Jon Champion is ESPN UK's number one football commentator. Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the BBC and ITV over the past 20 years. His late father David Champion was the deputy headmaster of the independent school

Independent school

An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

 Bootham School

Bootham School

Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school in the city of York in North Yorkshire, England. It was founded by the Religious Society of Friends in 1823. It is close to York Minster. The current headmaster is Jonathan Taylor. The school's motto Membra Sumus Corporis Magni means "We...

, York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

. Jon's commentaries can also be heard on the worldwide feed of many Premier League and Carling Cup matches around the globe.

BBC SPORT

Champion joined BBC Sport in the late 1980s and worked as a football commentator on BBC Radio Five Live between 1992 and 1996. He worked alongside Alan Green, Mike Ingham, Ron Jones, Rob Hawthorne and Jonathan Legard covering Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Football League matches for the network. During this time Champion commentated on the 1994 and 1996 Division One Play-Off Finals, and the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final between Juventus and Ajax. His fellow commentator on that evening was future ITV colleague Peter Drury.

In 1995 an opportunity arose to further Champions's career at the BBC. John Motson took a three-month break from his role as a commentator on Match of the Day, allowing Champion to be drafted in to cover. Champion spent the whole of the 1995-1996 season combining his Five Live duties with appearances as a commentator on Match of the Day. He was successful enough to move across to TV permanently the following season, after Clive Tydesley left the BBC and rejoined ITV.

Champion spent five seasons between 1996 and 2001 as a full-time member of the BBC's commentary team, covering edited highlights of the Premier League and the FA Cup, in addition to occasional matches from the UEFA Cup. At the 1998 World Cup, Champion commentated on highlights of England's 2nd Round exit at the hands of Argentina.

ITV SPORT

In the summer of 2000 ITV surprised the BBC with a successful bid for Premier League highlights. This kicked in from 2001, and left the BBC without any regular week-by-week football. Champion therefore moved to join ITV in 2001, and was a regular part of ITV's commentary team for the Premier League, League Cup, Football League and the UEFA Champions League.

Champion's ITV colleague Guy Mowbray left for the BBC in 2004 following the loss of Premier League rights back to the BBC, however Champion remained with ITV. Although he continued as a commentator on highlights of the Football League and League Cup, Champion's 'live' match opportunties gradually diminished with Clive Tydesley and Peter Drury taking the top matches. As a result Champion began to look for work elsewhere, commentating on the Premier League for the overseas feed, and covering some UEFA Cup matches for Channel Five.

Setanta and ESPN

In 2007, ambitious new-boys Setanta Sports signed up Champion as their number one Premier League commentator. Champion remained contracted to ITV, but was loaned out to Setanta. For two seasons he thus managed to combine his ITV duties with 'live' matches on Setanta. During the 2008-2009 season, Champions was increasingly heard more on Setanta who had also secured rights to the FA Cup. In May 2009, Champions commentated on his first FA Cup Final.

Within a month, Setanta had gone into administration and were forced to relinquish their football rights. These were scooped up by the Disney-owned sports broadcaster ESPN, who rapidly established a brand new sports channel for the UK and starting broadcasting Premier League football in August 2009. Champion was the natural choice as their number one commentator, and moved across from ITV permanently. However Champion was loaned back to ITV for the 2010 World Cup, working alongside his ESPN colleague Craig Burley. As well as being ESPN's lead Premier League commmentator, Champion also commentates on the Europa League and the FA Cup. On 14 May 2011 he commentated alongside Chris Waddle on the FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Stoke City.

TV Credits

FA Cup Finals: 2009 (Setanta), 2011 (ESPN)

League Cup Finals: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006,, 2007, 2008 (all ITV)

Championship Play Off Final: 2005, 2009 (both ITV)

Amusing Quotes

A regular figure in Private Eye

Private Eye

Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...

's Colemanballs

Colemanballs

Colemanballs is a term coined by Private Eye magazine to describe verbal gaffes perpetrated by sports commentators. The word Colemanballs probably borrows from Colemans Meatballs, once familiar in the UK and sold by the company ColemanNatural...

, below are a few memorable lines :

• "A full-blooded encounter for a number of reasons, many of them illegitimate."
• "They seem to be in total, if not complete control"
• "Victor Hernandez, like an orchestral conductor directing his troops..."
• "Two late goals, both in the last twenty minutes..."
• "There’s 30 minutes gone and we’re in the first quarter of the game."
• " Given away by Carvalho... here's Rooney, it's a horrible error by the Portuguese!!!"

As a commentator :

• Match Intro - Arsenal vs. Man Utd (January 2007) "Meetings between these clubs are never dull, they are often momentous. League championships have been won... tempers have been lost... pizzas have been thrown."
• Celtic vs. Milan (February 2007), after Alberto Gilardino performed a clear dive in the box: "And Gilardino's gone down almost posthumously! "
• In the 94th minute of Turkey vs. Czech Republic (June 2008) "If a spaceship landed in the centre circle, direct from Mars, I wouldn't be surprised now."
• Just after kick off in the England v Czech Republic international friendly (August 2008) "His predecessor was a legend, but he just looks like a plumber." About the Czech Republic manager.
• Manchester United v Middlesbrough (December 2008) "And here is Ronaldo...and he's fallen over."
• Newcastle's 3 - 0 loss to Liverpool (May 2009) and two matches shy of relegation, after a lingering shot from behind the goal in which a knotted bit of netting can be seen. "Is that the hangman's rope in the picture there? . . . Newcastle, hovering over the trap door."
• Liverpool vs. Everton (January 2009), after a goal by Joleon Lescott "As a paid-up member of the centre-backs' union, he'll be forced to retire after scoring from there."
• Arsenal vs. Chelsea 0-3 (November 2009), after Didier Drogba's opening goal: "Same old story! Arsenal play the football; Chelsea have the goal!"

Other Media

He has been commentator in the Pro Evolution Soccer

Pro Evolution Soccer

Pro Evolution Soccer is a series of football video game developed and published by Konami...

 series since PES 2008. He will again feature in PES 2012 onwards, this time not alongside Mark Lawrenson

Mark Lawrenson

Mark Thomas Lawrenson is a former professional football player, a defender in the Liverpool and Irish football teams of the 1980s; he since became a radio, television and internet pundit for the BBC and Today FM. He was born in England, but played for the Republic of Ireland because his...

 (who featured in the game for as long a period of time as Champion) but with newly-installed co-commentator Jim Beglin

Jim Beglin

James Martin "Jim" Beglin is a former Irish professional footballer.- Life and career :Beglin played schoolboy football in his native city with Bolton and Waterford Bohs before joining Shamrock Rovers in 1980...

.

World Cup 2010

Champion was selected as a commentator for ITV

ITV Sport

ITV Sport is a sport producer and brand name owned by ITV plc. It was formed from the amalgamation of Granada Sport, Carlton's sports department and ISN, the sports division of London News Network. The company produces Champions League and FA Cup Football, along with coverage of England's national...

 at the 2010 World Cup

2010 FIFA World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

 in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and most notably of all his matches, he commentated on the Netherlands

Netherlands national football team

The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...

 v Japan

Japan national football team

The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association, the governing body for association football in Japan...

match in the group stages.