Football is back on the box this weekend as the new Football League season kicks off and Simon Thomas is back to front Sky Sports’ extensive live coverage throughout the campaign.
Simon has been with Sky Sports for a nearly a decade, joining the network in 2005 as a presenter on Sky Sports News, before succeeding David Jones in the role of the channel’s lead Football League host in 2011.
Travelling the length and breadth of the country throughout the season, Simon will be covering close on a century of live games for Sky during the campaign, alongside regular presenting duties on the channel’s FL72 preview and review shows.
As well as his usual work covering the Football League, Simon will also take over from Ben Shephard as Sky Sports’ main presenter of its Capital One Cup coverage this year, hosting all the competition’s key fixtures from the opening rounds to the final at Wembley next March.
Outside football, Simon has also fronted Sky’s former cricket magazine series Cricket AM and has covered some of the biggest sporting events for Sky Sports News, including the World Cup, Ashes series and the Ryder Cup.
But to those of a certain generation, Simon is, of course, best known as one of the presenters on the BBC’s iconic flagship children’s programme Blue Peter, a role which launched his TV presenting career back in 1999, before launching his sports broadcasting career with Sky six years later.
Ahead of the new Football League campaign starting on August 8, Simon gives Sport On The Box his views on the Championship season ahead and a unique insight into his Sky Sports presenting role.
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Follow Simon on Twitter: @SimonThomasSky
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SOTB: After a bumper summer of sport and following on from a hugely successful World Cup in Brazil, how excited are you about the start of the new football season?
Simon Thomas: It has been such a good summer of sport, I have absolutely loved it. The World Cup in Brazil was sensational, Wimbledon was as good as ever, Rory McIlroy winning the Open and all topped off by a quite brilliant Commonwealth Games.
But like any summer I cannot wait for the start of the new season. To me and many football fans it feels a bit like the week before Christmas; anticipation, hopes and dreams but unlike Christmas the football season lasts ten months not twelve days.
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What do you think will be the main stories to look out for this season in the Championship and who are you tipping for success?
The Championship looks as strong as ever with the vast majority of the 24 teams all having played in the top tier.
Apart from my own team Norwich I’m very interested to see how Derby go. They were the top scorers in the Championship last season, played an attractive style of football and came very close to returning to the Premier League.
However, as we saw with Watford last season, bouncing back from a Play Off Final defeat isn’t straightforward. But with a talented young squad and the experienced Steve McClaren in charge I expect them to go one better this time.
In terms of the automatic promotion places I don’t expect to see the 102 points won by champions Leicester or the 93 won by Burnley to be repeated, I think this seasons promotion race to be more of a scrap.
Two Championship clubs many will be keeping an eye on will be Blackpool and Leeds. Blackpool’s summer has redefined chaos with the club barely able to muster a starting XI on the eve of a new season.
With Karl Oysten public enemy number one and the fans understandably unhappy, the season could be more turbulent than a gale off the Irish Sea.
As for Leeds I fear that this season will be more about the eccentric Massimo Cellino than anything that happens on the field. After his recent quote that he is the Sheriff of Leeds and he wants the fans to be his deputies it could well be a buckaroo of a season in Yorkshire. I hope not, as after the last few years the Leeds fans deserve better.
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It’s no secret that you’re a big Norwich fan, though the club’s relegation from the Premier League last season means you’ll be back covering their televised Football League matches this season. Mixed feelings?
Very much so. On the one hand I’m naturally hugely disappointed that our stay in the top flight is at an end, but on the other hand being Sky’s Football League presenter I should get to see them a bit more this season and hopefully get to go home a bit more (all my family live in Norfolk).
However, much as I am looking forward to presenting some of their games, it will certainly be a stern test of my professionalism and impartiality, Ipswich against Norwich on Sky Sports on August 23 will be a massive test!
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How do you think the Canaries will fare this season? Is promotion straight back to the Premier League a possibility under Neil Adams?
It is certainly a possibility but history would suggest easier said than done. Only two of the last 13 teams relegated from the Premier League have made an instant return – West Ham and QPR, and both had to do it via the Play Offs.
Of our key players so far we’ve only lost Robert Snodgrass. However, I would expect Leroy Fer to follow him out of Carrow Road in the near future, but if we can retain the vast majority of our squad then I think a place in the Play Offs is more than realistic.
