Clive Tyldesley reaches for his glasses as he rummages through the commentary charts crammed into an old filing cabinet, jokes about his fading eyesight and supposes one day he will no longer be able to identify footballers from the gantry.
Fortunately, we are still far from that point. At 72, Tyldesley is calling the game as accurately as ever. His eyes are perfectly good when bespectacled, his mind nimble enough to keep up with play and his soothingly familiar voice strong and authoritative with a gentle tendency towards self-deprecation.
This much was evident as Manchester United roared back to beat Roma in the Champions League and a clip of his spine-tingling commentary from the live CBS broadcast circulated on social media and found an appreciative audience in Europe.
‘I don’t know if there’s an element of nostalgia in hearing my voice again,’ says Tyldesley. ‘If I’m honest, I’ve dodged the worst of the public’s ire with everything including commentators because I haven’t been around for the last few years.
‘Absence has made a few hearts grow a little fonder towards me and maybe if I’d been on Sky every week for the last six years, I’d be no less unpopular than anybody else out there. So, I can’t pretend it’s not nice to get some engagement with an audience I used to commentate to on a regular basis, but I’m very happy where I am.’
Tyldesley has been the lead commentator for the CBS coverage of the Champions League since 2020, converting transfer fees into US dollars and keeping his measurements imperial for a North American audience but otherwise approaching the job as he always did.
Clive Tyldesley is calling the game as accurately as ever at 72 and is ‘very happy’ in his role as the lead commentator of CBS coverage of the Champions League
Tyldesley’s commentary of Man United’s comeback against Roma circulated on social media and received an appreciative audience in Europe
The 72-year-old wonders whether there was an element of nostalgia to the reaction, with Tyldesley’s work for CBS meaning his commentary cannot be shown in Europe
Clips of the studio panel featuring Thierry Henry, Micah Richards, Jamie Carragher and presenter Kate Scott are popular on social media but live action featuring Tyldesley’s commentary is governed by broadcasting rights deals and cannot be shown in Europe.
The one from Old Trafford of Matheus Cunha’s winning goal in the 86th minute slipped through the net on X and reminded everyone his passion for football is undimmed, and his voice can still stand hairs on attention.
‘I don’t think I’ve seen a better game than the first leg of the Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich Champions League semi-final,’ says Tyldesley on the rare quality of Europe’s elite competition. ‘I listened to people with hundreds more England caps than me saying it was bad defending, but I watched the whole game back the next day and it wasn’t.
‘I’m sorry but it was wonderful attacking and a show of intent by two coaches who trusted defenders to defend one-on-one and attackers to score more than the opposition. Rob Green was my co-commentator and at the end we just put our microphones down and looked at each other and said, “Wow.”
‘I’ve not forgotten muddy pitches and assassin centre backs. You only need to look on YouTube to see football was different, but you can’t pretend it was better. I see terrible games today just as I did then, but particularly in the Champions League, I regularly stumble upon football that gets me off my seat.’
His exit from ITV, first displaced by Sam Matterface as lead commentator in 2020 and then released entirely after Euro 2024 clearly smarted but Tyldesley is comfortable as the veteran in the fast-changing media landscape.
‘Most of the principles I picked up from watching John Motson, Barry Davies and Brian Moore in their pomp are applicable to commentary in 2026,’ he says. ‘There’s no need to reinvent that particular wheel.
‘You can offer alternatives such as fan zones and screaming watchalongs for people to view it in a different way. I make it my business to look at J_Tekkz or LDN Movements or whatever is pulling in millions on YouTube.
Tyldesley believes he has not seen a better game than the first leg of PSG’s Champions League semi-final with Bayern Munich last year
The veteran commentator believes most of the principles he learned starting out still apply, but admits to having watched popular new voices to see if anything could apply to his commentary
Tyldesley also works as a guest lecturer and commentates for blockbuster computer games, as well as selling framed prints of his commentary charts
‘I sample a bit of Mark Goldbridge to see why he’s prominent but I’m hearing nothing in those guys applicable to the way I call a football match so I carry on with the same focus I’ve always had on what constitutes good commentary.’
The central principle being that the game is bigger than the individuals in it, he points out, with viewers tuning in for the football not the commentator.
‘The biggest challenge for a television commentator is to find the right words at the big moments, to go beyond “amazing,” “brilliant”, “incredible” and try to add some editorial context,’ says Tyldesley.
‘Every goal is unique. The words following a goal that is going to be remembered for years should be unique and specific to that goal, but that’s difficult to do. It’s unscripted performance and difficult to master and capture.
‘I am concentrating hardest for the 10-15 seconds after a big goal because I’m searching for words which will become a small part of people’s memories. That’s very different to consciously trying to provide 45-second soundbites to amplify one’s own personality and standing on social media.
‘There’s a danger of media leaning that way as it develops such an emphasis on the bitesize.’
Among other things, Tyldesley is a guest lecturer for media students at the University of Salford, still doing commentaries for blockbuster computer games and selling framed prints of his commentary charts, something that started as ‘a silly idea in lockdown’.
His wife Susan bought a dozen frames to see how it went. Originally, he offered three Champions League finals won by English clubs in 1999, 2005 and 2012. He sent one each to Gary Neville who played for Manchester United in 1999 and Jamie Carragher who played for Liverpool in 2005. They both posted images online and demand skyrocketed.
‘Two good friends,’ smiles Tyldesley. ‘I probably got about half a million pounds of free advertising out of them.’ Sales have soared beyond 50,000. There’s a Celtic chart on the gym in Rod Stewart’s house. Ant and Dec have bought signed Newcastle charts.
His own venture into podcasting was short-lived and he politely declines between five and ten invitations each week to appear on others.
‘I’ve tried to step back from that kind of thing,’ says Tyldesley. ‘So much content I hear on football is empty, verbose and repetitive. Really, there are only so many things you can say about Alexander Isak having his shirt pulled in mid-air and Gary Neville probably said most of them in the 30 seconds following the incident.
Tyldesley has no plans to retire and Paramount, the owners of his employers CBS – and soon to be the owners of TNT Sports – will have the UK rights for the Champions League
Sales of his framed commentary charts, something that started during lockdown, have soared beyond 50,000
‘There are so many brutally judgmental loud voices in and around football attracting attention that I want to be as far away from as possible, so that’s what I do. Unless I sense an opportunity to talk about communication and broadcasting rather than whether club A, B or C should replace their manager. That’s not for me Clive.’
So, there’s a little less Tyldesley out there than there was. He was content to stay at home and watch the World Cup from his sofa this summer for the first time since 1990.
But there are no plans to retire. And who knows what might change next season when Paramount, the owners of CBS – and soon to be the owners of current rights holders TNT Sports – have the UK rights for the Champions League.
There might be a familiar voice beamed into our living rooms once again.
