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Ian Darke | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Sports commentator |
Ian Darke (born 1954) is an English association football and boxing commentator who currently works for ESPN and TNT Sports. Darke was previously one of Sky's "Big Four" football commentators alongside Martin Tyler, Alan Parry and Rob Hawthorne. He was also the main commentator for Sky's big boxing fights and along with Jim Watt, covered some of the biggest fights involving British boxers.
Darke worked for nearly ten years on BBC Radio covering boxing, athletics and football, before moving to Sky Sports in 1992 to commentate on the newly formed FA Premier League. He was the number two to lead commentator Martin Tyler and was the main commentator for Ford Monday Night Football .
In 1995, as Sky's boxing coverage expanded so much that the sport almost disappeared from terrestrial screens, Darke switched permanently to be their main boxing commentator, his role on Monday Night Football being taken by Rob Hawthorne. He was one of the Sky commentators for Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II, the fight known for being the one where Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield's ear.
Nearly ten years later, after boxing promoter Frank Warren took his fighters to ITV, Sky's boxing output was significantly reduced, freeing up Darke for a return to 'live' football (although he had commentated on matches for an international audience, and had been heard on Sky covering some Champions League matches). Darke commentated on matches such as the 2005 Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool.
Darke enjoyed a prolific Sky Sports career with commentaries for Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Football League matches, as well as maintaining his boxing commitments.
Howard gratefully claims it. Distribution: brilliant... Landon Donovan, are things on here for the USA? Can they do it here? Cross – and Dempsey is denied again! And Donovan has scored! Oh, can you believe this! Go, go, USA! Certainly through! Oh, it's incredible! You could not write a script like this!!
Darke's call on ESPN during Landon Donovan's winning goal against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup group stage.
In 2010, Sky did not receive rights to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and Darke was hired to be an ESPN commentator for their coverage of the World Cup for the American market, and he became known to the American public as the English-language commentator for Landon Donovan's last-second goal for the United States against Algeria that allowed the USA to not only advance to the knockout stage, but also win their group. [1]
Rapinoe gets a cross in. In towards Wambach! Oh, can you believe this! Abby Wambach has saved the USA's life in this World Cup!
Darke's call on ESPN for Abby Wambach's tying goal against Brazil in the 2011 Women's World Cup quarterfinals.
Despite beginning the 2010–11 Premier League season with Sky in the UK, Darke was offered a three-year contract to join ESPN in the U.S. as their voice of the Premier League. He accepted the offer. Darke later expanded his duties to commentate on MLS games, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was their lead commentator and called the final. [2] [3]
Zusi to take it...And there! It's there! What about that! It's John Brooks! It's John Brooks! For the USA! Have they stolen it?
Darke's call on ESPN for John Brooks' winning goal against Ghana in the 2014 World Cup group stage.
Darke paired with Julie Foudy to lead ESPN's coverage of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and commentated another American tournament-saving goal – Abby Wambach's last-second header against Brazil in the quarterfinals – before teaming with Taylor Twellman (for Team USA's games) and Steve McManaman (for other games, including those featuring England and the final between Germany and Argentina) during the 2014 World Cup. [4]
Darke returned to ESPN more permanently as the lead La Liga commentator alongside his long time broadcast partner Steve McManaman.
For the 2022 World Cup, ESPN loaned Darke to Fox Sports.
The fact that Darke has commentated enthusiastically for MLS and for both the US Men's and Women's National Teams has led The American Outlaws to create a chant named "Ian Darke, you are a Yank" and the Men in Blazers (Michael Davies and Roger Bennett) to name him "Sir Ian Darke".
