Clive Tyldesley (born 21 August 1954) is a renowned English sports commentator, best known for his long tenure as ITV’s senior football commentator from 1998 to 2020. Over the course of his career, he covered five World Cups, five European Championships, 17 UEFA Champions League finals, and nine FA Cup finals, making him one of the most recognisable voices in British sports broadcasting. Tyldesley currently serves as the lead commentator for CBS Sports’ live UEFA Champions League coverage in the United States and also contributes to Amazon Prime’s Premier League broadcasts. In 2021, he published his first book, Not for Me, Clive, a semi-autobiographical account of his career.
Tyldesley was educated at Bury Grammar School, Kirkham Grammar School, and the University of Nottingham, where he studied English. His broadcasting career began in 1975 at Radio Trent in Nottingham, where he initially worked as a “teaboy” before joining the sports team. Within weeks, he was covering Nottingham Forest’s matches under Brian Clough. By 1977, Tyldesley had moved to Radio City in Liverpool, where he became head of sport. During this time, he provided live coverage of Liverpool’s European Cup finals and reported on significant events like the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 and the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
Tyldesley’s television career took off during the 1986 FIFA World Cup, when ITV needed a standby commentator. After technical issues interrupted the live feed from Guadalajara, he provided commentary on the Brazil-Spain match. Despite his debut being marked by mistakes, Tyldesley continued to build his television career, joining Granada Television in 1987. He worked as a reporter and presenter on sports programmes like Sportsweek and made his commentary debut in 1988, covering an indoor football tournament in Australia. By 1989, he was hired by Granada as their lead football commentator, succeeding Martin Tyler. His first live ITV football commentary came in 1991 during a UEFA Champions League match.
After a brief stint at the BBC from 1992 to 1996, where he covered the 1994 World Cup, the 1995 Women’s World Cup, and the 1996 European Championship, Tyldesley rejoined ITV in 1996 as Brian Moore’s understudy. Following Moore’s retirement after the 1998 World Cup, Tyldesley became ITV’s lead commentator, his first season including Manchester United’s treble-winning season of 1999. Tyldesley continued to be ITV’s primary commentator for major tournaments, covering every Champions League final between 1998 and 2015 and serving as the lead voice for the European Championships from 2000 to 2016 and the World Cup from 2002 to 2018. Throughout his career, his regular co-commentators included Ron Atkinson, David Pleat, Jim Beglin, Andy Townsend, Glenn Hoddle, and Ally McCoist.
In July 2020, Tyldesley was replaced by Sam Matterface as ITV’s lead football commentator, a decision that sparked public controversy. He soon moved to CBS Sports to become the lead commentator for UEFA Champions League matches in the US. Tyldesley has also worked as a regular commentator on Amazon Prime’s live Premier League coverage and stepped down from his role at Talksport in July 2023.
Beyond broadcasting, Tyldesley has been involved in charity work and is a patron of the Bobby Moore Bowel Cancer Fund since 2010. He has also made appearances on shows like Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and hosted the International Electronic Games Conference at the Edinburgh Festival on two occasions. Throughout his career, Tyldesley has become a key figure in football commentary, and his voice has become synonymous with some of the most iconic moments in the sport’s history.
Commentators Ally McCoist, left, and Clive Tyldesley, with presenter Gabby Yorath, ITV Sport’s new broadcasting team for the Euro 2000 football Championship that was unveiled in London.
ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley at UEFA European Championship Qualifying – Group E – Slovenia v England – Stozice Stadium.
