Des Lynam
Des Lynam OBE | |
---|---|
Born | Desmond Michael Lynam 17 September 1942 Ennis, County Clare, Ireland |
Occupation | Radio/Television presenter |
Years active | 1968–present |
Spouses | Susan Skinner
(m. 1965; div. 1974)Rosemary Diamond (m. 2011) |
Children | 1 |
Desmond Michael Lynam,
Early years
Lynam was born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland,[2] and moved with his family to Brighton, England, at the age of six.[3] He recalled having a strong Irish accent at that time, but eventually lost it. He passed the
Broadcasting career
1968–1999
Lynam started his career in broadcasting as a
Lynam moved to television in 1977 starting off with Sportswide as part of
In 1988 and 1989, Lynam presented the BBC series Holiday.[7]
In April 1989, Lynam was present at the Hillsborough disaster whilst covering the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest for Match of the Day.[8]
Between 1988 and the end of the 1991–1992 season, the BBC had lost the rights for top flight league matches to ITV, although the BBC retained rights for the FA Cup. Lynam presented Match of the Day on FA Cup weekends for four years until the end of the 1991–1992 season. In August 1992, at the start of the new formation of the Premier League, the BBC regained highlights of top flight league matches.[9] Lynam presented Match of the Day highlights of Premier League matches on the BBC until 1999.
Throughout his time on the BBC, Lynam was praised for his witty and down-to-earth style. In 1998, Lynam made a brief return to BBC Radio 2, presenting the 5–7pm Drivetime show on Fridays only. During this period, Johnnie Walker presented the show from Monday to Thursday.[10]
ITV: 1999–2004
Lynam moved from the BBC to
ITV later gained a deal to air Premier League highlights. In 2001, Lynam presented The Premiership, which was first aired on ITV at 7pm on 18 August 2001. After disappointing viewing figures in the first couple of months for The Premiership on ITV, a decision was made to shift the programme from its original 7pm slot to a permanent later time of 10:30pm, from 17 November 2001.[12] The programme ran until May 2004.
Lynam continued to present football coverage for ITV until 2004. He decided to retire from presenting live sport after the
2005–2013
In May 2005, Lynam presented the
In June and July 2005, Lynam co-presented (with Sir David Frost) the series The World's Greatest Sporting Legend on Sky One.[14] In the summer of 2005, Lynam also covered the Wimbledon Championships for BBC Radio Five Live.
In October 2005, Lynam published his autobiography I Should Have Been at Work.[15] The title of the book is a reference to when Lynam said "Good afternoon. Shouldn't you be at work?" when introducing coverage of an England match at 2pm on a Monday during the 1998 Football World Cup finals.[16]
In 2005, Lynam said that he regretted his decision to move to ITV from the BBC in 1999. Lynam said: "If it was a decision I had to make now I probably wouldn't do it. Some people said I went from being a great broadcaster, or at least a very acceptably good one, to being a somewhat inadequate one overnight".[17]
Also that year, Lynam replaced Richard Whiteley as the host of Channel 4's Countdown, with his first episode airing on 31 October 2005, following Whiteley's death. Although his contract was to last until December 2007, Lynam left Countdown after less than 18 months at the end of 2006, because he regularly needed to travel to Leeds where Countdown was recorded, while his home was in Worthing, West Sussex about 250 miles away. He was replaced by Des O'Connor.[18] Lynam did, however, return for Countdown's 5000th episode, broadcast on 26 March 2010, as the Dictionary Corner guest.[19]
After leaving Countdown, Lynam hosted Sport Mastermind and appeared in Setanta Sports' commercials for its coverage of the Premier League.[citation needed]
In April 2009, Lynam spoke about his recollection of the Hillsborough disaster for a Football Focus special programme marking the 20th anniversary of the disaster.[8]
From 2011 to 2013, Lynam co-hosted, with Christopher Matthew, three series of Touchline Tales on BBC Radio 4, a humorous look at sport.
In a 2015 interview, Lynam stated that "I liked the radio boxing commentaries very much, especially following Muhammad Ali around the world. That was a great period of my life."[20]
Personal life
Lynam married Susan Skinner on 2 October 1965[21] and they had one son, Patrick (born 1970); however, by 1973 the marriage began to break down owing to Lynam's career commitments, and they divorced in 1974. Lynam married his long-term partner, Rosemary Diamond, in 2011.[citation needed]
Lynam is a supporter of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. In the 1990s he declined an invitation to join the board of directors at Brighton.[22]
Lynam was appointed
In 2013, Lynam endorsed the
Bibliography
- Des Lynam (2005). I Should Have Been at Work. HarperCollins Entertainment. ISBN 978-0-00-720544-8.
References
- ^ "New Year Honours List 2008". Honours.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 978-0-00-720544-8.
- ^ "Des Lynam on the story behind Euro 96: 'Football got its smile back'". Guardian. 12 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Des Lynam Biography". Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ "BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 29 June 1983.
- ^ "BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 30 June 1989.
- ^ "Debretts: Desmond Lynam, Esq, OBE". Archived from the original on 23 May 2013.
- ^ a b "Hillsborough remembered - Des Lynam". BBC. 11 April 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ Millward, David (15 June 2000). "It's all over for Match of the Day". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ "Smoothie Des joins Radio 2".
- ^ "Des Lynam moves to ITV". The Guardian. London. 2 August 1999. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ "ITV Premiership ratings plunge". BBC News. 27 August 2001. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
- ^ "Des Lynam makes BBC radio return". BBC. 10 July 2004. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ "Des Lynam, David Frost join Sky One". Digital Spy. 9 March 2005. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-00-720544-8.
- ^ "Profile: Des Lynam". BBC News. 30 September 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ "Des Lynam regrets move to ITV". Digital Spy. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
- ^ "O'Connor to be new Countdown host". BBC. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
- ^ "Countdown 5000th episode". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
- ^ Stevenson, Andy (19 February 2015). "Vox in the Box: Des Lynam". thesetpieces.com. Alma Media, Totally & Crisp Sports. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- ^ Des Lynam - The Biography - Steve Purcell
- ^ Viner, Brian (23 June 1999). "The Brian Viner Interview: Des Lynam". The Independent. London.
- ^ "Profile: Des Lynam". BBC News. 29 December 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ "Des Lynam endorses UKIP and rewrites Send in the Clowns". BBC News. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew (10 May 2013). "Des Lynam endorses Ukip ... in song!". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 October 2014.