| Football TV credits | |
|---|---|
| Event | Broadcast years |
| FIFA World Cup | 1994 (ABC/ESPN), 2010 (ABC/ESPN), 2014 (ABC/ESPN), 2018 (World Feed), 2022 (FOX/FS1) |
| FIFA Women's World Cup | 2011 (ESPN) |
| FIFA Confederations Cup | 2013 (ESPN) |
| Premier League | 1992–2010 (Sky Sports), 2010–2013 (ESPN), 2013–present (BT Sport/TNT Sports), 2019–present (Prime Video Sport) |
| UEFA Champions League/UEFA Europa League | 2003–2010 (Sky Sports), 2015-present (BT Sport/TNT Sports) |
| FA Cup | 1990–2010 (Sky Sports), 2013–2021 (BT Sport), 2022 (ESPN) |
| US Men's National Soccer Team Friendlies | 2010–2022 (ESPN) |
| US Women's National Soccer Team Friendlies | 2011–2022 (ESPN) |
| UEFA European Championship | 2012 (ESPN), 2016 (ESPN), 2020 [note 1] (ABC/ESPN), 2024 (FOX/FS1) |
| La Liga | 2021–present (ABC/ESPN) |
At the start of the 2013–14 Premier League season, Darke joined the BT Sport team as a commentator for English Premier League matches. He can also be heard on the Premier League world feed. He commentated on the 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019 FA Cup Final.
Darke said on the Men in Blazers podcast on Grantland.com that one of the worst places to commentate from was Port Vale F.C. He recalled calling a game at Vale Park during a rain storm from the roof of the stand. Darke equated the experience to "being on the deck of a ship in the middle of the Atlantic."[ citation needed ]
Darke was part of a team of commentators for Prime Video's UK Premier League coverage. He paired with his ESPN colleague Craig Burley.
Darke announced on Twitter on July 26, 2022 that he would be joining Fox Sports' slate of broadcasters for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in a supporting role, comparing his stint to a loan from ESPN. Darke and Landon Donovan were named the lead announcing team for the 2024 Euro Cup. [5]
Landon Timothy Donovan is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan was co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship club San Diego Loyal. Widely regarded as one of the greatest American players of all time, Donovan holds the world record for the man with the most international assists (58), and is tied with Clint Dempsey for the most international goals scored by an American player (57).
Mary Abigail Wambach is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's national soccer team from 2003 to 2015, earning her first cap in 2001. As a forward, she currently stands as the highest all-time goal scorer for the national team and is second in international goals for both female and male soccer players with 184 goals, behind Canadian Christine Sinclair. Wambach was awarded the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year, becoming the first American woman to win the award in ten years. She was included on the 2015 Time 100 list as one of the most influential people in the world.
Andrew Mullen Gray is a Scottish football broadcaster and former player.
Steven McManaman is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. Nicknamed "Macca", he is one of the most decorated English footballers to have played for a club abroad, with the UEFA website stating in 2012 that "of all England's footballing exports in the modern era, none was as successful as McManaman".
Derek Rae is a Scottish association football commentator and presenter who currently works for ESPN and ABC in the United States for the English-language coverages of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and La Liga and Deutsche Fußball Liga for the English-language world feed as well as the Premier League coverage on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. He has provided the English commentary for the FIFA/EA FC video game series alongside former Arsenal players Lee Dixon in 2020 and Stewart Robson since 2021. He is also an ambassador for Berwick Rangers.
Martin Tyler is an English football commentator. He worked as a commentator for Sky Sports from 1990 to 2023, covering the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, as well as other domestic and international competitions. Tyler had previously commentated for ITV in the 1970s and 1980s. He provided his voice to the football video game series FIFA from 2005 until 2019. In 2003, he was voted the FA Premier League Commentator of the Decade.
Stewart Ian Robson is an English former football player and TV and radio football pundit. He played for Arsenal, West Ham United where he was their player of the season in 1988, and Coventry City. After his footballing career ended he took on a role as a TV and radio pundit for Arsenal TV until 2012, ESPN, TalkSPORT and TNT Sports. He is currently ESPN's lead color commentator for FA Cup and EFL Cup working alongside Jon Champion and Martin Tyler, and Bundesliga with Derek Rae, who he also provides commentary alongside in the FIFA/EA FC video game series since 2021.
Jonathan Martin Champion is a British sports commentator currently working as an association football commentator for ESPN and NBC Sports. Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the BBC and ITV over the last 20 years. Champion currently covers the FA Cup for ESPN and the Premier League for NBC Sports.
Alan Parry is an English sports commentator, concentrating on football and athletics. He has commentated for all four main broadcasters of football in the UK – the BBC, BT Sport, ITV and Sky TV, as well as for both BBC and commercial radio.
