Martin Tyler

Martin Tyler
Tyler before a match at Old Trafford in 2008.
Born	(1945-09-14) 14 September 1945 (age 71) Chester, Cheshire, England
Nationality	English
Education	Royal Grammar School, Guildford University of East Anglia
Occupation	Football commentator
Employer	BSkyB, ESPN, NBC, Fox Sports 1, TSN, SBS, beIN Sports

Martin Tyler (born 14 September 1945) is an English football commentator. In 2003, he was voted the FA Premier League Commentator of the Decade.

After graduating from the University of East Anglia in the 1960s, Tyler helped in the publishing of Marshall Cavendish's Book of Football. He was also ghostwriter on football pundit Jimmy Hill's column in The Times and reported matches under his own name for that paper.

At the urging of Hill he took a job behind the scenes on LWT's The Big Match – which had been established in 1968. 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 expecting, and indeed initially gaining, little response.

However, the break did eventually come with another ITV region Southern Television. Their regular football commentator (and ITV's tennis man) Gerry Williams was indisposed and on 28 December 1974 Tyler made his commentary debut at The Dell describing a Second Division clash between Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday. It was a successful bow and six weeks later he was asked back, soon becoming a regular commentator.

In 1976, Tyler moved to Yorkshire Television and began to make an impression on ITV Sport bosses, who included him in the team for the 1978 World Cup. Another change of region came in 1981 as Tyler moved to Granada in his native North West. In 1982 he led ITV's World Cup team, covering every England game and the final alongside Ian St. John. The tournament was also memorable on a personal level because he met his future wife while on duty in Spain.