Barry Davies facts for kids

Barry George Davies MBE (born 24 October 1937) is a famous English retired sports commentator and television presenter. He worked for many years, mostly for the BBC, covering a huge variety of sports.

Even though he is best known for his football commentary, Barry Davies also commentated on many other sports. These include tennis, badminton, ice hockey, ice skating, gymnastics, field hockey, cycling, beach volleyball, and athletics. He was a key voice in the BBC's Olympics coverage. He even commentated on the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer Games twice, at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. He also covered both ceremonies for the Olympic Broadcasting Service during the London 2012 games.

Davies was also known as the 'Voice of the Boat Race' from 1993 to 2004. He presented a show called Maestro in the 1980s, where he interviewed famous retired sports stars. In 2012, his voice welcomed tourists to London Heathrow Airport for the Olympic Games. He has covered more Summer Olympics (12) than any other British sports broadcaster, which is a big achievement!

Early Life and Education

Barry Davies was born in London. He went to Cranbrook School, Kent, which is also where other famous commentators like Brian Moore and Peter West studied. Later, he attended King's College London. He studied Dentistry there, but he never actually became a dentist. In his autobiography, he shared that he originally wanted to be a doctor. However, he didn't quite get the grades needed for medicine. Dentistry was his second choice, but he soon found he didn't enjoy it. He ended up leaving university because he spent too much time playing and watching sports!

A Career in Sports Commentary

Barry Davies began his career in broadcasting while serving in the British Army of the Rhine in West Germany. He worked for British Forces Broadcasting Service. His boss there, Gerald Sinstadt, later helped him join BBC Radio in 1963. At the same time, Davies also worked as a sports journalist for The Times newspaper. One of his most famous football commentaries was during a game between Manchester City and Derby County in 1974. When Derby's Francis Lee scored an amazing goal, Davies exclaimed, "Interesting – Very interesting – Look at his face, just look at his face!"

Working for ITV

Before the 1966 FIFA World Cup, Barry Davies started working in television with ITV. His first TV commentary was for a Fairs Cup match between Chelsea and A.C. Milan in February 1966. He also covered England's friendly game against West Germany before the World Cup. During the 1966 World Cup in England, Davies covered all the matches in the North East. This included North Korea's surprising 1–0 win over Italy. Back then, most matches on the same day started at the same time. Only one game, usually involving England, was shown live on TV.

Davies didn't make his first "live" network football commentary until the 1970 World Cup for the BBC. He covered the Italy vs Uruguay game. His time with ITV continued for three more years, where he commentated for ABC and Granada Television. He also covered many sports at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. When LWT started in 1968, he was considered to commentate and present their new football show The Big Match. However, Brian Moore got the job instead.

Joining the BBC

Barry Davies joined the BBC in July 1969. For the next 35 years, he was a key part of the Match of the Day programme. His first big appearance was on 9 August 1969. The main commentator, David Coleman, suddenly lost his voice due to flu. So, Davies, who was supposed to cover a different match, was quickly driven to London. He ended up commentating on the main game, Crystal Palace vs Manchester United, and even co-presented the show!

As a BBC football commentator, Davies covered nine World Cups. (He also covered one with ITV, making a total of ten!). He also covered seven European Championships. He commentated on the final of the 1972 tournament between West Germany and the USSR. However, he only covered two FA Cup Finals in his career: the 1995 final and the 1996 final. This was because John Motson usually covered the FA Cup finals after 1977.

There was a friendly rivalry between Motson and Davies. This started when David Coleman was having a contract issue with the BBC and couldn't cover the 1977 FA Cup Final. Davies, being more experienced, expected to cover the match. However, the BBC announced that Motson would cover it, even though Motson had never done a "live" game for TV before. Despite this, both Davies and Motson have said they respect each other. Davies said there was "never any animosity" between them. Motson also praised Davies for his ability to cover many sports at a high level.

Davies had many important games in European Cup finals. The BBC and ITV took turns covering these finals. He commentated on twelve European Cup finals in total. These included wins for Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. He also covered the sad events of the Heysel in 1985. He also commentated on finals of the European Cup Winners Cup, UEFA Cup, and sometimes the Football League Cup final.

Even though he didn't commentate on many international tournament finals after 1972 and 1994, Davies was often chosen for at least one England match. He covered England's quarter-final games against Argentina in World Cup 1986 and Cameroon in World Cup 1990. He also covered the semi-final of Euro '96 against Germany. He was often the BBC's choice for English viewers when Scotland played in a World Cup match, like their opening game against Brazil in France '98.

After 35 years with Match of the Day, Davies' last appearance on the show was on 25 September 2004. He commentated on a match between Manchester City and Arsenal. After the game, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger praised Davies. Kevin Keegan gave Davies a signed Manchester City shirt. Davies decided to retire from football commentary because he felt he wasn't getting enough "big" matches. He felt he was being "downgraded." He noted that he wasn't invited to cover any of England's games at the 2004 European Championship. The BBC offered him a two-year contract extension, but it said he wouldn't cover any "live" football. There was also no guarantee he would be involved in the 2006 World Cup. He felt this was unacceptable and turned down the offer.

Before his final commentary for Match of the Day, Davies said:

It is not a fit of pique why I am leaving, but I wanted more than just doing a few minutes' commentating on the roster. There is too much talk from commentators nowadays. Dramatic moments in football speak for themselves.

