Steve Bower
Encyclopedia
Steve Bower is an English
football commentator, one of the main voices for BBC TV's Match of the Day
, culminating in being part of the commentary teams for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
in South Africa
. Bower commentated on New Zealand
's historic draw with Italy
and Argentina
's 4-1 win over South Korea
amongst others.
He can also be heard on ESPN
UK covering the Europa League, Serie A
and the Bundesliga
.
Previous work includes Setanta Sports up until the UK operation of the broadcaster ceased in June 2009.
He was educated at Calday Grange Grammar School
.
In May 1996, Bower was appointed Head of Sport at Piccadilly Radio (Manchester), the youngest Sports Editor in the UK in Independent Radio responsible for all sports output including the flagship Saturday afternoon show between 1pm and 6pm. He presented every sports programme, mostly live from the stadium, including full match commentary on all Manchester United (including all the Champions League), Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers matches, as well as providing coverage of all England matches home and away. In addition, he gave coverage of Euro96 for Independent Radio news, while in 1998, he gave full match commentary on all England and Scotland matches during the World Cup for the entire EMAP radio network.
, FA Cup
and League Cup
matches for the full 90 minute delayed broadcast with a co-commentator (including the historic treble winning season of '98-99). He also gave commentary and on-location presentation on pre-season tour matches live around the world in places such as Australia, United States, China, Japan and South Africa, not to mention Reserve and Youth Cup matches (live). He conducted after-match interviews at every game with players and manager, plus special exclusive sit-downs such as with David Beckham
on signing in Madrid
, Sir Alex Ferguson
on announcing his retirement and Roy Keane
on 'prawn sandwich' fans
. The Roy Keane interview was recorded as part of the series, Roy Keane Plays The Pundit, but was never broadcast due to Keane’s reported stinging attack on his fellow Manchester United players. His role also comprised studio presentation, which included fans’ phone-ins and special shows such as with Joel Glazer
on his family buying Manchester United. His work as Head of Presentation made him responsible for all presenters and the overall look of the channel. In the Autumn of 2000, he and long time co-commentator from his days at Piccadilly, 1968 European Cup winner, Paddy Crerand were given their own show by MUTV entitled Crerand and Bower...in Extra Time. During this time, Bower was England reporter for talkSPORT
radio during Euro 2000 which saw him conduct daily interviews with manager and players, and offer on-location studio presentation. He also provided studio presentation throughout Euro 2004 for talkSPORT radio in addition to full match commentaries on England qualifiers and Champions League matches. Bower’s MUTV commentary work, alongside Paddy Crerand, can be heard in the 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow.
where he was a commentator and presenter. His first match was a Conference North play-off between Farsley Celtic and Hinckley United, working alongside Paul Parker. His work included live Premier League games, live FA Cup
matches, live UEFA Cup
matches, live World Cup qualifiers, commentary and presentation of live Blue Square Premier (conference) games (where he worked with Paul Parker), including play-off games and a final at Wembley, presentation on FA Cup matches including build-up to the final, as well as coverage of live England under-21 and under-19 matches, and coverage of the FA Youth Cup (including the Final). Bower has also seen his duties cover the 2007 Peace Cup pre-season tournament, hosted in South Korea, featuring games involving Bolton Wanderers and Reading and Tottenham Hotspur’s pre-season tour of South Africa.
and Eredivise, but also domestic competitions from time to time. His first commentary for the network was the pre-season friendly between SL Benfica
and A.C. Milan
He has been heard commentating for Sky Sports
on the 22nd August 2009, for the Hull City
v Bolton Wanderers
Premier League match and on Match of the Day
for the BBC
, for Blackburn Rovers
v Wolves
on the 12th September 2009. He also lends his voice for ITV Sport
's highlights of the UEFA Europa League on ITV4
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
football commentator, one of the main voices for BBC TV's Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
, culminating in being part of the commentary teams for the 2010 FIFA 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...
. Bower commentated on New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's historic draw with Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
's 4-1 win over South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
amongst others.
He can also be heard on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
UK covering the Europa League, Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
and the Bundesliga
Fußball-Bundesliga
The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga...
.
Previous work includes Setanta Sports up until the UK operation of the broadcaster ceased in June 2009.
He was educated at Calday Grange Grammar School
Calday Grange Grammar School
Calday Grange Grammar School is a non-denominational selective state grammar school, founded in 1636, situated on Caldy Hill above the town of West Kirby on the Wirral . The school admits boys from the ages of 11 through to 18, and girls for the sixth form only...
.
