Clive Tyldesley

Clive Tyldesley was born on August 21, 1954, in Radcliffe, Lancashire, England. He began his career in 1975 as a teaboy at Radio Trent in Nottingham, quickly joining the sports team and covering Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. In 1977, he moved to Radio City in Liverpool, eventually becoming head of sport. During his time at Radio City, he commentated on four European Cup finals involving Liverpool and reported live on the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, as well as chronicling Everton’s successes and reporting on the Hillsborough disaster aftermath.

Tyldesley’s television career commenced with an opportunity during the 1986 FIFA World Cup at ITV as a standby commentator. He joined Granada full-time in 1989, initially as a reporter and presenter, succeeding Martin Tyler as their main football commentator in 1990. During this period, he also provided commentary for rugby league and cricket, and contributed to the ITV network team as a reporter for ‘Saint and Greavsie.’ His first network football commentaries took place at the 1990 World Cup, and he provided commentary for the 1991 Copa América and 1992 African Cup of Nations for Screensport.

In 1992, Tyldesley joined the BBC’s sports department, covering matches for ‘Match of the Day’ and contributing to their football output, including the 1994 World Cup, the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the 1996 European Championship. He rejoined ITV in August 1996 and became their senior football commentator from 1998 until 2020. In this role, he led ITV’s commentary for five World Cups and five European Championships, and was the lead commentator for seventeen UEFA Champions League finals and nine FA Cup finals. He currently serves as the lead commentator for CBS/Paramount Plus’s live UEFA Champions League coverage in the United States and has also provided commentary for Amazon Prime Video’s Premier League coverage. In 2021, his semi-autobiographical book, ‘Not for me, Clive,’ was published.