The BBC's head of football, Niall Sloane, said:

Barry Davies is one of the great football commentators. His ability to sum up memorable moments succinctly has been one of the prime distinctions of the programme down the years.

Freelance Work: 2004–2019

After leaving Match of the Day, Barry Davies continued to work for the BBC as a freelancer. He covered the 2006 Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games. In 2007 and 2008, he commentated on the French Open tennis, including the Men's Singles Final. He also covered the Wimbledon Championships and then hockey and beach volleyball at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. That same year, he returned as the voice of the Boat Race for the London radio station LBC.

On 23 August 2007, his autobiography, 'Interesting, Very Interesting', was published. The title came from his famous commentary line from the 1974 Derby County vs Manchester City match. When promoting his book, Davies shared that he is a fan of Tottenham Hotspur. He had kept this a secret during his career to avoid being accused of bias. He also supports a non-league team called Windsor & Eton and is their President.

After being left out of some tennis and ice skating events, and not being involved in the 2010 Winter Olympics, people wondered if his time with the BBC was over. However, he returned to the BBC in June 2010 for his 25th Wimbledon tennis tournament. He continued to cover Wimbledon every year until 2018. He wasn't involved in the BBC's 2010 World Cup coverage. But in September 2010, the BBC announced he would go to the Commonwealth Games in India to commentate on the hockey tournament.

Davies commentated on the Wimbledon championships for the BBC in 2011. In an interview during the 2011 tournament, Davies said: "There are times when I miss doing football. But part of the reason I left was that the style of commentary has changed so much in a way I don't agree with. My former boss, Niall Sloane, who's now at ITV, said he thought conversational commentary was the way to go. I beg to differ. I think it's going too far."

In 2012, Davies commentated on the Men's Singles Final at Wimbledon, where Roger Federer beat Andy Murray. During that tournament, John McEnroe expressed his "outrage" that Davies hadn't commentated on football for eight years.

Davies commentated on the Hockey tournament at the 2012 London Olympics. This meant he had commentated on 12 Summer Olympics, breaking David Coleman's record for a British sports broadcaster. However, he was not part of the BBC commentary team for the 2016 games.

On 19 May 2012, Davies was one of the torchbearers on the first day of the Olympic Torch Relay in Plymouth. The International Olympic Committee invited him because of his contributions to the Olympic movement. It was also announced that Davies would commentate on the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London games for the Olympic Broadcasting Services television coverage. In May 2012, Davies hinted at retirement, saying the 2012 Olympics "might even be a conclusion" to his career. But in June 2013, the BBC announced he would commentate on Wimbledon again. He continued to do so until 2017, which was his 32nd Wimbledon for the BBC.

On 30 August 2013, Davies announced he was stepping down as the BBC's hockey commentator after 41 years.

Davies returned to Match of the Day for one special appearance on 23 August 2014. This was to celebrate the programme's 50th anniversary. He commentated on the game between Crystal Palace and West Ham.

In September 2015, Davies filled in for Jon Champion for three weeks. He commentated on Absolute Radio's live Saturday afternoon Premier League coverage. Champion was away covering the Rugby World Cup for ITV.

In June 2018, the BBC announced that Barry Davies was retiring at the age of 80. 2018 was his 33rd and final Wimbledon. To celebrate his career, the BBC showed a documentary called "Barry Davies: The Man, The Voice, The Legend" in July 2018.

His very last commentary for the BBC's UK audience was on 15 July 2018. He covered the Mixed Doubles Final at Wimbledon.

In April 2019, Davies commentated on the Boat Race for the BBC's "World Feed" for viewers outside the UK. This commentary was not heard by people in the UK.

Guest Appearances

Barry Davies also used his unique voice in comedy. He appeared in the BBC sketch show Big Train. He enthusiastically commentated on the made-up "World Stare-Out Championships."

In 1995, Davies lent his voice to the Actua Soccer video game. He also provided commentary for later games in the series, including the official video game of the 1996 UEFA European Championship (UEFA Euro 96 England). Trevor Brooking joined Davies as a co-commentator in these later games. Davies also commentated for Actua Tennis.

In 1999, Davies, who was the BBC's ice skating commentator at the time, provided "commentary" for the ice skating part of the music video for Robbie Williams' hit song "She's the One". The song reached number 1 in the UK. The video won a Brit Award. Davies later said he wasn't invited to the ceremony and never met Robbie Williams during the recording.

Davies also provided commentary for football management sim games. These included Premier Manager: Ninety Nine and Premier Manager 2000. Since 2003, Davies has voiced various football video games made by Codemasters. These include the Club Football games (2003 and 2004), England International Football, and the LMA Manager series since LMA 2004.

Personal Life

Barry Davies lives in Datchet in Berkshire, England. He is married to Penny, who used to be a British Airways flight attendant. They have been married since 1968 and have two children. Their daughter, Giselle Davies Pettyfer, used to be the Head of Communications at the International Olympic Committee. Their son, Mark Davies, became chairman of British Rowing in 2020. In a 2011 interview, Davies said he enjoys playing golf and spending time with his family and grandchildren.

Davies was awarded the MBE for his services to sports broadcasting. This award was announced in December 2004.

In a 2015 interview, Davies shared other sports he would have liked to cover. He said he loves cricket but felt he couldn't compare to Richie Benaud, whom he considered the best commentator. He also enjoys watching golf Majors but felt he couldn't compete with Peter Alliss. He enjoyed covering a wide range of sports and learning from experts in each field.