Barry Davies

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people with the same name, see Barry Davies (disambiguation).

Barry Davies
Sports commentator
and television presenter

Barry George Davies

sports commentator and television presenter. He covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC
.

Although best known for his

London 2012
games.

Davies was also the 'Voice of the Boat Race' between 1993 and 2004 (until the BBC lost the rights to cover the event), the presenter of Maestro in the 1980s (a series of interviews with retired sporting legends), and the voice that welcomed tourists to London Heathrow in 2012 as they arrived for the Olympic Games. He has covered more Summer Olympics (12) than any other British sports broadcaster.

Early life

Davies was born in London and was educated at

Brian Moore and Peter West among its alumni – and King's College London
, where he read Dentistry, although contrary to what has often been reported he never qualified or practised as a dentist. He says in his autobiography that his original aim was to become a doctor, but although he did well in his school exams, he didn't quite get the grades required to win a university place to read medicine. Dentistry was therefore a second choice that he "soon came to regret" and eventually he "flunked out" due to spending too much time playing and watching sport.

Career

Davies started his broadcasting career with

Derby County league encounter in 1974 when Derby's Francis Lee
turned on the edge of the box and unleashed an unstoppable screamer into Manchester City's net. "Interesting – Very interesting – Look at his face, just look at his face!"

ITV

Ahead of the

Home International Championship when still with ITV, but this game was only shown live in the LWT and HTV Wales
regions.

His spell with ITV continued for another three years, providing commentaries for

1966 World Cup Final
for BBC radio), although Davies and Moore both claimed to have been unaware of this until many years later.

BBC

Davies joined the BBC in July 1969, making his first brief on-screen appearance as a touchline reporter at the Wales v Rest of the UK International football match held to celebrate the Investiture of the Prince of Wales, but for the next 35 years he was closely associated with the

Queen's Hotel in Leeds on the Friday night, describes in his autobiography how he "barely had time to eat his cornflakes" on the Saturday morning before being put in a fast car and driven to London so he could commentate on the main match, Crystal Palace v Manchester United, and co-present the show with Frank Bough.[1]

As a BBC football commentator Davies covered nine

USSR, but covered only two FA Cup Finals in his career – the 1995 final between Everton and Manchester United and the 1996 final between Manchester United and Liverpool as John Motson
regularly landed FA Cup finals after 1977.

The rivalry between Motson and Davies started when the then senior commentator

1977 FA Cup Final, the most prestigious domestic game of the season. The more experienced Davies was expected to cover the match and Davies states in his autobiography that he had been told by the then football editor Sam Leitch that the game was his, and it came as a total shock to Davies when the BBC announced that Motson would be covering the match, especially as Motson had never done a "live" game for television before. Although Motson and Davies were often portrayed as firm rivals for the main commentary spot at the BBC, the pair have spoken of their respect for each other, with Davies insisting there has "never been any animosity" between them,[1]
and Motson warmly praising Davies in his own autobiography for his ability to cover a multitude of sports at the highest level.

Davies was to enjoy most of his leading games in

European Championship
.

Despite missing out on commentating on any international tournament final apart from that of 1972 and

1994, Davies would normally be chosen for at least one England match if they qualified. England matches he commentated on include the quarter-finals against Argentina in World Cup 1986 and Cameroon in World Cup 1990 and the semi-final of Euro '96 against Germany. He was also often the BBC's choice of commentator for broadcast to English viewers if Scotland were involved in a World Cup match, such as the opening game of France '98
against Brazil.

After 35 years of working with Match of the Day, Davies' final appearance on the programme came on 25 September 2004, commentating on a match between Manchester City and Arsenal. After the match, Arsène Wenger paid tribute to Davies and Kevin Keegan presented Davies with a signed Manchester City shirt.[2] Davies' reason for retiring from football commentary was that he felt he was not getting enough "big" matches, and was being "downgraded", noting in his autobiography that he had not been invited to cover any of England's games at the 2004 European Championship. Indeed, the two-year extension he was being offered on his contract made clear that he would not be covering any "live" football, and there was no guarantee that he would have any involvement at all with the 2006 World Cup. He felt this unacceptable and declined the offer.[3]

Before his final commentary game for Match of the Day, Davies said:

It is not a fit of pique why I am leaving, but I wanted more than just doing a few minutes' commentating on the roster. There is too much talk from commentators nowadays. Dramatic moments in football speak for themselves.