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Onto the broadcasting side, you have been Sky’s lead Football League presenter for the past few seasons. How does presenting live sport compare to some of your past roles and what aspects of it do you find the most enjoyable?
Well it goes without saying it’s a little bit different to life on Blue Peter! Quite simply there is nothing that compares to presenting live sport.
When you’re driving up the M6 for the 20th time of the season you have to remind yourself that it is a real privilege to cover football for a job.
What I love most is that you never quite know what’s going to happen. OK it could be a drab nil-nil in mid-February, but there are other times when you’re sat there in the studio watching the drama unfold wondering how you’re going to do justice to it at half time or full time
The extraordinary game at Vicarage Road in the 2012-13 Play Offs is an obvious one. One moment we’re getting ready to talk about Leicester making it through to the Play Off Final after Anthony Knockaert had slotted home his penalty.
Seconds later Almunia has made a double save, Watford make a last gasp counter attack and Deeney sends them to Wembley.
Unforgettable drama, and the moments you just have to savor as the person fortunate enough to cover the games for a living.
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It is the second season of Sky’s FL72. What was the aim behind this rebranding of the channel’s Football League output and what can fans expect from this season’s coverage?
Obviously domestically and on Sky, football is dominated by the Premier League and the Champions League. These are huge competitions and brands that are recognized around the world.
Sometimes I think the Football League has suffered from being in their shadow, and has at times almost felt like an after thought.
Before the start of last season, Sky Sports signed a new 5-year deal with the Football League extending the partnership to 2018.
By the time we get to the start of the 2015-16 season Sky Sports will be showing 148 live games from the Football League, the Capital One Cup and the Johnstone’s Paint trophy.
It is a lot of games and I believe Sky wanted to underline their commitment and passion for the Football League, and also highlight the sheer number of clubs we cover by calling it FL72, therefore giving it a strong presence as brand within Sky’s football coverage.
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With the advent of social media, football broadcasters often attract huge swathes of instantaneous praise and/or criticism from watching fans. Is this something you pay much attention to?
Yes and no. I do look at it but tend to wait a while after a game before picking up the phone. If you’ve made a mistake or just not had a great day at the office then reading endless Tweets telling you how rubbish you’ve been isn’t going to make your day any better.
By and large I always take it as a good sign if I don’t hear too much after a game! But in all honesty the Football League doesn’t receive anything like the intense scrutiny that the Premier League does and this is probably reflected in the response on Twitter.
Speaking to my friend Ed Chamberlin who presents Sky’s Super Sunday and Monday Night Football, he gets endless tweets after games – good and bad.
You don’t get anything like the same level on the Football League so it’s not something I have to worry about too much. Ultimately social media is a great medium for sharing news and engaging with the fans but life’s too short to get too worried about it.
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Alongside your Football League work, you were also a presenter on Sky Sports News for many years. What are your favourite memories from working on the channel and what do you make of the forthcoming relaunch plans?
I had a brilliant time on Sky Sports News and it has played a pivotal role in what I’m doing now.
Going from kids TV to sports broadcasting is quite a jump and where others were not prepared to take a gamble on me, Sky were.
I was happy to start wherever I was offered to learn the skills required to be a successful sports broadcaster and thankfully Sky Sports News gave me that opportunity.
The nature of the channel and rolling sports news meant you had to learn on the job very quickly – it’s very much either swim or sink very very quickly.
As I gained experience so the opportunities came from presenting the World Cup Report at South Africa 2010 to heading out for the 2010-11 Ashes series in Australia to presenting at the unforgettable 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.
I think the new launch for Sky Sports News is very exiting. The way news and in particular sports news is delivered, shared and absorbed is changing all the time.
People no longer just pick up a newspaper, put the TV on or listen to the radio to get there sports news, it is multi layered and Sky Sports News HQ will reflect all of this.
It’s going to be a very exciting 2014-15 season for the channel and if it weren’t for my other commitments I’d love to be part of it.
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Finally, what makes the Football League special for you and what would you say to those who perhaps only have an eye for the what goes on in the Premier League to tune in?
I love its unpredictability. Since the Premier League began the only team to win it besides Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City has been Blackburn and that was nearly twenty years ago!
The Championship, League One and League Two offer an unpredictability that makes it a great competition to cover. Who would have thought that with a small squad and budget that Burnley would storm the Championship and go up with Leicester last season?
My message to any Premier League fan is brilliant and enthralling though the Premier League is, there is just as much drama happening amongst the 72 clubs below.
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