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Martin Tyler, a legendary figure in the world of football commentary, is preparing to call his eighth World Cup for SBS, only missing the 2010 tournament to head the USA coverage. The solo voice of Tyler has been a consistent companion for Australian audiences throughout that time, sharing insights in the matches and voicing some of the biggest moments in football history.
Tyler lives and works predominantly in the United Kingdom but remembered a fateful meeting in Australia that started his long-running relationship with SBS.
“It was a strange set of circumstances to be honest with you,” said Tyler in an interview with David Basheer for SBS Sport. “I had a chance to join another channel, going to the revolution that was satellite television then. In leaving ITV, I lost my place in their World Cup commentary squad.
“I’d been to Australia in 1988 and I met Domenic Galati (then head of SBS Sport) in the stairwell at Parramatta Stadium and he asked if I’d do anything for (SBS). I said yes, I had his number, I rang him and said that I’d had my accreditation to the World Cup revoked. He said ‘leave it with me’, and then he came back and made me a very kind offer for a lot of games.
“Suddenly, I was elevated into being one of the busier commentators, not only getting commentaries in Italia ’90 but one of the busier ones.”
That rapid-fire schedule led to one of the hairier moments in the experienced broadcaster's career, marooned by the side of the road as kick-off loomed for a match Tyler was down to call.
“We’d often do two games a day, one day the first was from the international broadcast centre and the later one was on site from the Olympic Stadium in Rome,” said Tyler. “The game that was in the broadcast centre was the Ireland game that went to penalties, and they said, you probably won’t be able to get there now, you’ll have to stay.
“Well for me, the chance to be in the Olympic Stadium and see Italy play was very attractive. Anyway, one of the runners had a scooter and they said ‘we’ll get you down there on that’.
“Unfortunately, the young man who was driving it hadn’t checked his fuel gauge and halfway there we ran out of fuel. So I was stuck in a position where I was no use to SBS whatsoever. To be fair to the young man, he didn’t panic, he flagged down a passing scooter and asked, in Italian, if they could take me to the stadium. He said ‘yeah, yeah’ and we got there with about 15 minutes to go until kick-off.
“Unfortunately, I had the crash helmet with me, and security wouldn’t let me in with it. It belonged to the guy that I’d originally started the journey with so I couldn’t really dump it. After a bit of haranguing, they eventually understood the circumstances and allowed me in and I did the game. It was all very dramatic, and I’m delighted to still be with SBS to this day.”
The feeling of calling a World Cup is no less special for the 77-year-old now than his first experience, equating it to representing your country on the world’s biggest stage.
“When you’re called up into a World Cup squad as a broadcaster it must be the same feeling that players get when they’re called up for their countries to represent their nations in the tournament,” said Tyler. “It’s a big thrill when you are first approached, and then you have to get down and justify that selection.”
SBS, and in particular, the talismanic duo of Les Murray and Johnny Warren were formational for Tyler, and a great fit for the English commentator striving to bring as much accuracy as possible to his commentary.
“It’s quite a thorny issue for commentators on whether to anglicize the names or do what Les and Johnny wanted to do, and what I wanted to do, also what SBS wants to do, which is to try and get it as close as possible to what they would be called in their own country,” said Tyler. “Those two gentlemen were a massive help in that. As football people we fell in to being family to be honest with you. They were great colleagues, but even better friends.”
The magic moments the Qatar World Cup will see Tyler call are as yet unknown, but Tyler is always forward-looking, with little time for reminiscing about past calls, rather focusing on moving onto the next game and tournament and providing the best service to the viewers at home.
“I think it will be a fascinating history to write when it’s all over but at the moment, I’m trying to prepare in the time that I have for what could lie ahead,” said Tyler. “As a commentator you do a lot of ‘what-ifs’ but the truth is that you just have to shout ‘goal’ at the appropriate moments.
“For me it was always about trying to be the bridge between the event the occasion and the armchair back home. It’s a blessing really to be able to do it, and one day, perhaps not too far away, I guess I won’t be able to do it any more.
“I’m up and firing and ready to go, I hope that whatever I say in November and December what I say will be someone’s highlights down the road.”