Early career
Bower began his career as a football commentator and presenter (September 1991 – May 1996) with Radio City (Liverpool) where he presented all sports bulletins on the Sony award winning Breakfast show (Monday to Friday), as well as sports shows from studio and stadiums including pre-match and post-match interviews, with full match commentary on Liverpool, Everton and Tranmere Rovers matches (including FA and League Cup finals plus European competitions).In May 1996, Bower was appointed Head of Sport at Piccadilly Radio (Manchester), the youngest Sports Editor in the UK in Independent Radio responsible for all sports output including the flagship Saturday afternoon show between 1pm and 6pm. He presented every sports programme, mostly live from the stadium, including full match commentary on all Manchester United (including all the Champions League), Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers matches, as well as providing coverage of all England matches home and away. In addition, he gave coverage of Euro96 for Independent Radio news, while in 1998, he gave full match commentary on all England and Scotland matches during the World Cup for the entire EMAP radio network.
MUTV
From September 1998 to July 2007, Bower was senior commentator and presenter at Manchester United Television (MUTV) where he provided commentary on Premier League, Champions LeagueUEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
, FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
and League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
matches for the full 90 minute delayed broadcast with a co-commentator (including the historic treble winning season of '98-99). He also gave commentary and on-location presentation on pre-season tour matches live around the world in places such as Australia, United States, China, Japan and South Africa, not to mention Reserve and Youth Cup matches (live). He conducted after-match interviews at every game with players and manager, plus special exclusive sit-downs such as with David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
on signing in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Sir Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
on announcing his retirement and Roy Keane
Roy Keane
Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....
on 'prawn sandwich' fans
Prawn sandwich brigade
Prawn sandwich brigade is a term that describes corporate or otherwise emotionally detached football fans who attend matches primarily to enjoy corporate hospitality, rather than support a team...
. The Roy Keane interview was recorded as part of the series, Roy Keane Plays The Pundit, but was never broadcast due to Keane’s reported stinging attack on his fellow Manchester United players. His role also comprised studio presentation, which included fans’ phone-ins and special shows such as with Joel Glazer
Joel Glazer
Joel Glazer is part of the Glazer family, who control First Allied Corporation and the Zapata Corporation, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL, and England's Manchester United Football Club...
on his family buying Manchester United. His work as Head of Presentation made him responsible for all presenters and the overall look of the channel. In the Autumn of 2000, he and long time co-commentator from his days at Piccadilly, 1968 European Cup winner, Paddy Crerand were given their own show by MUTV entitled Crerand and Bower...in Extra Time. During this time, Bower was England reporter for talkSPORT
TalkSPORT
Talksport , owned by UTV radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a sports and talk radio service broadcast from London to the United Kingdom....
radio during Euro 2000 which saw him conduct daily interviews with manager and players, and offer on-location studio presentation. He also provided studio presentation throughout Euro 2004 for talkSPORT radio in addition to full match commentaries on England qualifiers and Champions League matches. Bower’s MUTV commentary work, alongside Paddy Crerand, can be heard in the 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow.
Setanta Sports
In July 2007 Bower made the move to Setanta SportsSetanta Sports
Setanta Sports is an international sports broadcaster based in Dublin, Ireland. Setanta Sports was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events...
where he was a commentator and presenter. His first match was a Conference North play-off between Farsley Celtic and Hinckley United, working alongside Paul Parker. His work included live Premier League games, live FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
matches, live UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
matches, live World Cup qualifiers, commentary and presentation of live Blue Square Premier (conference) games (where he worked with Paul Parker), including play-off games and a final at Wembley, presentation on FA Cup matches including build-up to the final, as well as coverage of live England under-21 and under-19 matches, and coverage of the FA Youth Cup (including the Final). Bower has also seen his duties cover the 2007 Peace Cup pre-season tournament, hosted in South Korea, featuring games involving Bolton Wanderers and Reading and Tottenham Hotspur’s pre-season tour of South Africa.
Freelance work
Following Setanta Sports' UK division entering administration in June 2009, Bower began working for ESPN in August 2009, mainly focusing on European football including Portuguese LigaPortuguese Liga
The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...
and Eredivise, but also domestic competitions from time to time. His first commentary for the network was the pre-season friendly between SL Benfica
SL Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica , commonly known as simply Benfica or occasionally as Benfica Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Benfica is mostly known for its association football team...
and A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
He has been heard commentating for Sky Sports
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
on the 22nd August 2009, for the Hull City
Hull City A.F.C.
Hull City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, founded in 1904. The club participates in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football...
v Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
Premier League match and on Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, for Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
v Wolves
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
on the 12th September 2009. He also lends his voice for ITV Sport
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...
's highlights of the UEFA Europa League on ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
.