World Cup Live was a soccer related news and analysis program that aired on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC every four years during the FIFA World Cup. Lead commentators and specialists dissect worldwide matches both through a live feed, and after they have already been played. World Cup Live was created for the 2006 World Cup and continued through the 2010 World Cup. It is planned to broadcast the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup as ESPN has English-language rights. As for anchors, SportsCenter hosts Dave Revsine and Rece Davis worked with ESPN while Brent Musburger hosted the ABC airings. Advertisements are not shown seeing as that play does not stop for two forty-five-minute half's, other than a halftime report, during which, commercials are aired. Logos are shown on the screen during broadcasting throughout the game and advertisements from sponsors can be seen before and after the game. Both pregame and post-game segments are included with a large number of games if time between matches permits, and are always aired for USMNT games. World Cup Live has kept this basic format over the past couple tournaments and plans on continuing for the 2014 World Cup. The show ended after the 2014 FIFA World Cup when Fox Sports acquired the World Cup rights beginning with the 2018 tournament.
Stephen Robert Bower is an English football commentator, one of the main voices for BBC TV's Match of the Day, culminating in being part of the commentary teams for the 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 FIFA World Cups. Bower commentated on New Zealand's historic draw with Italy and Argentina's 4–1 win over South Korea amongst others. He can also be heard on TNT Sports covering the Europa League, Serie A, and the Bundesliga, NBCSN covering the Premier League in the US, and ESPN covering international matches. He is the lead presenter on world feed Premier League Productions and presents Premier League football for Amazon Prime Video UK. Previous work includes Setanta Sports, ESPN UK, and MUTV.
Peter Donald Drury is a British sports commentator who currently works for Sky Sports and NBC Sports in the United States as the lead commentator for its Premier League and EFL Cup coverages.
Steve Banyard is best known as a football commentator and broadcaster. In particular, he's known for working on the worldwide television feed of the Premier League and Italy's Serie A, as well as major FIFA and UEFA tournaments.
John Rawling is a British boxing, track and field, darts and yachting commentator, currently working for BT Sport, ITV and Talksport. He has become known as one of the best known voices of boxing commentary. With BT, John commentates alongside former World Super-Middleweight champion Richie Woodhall, while former World Cruiserweight champion Glenn McCrory is his co-commentator with Talksport. On ITV darts broadcasts, John commentates with Chris Mason, Stuart Pyke, Dan Dawson and Alan Warriner-Little, while Mason and Paul Nicholson are alongside him for Talksport darts coverage. John also commentates on Paralympic sports for Channel 4. He was the lead commentator for Channel 4 in their award-winning coverage of the 2012 Paralympics in London and the 2011 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Korea.
Ian Crocker is a football commentator who works for Sky Sports.
Jim Proudfoot is an English football commentator who has worked on national radio and television since the late 1990s.
Ross Dyer is a British sports and entertainment broadcaster. He is currently a football commentator and presenter for ESPN and Fox Sports in the United States.
Paul Andrew Francis Dempsey is a British TV and radio sports presenter and commentator now chiefly employed by TNT Sports where he covers football and boxing coverage, as well as TV host and commentary on Indonesian Djarum's multiplatform Mola TV. After 18 years working for Sky Sports and 7 with the Dublin-based channels of Setanta Sports, Dempsey was signed by BT Sport prior to their UK launch.
Soccer on ESPN and ABC is a number of programs that currently airs soccer matches in the United States. These matches are from European competitions.
FIFA World Cup on ABC is the branding used for presentations of the FIFA World Cup produced by the American Broadcasting Company television network in the United States. ABC first broadcast World Cup matches in 1970, when they aired week-old filmed highlights shown on ABC's Wide World of Sports. ABC next broadcast the 1982 FIFA World Cup Final. Beginning in 1994, ABC was the official American network broadcaster of the World Cup up through 2014. ABC also broadcast the FIFA Women's World Cup in 1999 and 2003; Fox took over the American World Cup TV broadcasts in 2011, which took effect in 2015.
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by | MLS Cup play-by-play announcer 2010–2011 | Succeeded by |