John Gwynne (commentator) facts for kids

Richard John Gwynne (born April 23, 1945 – died July 9, 2022) was an English teacher and a famous sports commentator. He was most known for his exciting darts commentary. He worked for Sky Sports for 20 years.

Early Life and Teaching

Richard Gwynne was born in High Ercall, Shropshire in 1945. When he was 12 years old, in 1957, his family moved to Manchester. He went to Chorlton Grammar School. After school, he became a teacher. He taught English and was a Deputy Housemaster at Moston Brook High School in Manchester. He worked as a teacher until 1987.

A Voice for Sports

Richard Gwynne became a well-known voice in sports. He was especially famous for commenting on darts tournaments. He worked for the PDC darts events shown on Sky Sports. He even commented on the very first PDC World Championship in 1994. His last tournament for Sky Sports was the 2016 World Championship.

Starting in Broadcasting

Gwynne's first job in media was in 1980. He covered speedway races at Belle Vue Stadium in Manchester for Piccadilly Radio. Later, he reported on local football games in the north-west region.

In the late 1980s, special phone services became popular. These services gave sports news over the phone. Gwynne worked for "Cricket Call," which covered Lancashire County Cricket Club. In 1989, he helped start "The Darts Line." This phone service gave darts news and tournament updates.

Darts Commentary on TV

Richard Gwynne had already commented on some darts events for regional ITV channels. When darts split into two main groups in 1993, Sky Sports began showing the WDC (which later became the PDC) tournaments. Gwynne and Dave Lanning were chosen as the commentators. Another famous commentator, Sid Waddell, joined Sky Sports later.

More Sports Reporting

For over 20 years, Gwynne was a regular reporter for Sky's Gillette Soccer Saturday. He was the reporter when Manchester City won the league title in a very exciting match in 2012. From 2014, he also shared his expert opinions for William Hill's online betting service.

Later Commentary Work

In 2014, Richard Gwynne was honored. He was added to the PDC Hall of Fame. Later that year, he started commenting on BDO darts tournaments for Eurosport. These included events like the Winmau World Masters. He also made occasional appearances on Sky Sports for the early rounds of the PDC World Darts Championship. In 2017 and 2018, he worked on Talksport radio, commenting on the event.

His very last commentary was in 2022. He called the final match of the first ever World Senior Darts Championships. This was on February 6, 2022, between Robert Thornton and Martin Adams.

Other Activities

Besides his teaching and commentary, Richard Gwynne was also an after-dinner speaker. He was a master of ceremonies at art shows. He also organized local darts tournaments in Manchester. From 2019, he became the announcer for Lancashire County Cricket Club.

He wrote a monthly column for Darts World Magazine for 31 years. It was called "The Mancunian Way." He also wrote for local newspapers about darts for almost 30 years. He stopped writing for both in 2011.

Gwynne was the chairman of the Manchester Superleague. He also founded the Manchester Log-End Federation in 2003. This group helped save the log-end dartboard, a special type of dartboard, from disappearing.

He also worked for the International Socca Federation. He commented on their Six-a-Side World Cup tournaments.

In September 2020, Richard Gwynne published a book. It was a memoir about his football memories called Soccer Satisfied. Jeff Stelling wrote the introduction for the book.

Personal Life and Passing

Richard Gwynne's wife, Margaret, passed away before him. His son, Andrew Gwynne, is a Labour MP. He represents the area of Denton and Reddish in Greater Manchester.

Richard Gwynne was a lifelong fan of Manchester City F.C. He passed away from cancer at his home in Manchester on July 9, 2022. He was 77 years old and was surrounded by his family.