| Jon Champion | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jon Champion 23 May 1965 Harrogate, UK |
| Residence | Gloucestershire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Archbishop Holgate Grammar School, York |
| Occupation | Journalist, Television sports commentator, PES commentator |
| Home town | York |
| Height | 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) |
Jon Champion (born 23 May 1965 in Harrogate, England) is ESPN UK's number one football commentator. Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the BBC and ITV over the past 20 years.[1] His late father David Champion was the deputy headmaster of the independent school Bootham School, York. Jon's commentaries can also be heard on the worldwide feed of many Premier League and Carling Cup matches around the globe.
Contents |
Champion joined BBC Sport in the late 1980s and worked as a football commentator on BBC Radio Five Live between 1992 and 1996. He worked alongside Alan Green, Mike Ingham, Ron Jones, Rob Hawthorne and Jonathan Legard covering Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Football League matches for the network. During this time Champion commentated on the 1994 and 1996 Division One Play-Off Finals, and the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final between Juventus and Ajax. His fellow commentator on that evening was future ITV colleague Peter Drury.
In 1995 an opportunity arose to further Champions's career at the BBC. John Motson took a three-month break from his role as a commentator on Match of the Day, allowing Champion to be drafted in to cover. Champion spent the whole of the 1995-1996 season combining his Five Live duties with appearances as a commentator on Match of the Day. He was successful enough to move across to TV permanently the following season, after Clive Tydesley left the BBC and rejoined ITV.
Champion spent five seasons between 1996 and 2001 as a full-time member of the BBC's commentary team, covering edited highlights of the Premier League and the FA Cup, in addition to occasional matches from the UEFA Cup. At the 1998 World Cup, Champion commentated on highlights of England's 2nd Round exit at the hands of Argentina.
In the summer of 2000 ITV surprised the BBC with a successful bid for Premier League highlights. This kicked in from 2001, and left the BBC without any regular week-by-week football. Champion therefore moved to join ITV in 2001, and was a regular part of ITV's commentary team for the Premier League, League Cup, Football League and the UEFA Champions League.
Champion's ITV colleague Guy Mowbray left for the BBC in 2004 following the loss of Premier League rights back to the BBC, however Champion remained with ITV. Although he continued as a commentator on highlights of the Football League and League Cup, Champion's 'live' match opportunties gradually diminished with Clive Tydesley and Peter Drury taking the top matches. As a result Champion began to look for work elsewhere, commentating on the Premier League for the overseas feed, and covering some UEFA Cup matches for Channel Five.
In 2007, ambitious new-boys Setanta Sports signed up Champion as their number one Premier League commentator. Champion remained contracted to ITV, but was loaned out to Setanta. For two seasons he thus managed to combine his ITV duties with 'live' matches on Setanta. During the 2008-2009 season, Champions was increasingly heard more on Setanta who had also secured rights to the FA Cup. In May 2009, Champions commentated on his first FA Cup Final.
Within a month, Setanta had gone into administration and were forced to relinquish their football rights. These were scooped up by the Disney-owned sports broadcaster ESPN, who rapidly established a brand new sports channel for the UK and starting broadcasting Premier League football in August 2009. Champion was the natural choice as their number one commentator, and moved across from ITV permanently. However Champion was loaned back to ITV for the 2010 World Cup, working alongside his ESPN colleague Craig Burley. As well as being ESPN's lead Premier League commmentator, Champion also commentates on the Europa League and the FA Cup. On 14 May 2011 he commentated alongside Chris Waddle on the FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Stoke City.
FA Cup Finals: 2009 (Setanta), 2011 (ESPN)
League Cup Finals: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006,, 2007, 2008 (all ITV)
Championship Play Off Final: 2005, 2009 (both ITV)
A regular figure in Private Eye's Colemanballs, below are a few memorable lines :
As a commentator :
He has been commentator in the Pro Evolution Soccer series since PES 2008. He will again feature in PES 2012 onwards, this time not alongside Mark Lawrenson (who featured in the game for as long a period of time as Champion) but with newly-installed co-commentator Jim Beglin.
Champion was selected as a commentator for ITV at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and most notably of all his matches, he commentated on the Netherlands v Japan match in the group stages.