The BBC's head of football Niall Sloane said:

Barry Davies is one of the great football commentators. His ability to sum up memorable moments succinctly has been one of the prime distinctions of the programme down the years.

Freelance: 2004–2019

Davies continued to work for the BBC on a freelance basis, covering the 2006

2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. That same year, he also reprised his role as the voice of the Boat Race by leading the commentary team on the London radio station LBC
, renewing it in 2009 – the last year that LBC had the radio rights to the contest.

On 23 August 2007, Headline press published his memoirs of 40 years in sports broadcasting, entitled 'Interesting, Very Interesting' after a commentary line from a match between Derby County and Manchester City in 1974. When promoting the book on Talksport programme Hawksbee & Jacobs, Davies revealed that he was a fan of Tottenham Hotspur. Davies said he did not want to be accused of bias, so did not want to reveal who he supported during his career, or even where he was born. He revealed on a radio interview with Simon Mayo in 2007 (after he had retired from football commentary) that he also supports non-league side Windsor & Eton, and currently serves as their President.

After he was dropped from the 2009 French Open tennis and the World and European Ice Skating Championships, and the following year was not involved at all with the

2010 World Cup coverage, but in September 2010, the BBC announced that he would be going to that year's Commonwealth Games
in India to commentate on the hockey tournament.

Davies commentated on the Wimbledon championships for the BBC in 2011,[5] including the Ladies' Singles Final on the "3D" coverage. In an interview during the 2011 tournament, Davies said: "There are times when I miss doing football. But part of the reason I left was that the style of commentary has changed so much in a way I don't agree with. My former boss, Niall Sloane, who's now at ITV, said he thought conversational commentary was the way to go. I beg to differ. I think it's going too far."[6]

In 2012, Davies provided the "3D" commentary on the Men's Singles Final at Wimbledon, where Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray in four sets to win his record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title. During the 2012 tournament John McEnroe spoke of his "outrage" that Davies had not commentated on football for eight years.[7]

Davies commentated on the Hockey tournament at the 2012 London Olympics, meaning that he had commentated on 12 Summer Olympics, overtaking the record held by David Coleman for a British sports broadcaster,[8] but he was omitted from the BBC commentary team for the 2016 games and had no involvement with any other broadcaster.

On Saturday 19 May 2012, Davies was one of the torchbearers on the opening day of the Olympic Torch Relay, carrying the torch on the outskirts of Plymouth. The invitation to participate in the relay had been issued by the International Olympic Committee in recognition of his contribution to the Olympic movement, and it was also announced that Davies would commentate on the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London games for the Olympic Broadcasting Services television coverage. Davies appeared to be hinting at retirement in an interview with his local newspaper in May 2012 saying of the 2012 Olympics "...it will be a highlight of my career. It might even be a conclusion",[9] but in June 2013 the BBC announced that Davies would again be commentating on that year's Wimbledon tennis championships for them, and the same announcement was made in respect of every tournament up to and including 2017, which was Davies' 32nd Wimbledon for the BBC.[10]

On 30 August 2013, Davies announced that he was stepping down as the BBC's hockey commentator, having covered the sport for 41 years.[11]

Davies returned to Match of the Day on 23 August 2014 as a one-off to celebrate the programme's 50th anniversary, and he commentated on the game between Crystal Palace and West Ham.[12]

In September 2015, Davies filled in for Jon Champion for three weeks as the commentator on Absolute Radio's live Saturday afternoon Premier League coverage while Champion was away covering the Rugby World Cup for ITV.

In June 2018, the BBC announced that Davies was retiring at the age of 80, and 2018 would be his 33rd and final Wimbledon. To mark his career in broadcasting, the BBC screened a documentary "Barry Davies: The Man, The Voice, The Legend" in July 2018.[13]

His last commentary for the BBC's domestic audience was on 15 July 2018 when he covered the Mixed Doubles Final between Jamie Murray and Victoria Azarenka who were beaten by Alexander Peya and Nicole Melichar.[14]

In April 2019, Davies commentated on the

Boat Race
for the BBC-produced "World Feed" for overseas audiences but the commentary was not heard by viewers in the UK.

Guest appearances

Davies brought his talents to the comedy world in the

sketch show Big Train,[15] commentating with his distinctive enthusiasm on the fictional "World Stare-Out Championships" with Phil Cornwell
.

