Ian Darke

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Ian Darke (most likely to have been born in 1950) is an English association football and boxing commentator who currently works for ESPN and BT Sport. Darke was previously one of Sky's 'Big Four' football commentators alongside Martin Tyler, Alan Parry and Rob Hawthorne. He was also the main commentator for Sky's big boxing fights and along with Jim Watt, covered some of the biggest fights involving British boxers.

In 2010, Darke switched from Sky to ESPN in the United States.

At the start of the 2013–14 Premier League season, Darke joined the BT Sport team as a commentator for English Premier League matches. He can also be heard on NBC Sports Network, as they use BT Sport feeds in their coverage.

Broadcasting career

Darke worked for nearly ten years on BBC Radio covering boxing, athletics and football, before moving to Sky Sports in 1992 to commentate on the newly formed FA Premier League. He was the number two to lead commentator Martin Tyler and was the main commentator for Ford Monday Night Football.

In 1995, as Sky's boxing coverage expanded (to the point where the sport virtually disappeared from terrestrial screens), Darke switched permanently to be their main boxing commentator, his role on Monday Night Football being taken by Rob Hawthorne.

Nearly ten years later, after boxing promoter Frank Warren took his fighters to ITV, Sky's boxing output was significantly reduced, freeing up Darke for a return to 'live' football (although he had commentated on matches for an international audience, and had been heard on Sky covering some Champions League matches). This coincided with Sky's new policy of rotating their main commentators. Previously, Martin Tyler covered all the 'big' matches; now, Darke was given matches such as Arsenal v Manchester United and the 2005 Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool.

Tyler later regained his number one spot, but the continued rotation still gave opportunities for other commentators and Darke enjoyed a prolific career with commentaries from the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Football League, as well as maintaining his boxing commitments.

ESPN

In 2010, Sky did not receive rights to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and Darke was hired to be an ESPN commentator for their coverage of the World Cup for the American market.[1]

Despite beginning the 2010-11 Premier League season with Sky in the UK, Darke was offered a three-year contract to join ESPN in the US as their voice of the Premier League. He accepted the offer, and now commentates alongside Steve McManaman. ESPN has announced that Darke will expand his duties to commentate on MLS games, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[2]

Darke paired with Julie Foudy to lead ESPN's coverage of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.[3]

Darke said on the Men in Blazers podcast on Grantland.com, that one of the worst places to commentate from was Port Vale F.C.. He recalled calling a game at Vale Park during a rain storm from the roof of the stand. Darke equated the experience to "being on the deck of a ship in the middle of the Atlantic."[citation needed]

References

  1. ↑ "Ian Darke". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved 26 August 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Ian Darke To Leave Sky Sports For ESPN". VitalFootball.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2013. 
  3. ↑ "2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Commentators – ESPN MediaZone". Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2013. 

External links

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