Peter Drury

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Peter Drury
Born (1967-09-24) 24 September 1967 (age 53)
NationalityBritish
Alma materSt John's School, Leatherhead
OccupationFootball commentator
EmployerBT Sport
Spouse(s)Vicky
Children3, Adam, Dan and Joey

Peter Drury (born 24 September 1967) is a football commentator, formerly with ITV Sport as their number two football commentator, a role he had held from 1998 to 2012. Currently, Drury works for Premier League Productions, BT Sport (UK) and Amazon Prime Video for its English Premier League and FA Cup coverage, as well as for CBS Sports (USA) on its UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League coverage.

Early life[]

Peter Drury was born on 24 September 1967 in England.[1] The first club he supported as a 4-year-old was West Ham United, but he has since went on to support different clubs. He went to St John's School, Leatherhead in Surrey.[2] While growing up, Peter had a role model whom he regards to as his favourite commentator, his name was Peter Jones who worked for BBC Radio, he describes him as having a beautiful, authoritative and poetic voice.[3] When he was 18 and he used to see Hull City matches, he was usually the first man at Boothferry Park a couple of hours before the other spectators came flooding in. Previously, he has worked as an accountant for a period of one month after graduating from university. Before joining BBC Radio Leeds, he worked for sports journalism agency Hayter's.

Commentary career[]

Beginnings with BBC Radio (1990–98)[]

In March 1990, Peter got a job with BBC Radio Leeds and he was there at a time when Leeds were champions of the Football League First Division in the 1991–92 season. His early works with Radio Leeds included matches involving Halifax Town, Bradford City and Huddersfield Town. He also commentated on both legs of Leeds United's UEFA Champions League first round tie with VfB Stuttgart in September 1992, in which after coming back from a 3–0 first-leg deficit to win 4–1, he remarked that their fans were 'proud as punch' of Howard Wilkinson's team and joked about them being eliminated,[4] but it went into a play-off which they won 2–1 on 9 October. He soon moved to Five Live following its launch in 1994. His credits include the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final (alongside future ITV colleague Jon Champion) and UEFA Euro 96, where he covered Group D matches involving Portugal and Turkey. In 1997, he also commentated on The Open Championship and the Ryder Cup with 5 Live.

Televised commentary (1997–present)[]

Peter later moved on to Broadcasting House in London at the start of 1997–98 season where he got an opportunity to cover matches of the day including the third match which was Everton vs Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday 4 October 1997 at Hillsborough Stadium.[5] He then joined ITV in 1998 and was immediately part of the commentary team for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. During his time with ITV, Peter commentated on four World Cups (1998–2010) and four European Championship tournaments (2000–2012). He also commentated on the UEFA Champions League, ITV's 'The Premiership' (coverage of the English Premier League between 2001 and 2004) and the This is Football video game series, starting with 2 (2000). Other than football, he presented The Boat Race, as well as snooker tournaments. Peter commentated on the 2014 FIFA World Cup final match between Germany and Argentina on 13 June 2014 at the Maracanã Stadium. In 2013, he joined BT Sport for their coverage of the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.[citation needed] In 2015, Drury replaced Jon Champion as the primary commentator in the Pro Evolution Soccer video game series, starting with Pro Evolution Soccer 2016,[citation needed] having also narrated Sony's This Is Football series earlier.[6] During the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he commentated on matches for FIFA's international feed and its YouTube channel,[citation needed] including the final between France against Croatia.[citation needed] Drury has covered most of the premier league matches alongside co-commentator Jim Beglin, whom he has worked with since 1995 including his early work with 5 live. Drury insists that viewers normally tune in to watch the match and not because of both of them.[3] He signed with SuperSport in 2019.[7] Drury joined CBS Sports (USA) for its UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League coverage in August 2020, as the #2 play-by-play commentator behind Clive Tyldesley.

Style of commentary[]

Drury has been famed for his expressive and extremely literate style of commentary.[by whom?] He is known for his poetic style of commentary, often using phrases such as "in a trice" instead of common language.[8] Here are some of his most famous lines throughout his commentary career:

  • "Roma have risen from their ruins! Manolas, the Greek god in Rome! The unthinkable unfolds before our eyes! This was not meant to happen. This could not happen. It is happening. Barcelona, extraordinarily eight minutes from elimination. And Di Francesco does not know where to go, Iniesta does not know where to look. It is a Greek from Mount Olympus who has come to the Seven Hills of Rome, and pulled off a miracle." - Roma coming back from a 4–1 first leg deficit to beat Barcelona 3–0 and advance on away goals to the UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals in 2018.[10]
  • "Madeira, Manchester, Madrid, Turin and Manchester again. Wreathed in red, restored to this great gallery of the game, a walking work of art. Vintage beyond valuation, beyond forgery or imitation. 18 years since that trembling teenager of touch and tease, first tip-toed onto this storied stage. Now in his immaculate maturity, CR7 re-united." - Ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo's second debut for Manchester United on September 11, 2021. Ronaldo would score twice in a 4-1 Premier League victory over Newcastle.[11]

Personal life[]

Peter Drury has been known to be secretive about his own personal life, but he is married to Vicky and has three sons (Adam, Dan and Joey), and they live in Hertfordshire.

References[]

  1. ^ "Peter Drury". BFI. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Peter Drury".
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Peter Drury Football Commentator". Tifo football. 21 March 2019.
  4. ^ "West Yorkshire Sport Daily - 100 YEARS OF LEEDS UNITED - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Sheffield Wed vs Everton 1997/98". Premier league. 4 October 1997.
  6. ^ Sam Drury (17 September 2012). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Peter Drury Talks Commentary". Liverpool Word. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Peter Drury is the face of SuperSport's new football season". SUPERSPORT. 10 July 2019.
  8. ^ "10 things you should know about poetic World Cup commentator Peter Drury". Nairobi News. 2 July 2018.
  9. ^ Lionel Messi LEGENDARY Solo Goal vs Real Madrid ||HD||, retrieved 19 September 2021
  10. ^ Amazing commentary by Peter Drury, retrieved 28 August 2021
  11. ^ "Ronaldo's dream return lights up Old Trafford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
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