In 1995, Davies put his voice to the

Actua Tennis from the same developers.[17][18]

In 1999 Davies, who was the BBC's ice skating commentator at the time, provided "commentary" on the ice skating sequence on the UK version of the music video for the

Brit Award, although Davies said that he wasn't invited to the ceremony and (to his regret) he never got to meet Williams during the recording.[19]

Davies provided commentary for

management sims Premier Manager: Ninety Nine[20] and Premier Manager 2000.[21] Since 2003, Davies has voiced the various football video games produced by Codemasters: the Club Football titles released in 2003 and 2004,[22][23] England International Football[24] and the LMA Manager series since LMA 2004.[25]

Personal life

Davies makes no mention of when he was born, his early years or even his place of birth in his autobiography, although official public records give his place of birth as Islington in London. During the war he was evacuated to Gloucestershire.

Davies lives in Datchet in Berkshire, England, with his wife, Penny, a former British Airways flight attendant, to whom he has been married since 1968. They have two children Giselle Davies Pettyfer, who was formerly the Head of Communications at the International Olympic Committee[26] and Mark Davies, who became chairman of British Rowing in 2020.[27] In an interview in 2011, Davies said that he enjoys playing golf and spending time with his family and grandchildren.[6]

Davies was awarded the

MBE for services to sports broadcasting in the New Years Honours list published in December 2004.[28]

In an interview in 2015, Davies revealed the other sports that he would like to have covered: "Well, I love cricket but I'm not Richie Benaud, who I think is still, by a street, the best commentator around. I enjoy watching the golfing Majors but I couldn't compete with Peter Alliss. I enjoyed doing a wide range of sports in my time and learning from people who knew more about them than me."[19]

Bibliography

  • Smith, Martyn (2004). Match of the Day: 40th Anniversary. BBC Books.
    ISBN 0-563-52181-3
    .

References

  1. ^ a b Smith (2004), p 46-47
  2. ^ MacInnes, Paul (27 September 2004). "Screen Break: 'Interesting. Very interesting. Just look at his face!'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  3. ^ O'Carroll, Lisa (24 September 2004). "Davies hangs up his boots". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  4. ^ Dunn, Matthew (31 March 2010). "Barry Davies 'has not retired', BBC insist | Football | Sport | Daily Express". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Press Office – BBC line-up for the 125th Wimbledon Championships". BBC. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  6. ^ a b Liew, Jonathan (26 June 2011). "Wimbledon 2011: Return of Barry Davies to the commentary box is a reminder of what we've lost". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Wimbledon 2012: You have to say Barry Davies is still magnificent – and a national treasure". The Daily Telegraph. London. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  8. ^ "London 2012 Olympics: legendary commentator Barry Davies to voice the Games at Heathrow Airport". The Daily Telegraph. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Veteran commentator carries torch". The Royal Borough Observer. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  10. ^ "Wimbledon 2014 – television – Media centre". BBC. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  11. ^ Barry Davies steps down as BBC hockey commentator. England Hockey: News & Events. 30 August 2013
  12. ^ "Barry Davies returns to Match of the Day commentary box". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Barry Davies: The Man, The Voice, The Legend". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic back on top after turbulent interlude". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  15. ^ Smyth, Rob (3 September 2008). "On Second Thoughts: Barry Davies". The Guardian. London.
  16. Future Publishing
    : 24–25. 14 March 1996.
  17. Future Publishing
    : 12. March 1998.
  18. ^ I. G. N. Staff (22 June 1997). "E3: Grab Your Rackets!". IGN. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Vox in the Box: Barry Davies". 29 January 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  20. ^ Chrismas, Warren (April 1999). "The pie's the limit with...Premier Manager '99". PC Zone (75). Dennis Publishing: 50–51.
  21. ^ Lacey, Kendall. "Review: Premier Manager 2000". Extreme PlayStation (28). Quay Publishing: 64–65.
  22. Next Publishing
    : 84.
  23. ^ Butts, Steve (22 October 2004). "Review: Club Football 2005 Manchester United Edition". IGN. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  24. ^ "Showcase: England International Football". GamesTM (Australia) (13). Paragon Publishing: 69. 25 May 2004.
  25. ^ Denton, Jon (December 2005). "Review: LMA Manager 2006". Play (135). Paragon Publishing: 86.
  26. ^ "Profile: Giselle Davis, former director of communications, IOC".
  27. ^ "The new chair of British Rowing, Mark Davies is aiming to improve trust in the NGB". 12 May 2018.
  28. ^ "TV/Radio Listings – New Year honour for BBC maestro". BBC Sport. 31 December 2004. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
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