Big Interview: Clive Tyldesley, the man behind the microphone

Clive Tyldesley, of course, has had a superb stint at the top of football commentary for the last three decades, but the man himself boils it down to around 180 seconds.

“If I’d messed up those last three minutes, then we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he said.

Born in the Greater Manchester town of Radcliffe and having grown up as a Manchester United fan in his youth, Tyldesley was 44-years-old when his moment came.

Having spent time in local ITV broadcasting and then with the BBC, Tyldesley was already forging a successful career for himself.

Following the 1998 World Cup final, legendary commentator Brian Moore retired, meaning Tyldesley earned his first senior commentator role in television – “ that was the realisation of my ambition,” he added.

A year into the gig and the 1999 Champions League final came around on May 26, 1999. Only days earlier United had won the FA Cup, to add to their Premier League title from earlier in the month.

Despite growing up as a Manchester United fan, Tyldesley’s love for them had “diluted” when he began covering other clubs and for the final against Bayern Munich at Barcelona’s Nou Camp, his focus was on the task at hand.

“There were 20 million people watching and it was a hugely significant match for Manchester United and for modern history,” he said.

“You can only work with the material you are given and the material that was served up was fairly extraordinary and I managed to find some words for it – that was why it was important to me.

“That was the most important three to five minutes of my career.”

The material on the pitch certainly produced some memorable moments off it. “Name on the trophy” and “Solskjaer has won it” where just two of Tyldesley’s famous lines from that evening – that still live long in the memory.

“I saw it as an opportunity, rather than a pressure,” he added. “If you have the stage and the time to prepare for a big game, then you have to have enough confidence in your ability to handle it and rise to the television occasion.

“Strangely, it wasn’t a very good game and it felt like an anti-climax with ten minutes to go. It was fairly forgettable and it felt like a let down – it was falling flat.

“My great mentor was Reg Gutteridge, a boxing commentator who is sadly no longer with us.

“He was trained as a journalist, first and foremost, and tried to make me think like a journalist and tell the story.

“The story of that night was the sense of fate, the nature of the path to the final, and the gathering sense that they have a metaphysical momentum here.

“Going into the last five minutes they looked like scoring for the first time all night. I’m not actually a believer in fate myself, but in the end the winning goal comes down to a corner kick in the last minute. Who do you want to take it of any player in the world in 1999?

“David Beckham is in your top three.

“At the near post, who do you want to flick it on? Teddy Sheringham would be among your top three.

“Then, an awkward chance at thigh height, a poacher, a substitute, who do you want? Solskjaer would be up there.

“It was a brilliant set-piece goal.

“If I said anything clever that night it was ‘name on the trophy’, because it felt destined to be.”

A side to the commentary job, that perhaps most people would not consider, is the need for fair and accurate narration in regards to someone you would call a friend.

Some sports journalists may find themselves in the same boat – growing closer to the people they report on over the years.

Tyldesley, who has been in the game for years, has grown friendships in the football world – making his commentary over England’s embarrassing loss to Iceland at the 2016 Euros even more painful.

“Roy Hodgson, Ray Lewington and Gary Neville are all good friends,” Tyldesley said.

“My wife and I have been for dinner with Roy and his wife several times, he’s a really good guy and he’s a close friend.

“It was as difficult a game that I’ve commented on, partly because of that.

“With a couple of minutes to go, I knew that a defeat would make Roy’s position untenable. This is a man I’d sat down with and spoken about our families and life in general and now I’m saying it’s time he went. The defeat itself was baffling too.

“Watching really good players play so badly for England that night, is the whole essence of understanding why England haven’t had more success.

“There was some very good players on the field for England that night and they didn’t perform at all. All confidence was zapped.

“Roy held Marcus Rashford back until the end as he didn’t feel it was right to expose him to all this anguish and pressure that experienced players were going through.

“Then, for the last five minutes he shrugged his shoulders and couldn’t understand what the fuss was about and just ran at the Iceland defence.

“We do have a strange relationship with our national team, but it’s the kind of one we have with our loved ones, we almost love them too much and want success too much.

“It was a mystery what happened against Iceland. It was tough to watch, tough to commentate and I guess tough to play in.”

As a man well-known for ITV’s England coverage, Tyldesley knows the importance of our national team.

For all of the global success of the Premier League, The 65-year-old believes England’s fortunes are still so important to the country and particularly those fans who support clubs lower down the pyramid.

“The most popular football team in England, is England,” he added.

“If you showed any team playing a game, at the same time as England if it was possible, England would get the biggest audience. Far bigger than Manchester United or Liverpool, or anyone else.

“Fans of large clubs see the international break as more than an inconvenience, it’s an annoyance half the time.

“When you go to an England game at a tournament and you enter the stadium and see all the St George’s flags that decorate these far-flung venues, the names on them are not Liverpool or Manchester United.

“They are Boreham Wood, Bishop Auckland, Bilston – it’s clubs further down the pyramid.

“An England fan once said to me on a plane going out to a game that this was his Champions League. His club was never going to play the same games that big clubs play in, but his country does.”

“The England team is very important to an awful lot of people around the country.”

Despite his decades of service, Tyldesley was unceremoniously removed from his position as lead ITV commentator in July and replaced by Sam Matterface.

The decision raised a furore among media colleagues and football fans on social media before Tyldesley issued a video on his own Twitter account.

“To be clear, this is ITV’s decision, not mine, and I’m upset, annoyed, baffled,” he said. “Now I won’t be commentating on any of the big England games in the coming year and I’m going to miss them. I love this job, and it’s gone.”

“Why? I don’t know. I do not know exactly why this decision has been taken. Already I’ve had the producer of a broadcaster that I am working on asking me if I have got any health issues. No, I have got no health issues. Asking me if it is something that I have done. No, there’s nothing.

“I’m the same broadcaster, the same person that I’ve always been. Like me or hate me and you’re entitled to do either. Like everybody else in football I am a matter of opinion and I totally get that, and I totally respect ITV’s right to change their opinion of me. ITV have been really good for me and yes I’ll carry on as their number two commentator.

“But let me make it quite clear: I have not stepped down. I have been moved, moved aside. I’ve not even thought about winding down towards retirement or anything like that.”