Legendary BBC commentator Barry Davies is to make a return to Match of the Day to mark the iconic football highlights programme’s 50th anniversary.
The veteran sports broadcaster will return to the BBC’s flagship football show, nearly ten years since he retired from commentating on the sport for the corporation, as part of a one-off special on Saturday, August 23, to celebrate Match of the Day’s half-a-century on-screen.
BBC Sport confirmed Davies’ one-off return via the Match of the Day twitter account: “Barry Davies will make a one-off special return as commentator on MOTD this Saturday #MOTD50.”
Davies, 76, will commentate on Crystal Palace’s home match against West Ham United at Selhurst Park, in what will be his first football commentary for the BBC since September 2004.
He will join the BBC’s usual team of Guy Mowbray, Jonathan Pearce, Steve Wilson, John Motson and Alistair Mann who will be commentating Saturday’s Barclays Premier League games, with highlights on BBC One at 10.30pm.
Described by BBC head of TV sport Philip Bernie as “one of the programme’s most iconic voices”, Davies began working in television for ITV in the mid-1960s, where he commentated on the 1966 World Cup for the channel, before starting his long and established career with the BBC in 1969.
Although best known for his football commentaries, Davies has also covered a varied range of sports for the BBC and has worked on a record 12 Summer Olympic Games, a run which started in Mexico 1968.
Davies still commentates for the BBC during its Wimbledon coverage, while other sports he has lent his unique dulcet tones to over the years include gymnastics, hockey, tennis and ice hockey. He was also the BBC’s voice of the Boat Race for more than decade up to 2004.
After 35 years in the football commentary box for the BBC, Davies decided to retire from his Match of the Day role because he felt he was not being given high-profile games to cover.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph before his final football commentary – Manchester City v Arsenal on 25 September 2004 – 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.”
Davies’ welcome return to Match of the Day for this one-off special forms part of a week of celebrations to mark the iconic programme’s 50th anniversary on screen.
Match of the Day was first broadcast on Saturday, August 22, 1964, with highlights of Liverpool against Arsenal at Anfield, a programme which was watched by less people than where actually at the ground that day.
As result of a boom in football following England’s 1966 World Cup win, the programme quickly grew to be essential weekly viewing during the season and is still to this day a must-watch for all football fans, with regular audiences of up to 6 million across the weekend watching Premier League highlights.
Commenting on the BBC’s 50th anniversary celebrations for Match of the Day, Mark Cole, BBC Lead Exec, Football, says: “This season we aim to blend the old with the new.
“There will be archive sequences to celebrate 50 years of coverage, but we will continue to lead the way with our award-winning augmented reality graphics, detailed Opta statistics, live social media votes and Gary Lineker’s popular post-match interviews.
“After 22 years, Alan Hansen will no longer be with the show, but the World Cup really showcased the strength of the new BBC punditry team.
“We are confident we have put together a varied team full of insight and opinion, led by Gary Lineker, who has consistently proved to be amongst the best presenters in the UK.”
A special documentary will be broadcast 50 years to exact day that Match of the Day first went on-air. Match of the Day at 50 will be broadcast on BBC One on Friday, August 22 at 10.35pm.
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