Steve Wilson (football commentator)

Steve Wilson (born 1967),[1] is a British football commentator, currently working on the BBC's Match of the Day programme.

Early and personal life

Wilson was present on the Leppings Lane terrace at the time of the Hillsborough disaster, in a less populated section.[1] For the 20-year anniversary, he filmed a piece of his experiences for Football Focus.[1]

Married with three children,[1] he is a Tranmere Rovers and Liverpool F.C. supporter.

Radio career

After several years working for Capital Gold and occasional work on talkSPORT supporting Jonathan Pearce, Wilson moved to BBC Radio Five Live in the summer of 1998. His first commentary for the network was the opening game of Celtic's title defence in Scotland - a 5–0 win over Dunfermline Athletic.

Match of the Day

During his first season with the network, Wilson's commentary opportunities were limited, but he impressed enough to be given several outings on Match of the Day. During the 1999–00 season Wilson's role on Five Live was significantly increased as he shared many more matches with the likes of John Murray, Ian Brown and Simon Brotherton. He also continued his occasional work on Match of the Day and, following Jon Champion's move to ITV in 2001, Wilson became a permanent member of the Match of the Day team.

Because ITV held rights to Premier League highlights between 2001 and 2004, Match of the Day was more infrequent, covering mainly FA Cup and international matches, meaning Wilson was still able to continue commentating on Five Live during this period. Since the BBC regained the rights to Premier League highlights in 2004, Wilson has been an integral part of the commentary team.

Controversy

In coverage of Germany against Brazil in the semi-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Wilson referred to the German national anthem as "Deutschland Über Alles", a phrase which has not been present in the anthem since the end of the Second World War, and has Nazi connotations. He apologised over Twitter for the incident.[2] The BBC received complaints on the issue, and stated "In referring to the German national anthem, commentator Steve Wilson made a genuine mistake which has been acknowledged, and we apologise for any offence caused."[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hillsborough - a personal memory
  2. ↑ Monkey (9 July 2014). "Germany's World Cup win: BBC scores own goal over anthem". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "World Cup commentary, BBC Sport, 8 July 2014". BBC. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.

External links