan Parry,Rob Hawthorne andIan Darke – who had returned to football on a regular basis after ten years prioritising boxing. Hawthorne covered the2005 UEFA Champions League Final for the network. Doubts about the security of his position as Sky's number one commentator alerted rival broadcasting corporations. In January 2007 he was approached by Setanta to be their lead commentator for live Premiership football in 2007–08, but rejected the move and signed a new contract with Sky Sports.[5] Tyler stepped down as a commentator for Sky Sports after 33 years of service in 2023.[6]
Since 1990, Tyler has been the main voice for broadcasts on the Australian television networkSpecial Broadcasting Service (SBS) for theFIFA World Cup,UEFA European Championship and European club competition matches as well as a number of Australian international matches. With the exception of 2010, when he worked forESPN in the United States, he has now covered eight World Cup tournaments for SBS.[7]
Fox used Tyler's Sky commentary to cover the2010 UEFA Champions League Final.[8] It was the first time the Champions League final had been broadcast on a major American television network. In addition, he ledESPN's coverage of the2010 FIFA World Cup[9] and was set to return for the2014 tournament.[10] However, on 8 January 2014, ESPN and Tyler announced they had agreed to part ways ahead of the 2014 World Cup so that he could focus on Premier League games live on Sky Sports.[11]
Having established himself as a leading ITV commentator in the 1980s, Tyler also took on a large amount of freelance work. He has worked forScreensport, commentating on the Freight Rover Trophy Area in 1985 and the Screensport Super Cup in 1986, as well as several South American qualifying matches for the 1990 World Cup.
Between 1986 and 1993, Tyler was a regular voice on Octagon CSI's international feed of Serie A along withPeter Brackley. In May 1988, he was the commentator on Sky Television's first football match coverage – a friendly betweenManchester United andAC Milan atOld Trafford (the channel had previously broadcast externally produced highlights packages).
With his Sky Sports colleagueAlan Smith and the former Arsenal and West Ham United playerStewart Robson, Tyler commentated on theEnglish-language international coverage of theUEFA Champions League and theUEFA Euro since the2015–16 season, managed byUEFA, as well as theFA Cup and theCommunity Shield managed bythe FA.
Although mostly associated with football, Tyler has commentated on other sports. He contributed toGranada TV'scricket coverage ofRoses Match's throughout his time there, and described action from livenetball for ITV'sWorld of Sport.[12] In the mid-1980s, Tyler also anchored Channel 4's coverage ofbaseball'sWorld Series.[12][13]
Tyler was the default commentator for theFIFA video game series from 2005 to 2020, alongsideAndy Gray between 2005 and 2010 andAlan Smith from 2011 to 2020.
Tyler also appeared as a commentator inMike Bassett: England Manager (2001) andGoal! (2005).
In 2005, Tyler joinedWalton & Hersham as a coach and has since worked with managerAlan Dowson atKingstonian andHampton & Richmond Borough. In May 2018, he followed Dowson toNational League clubWoking, a team he has supported since he was young.[14] Following the departure of Dowson in late February 2022, Tyler also opted to leave the club, concluding a four-year spell with theSurrey-based side.[15]
Ahead of the2022–23 season, Tyler linked up with Dowson again and became a coach atDartford. In the2023–24 season, Tyler joined Dowson as coach for a short interim spell atHemel Hempstead Town.[16]
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