Angus Loughran (born 24 November 1966) is a British

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

s commentator and pundit. He appears regularly on television, newspapers and websites, usually concentrating on horse racing and football, such as ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' and online bookmaker Easyodds, writing tipping sections every day. He has also provided English language football commentary for

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

. He is currently a commentator for

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...

on their coverage of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

. He first worked for

Ladbrokes Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations are c ...

, providing racing commentary into their betting shops, but rose to fame as "Statto", the resident statistician on the BBC Two

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

show ''

Fantasy Football League ''Fantasy Football League'' is a British television comedy programme hosted by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner. It was inspired by the Fantasy Football phenomenon which started in the early 1990s and followed on from a BBC Radio 5 programme hos ...

''. Clad in a dressing gown and

pyjamas Pajamas ( US) or pyjamas (Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging or performing remote work from hom ...

, he would stand in the corner of the set and provide facts and figures on each of the guests' fantasy football teams, while being made fun of by hosts Frank Skinner and

David Baddiel David Lionel Baddiel (; born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, and author. He is known for his work alongside Rob Newman in ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' and his comedy partnership with Frank Skinner. He has als ...

. He also appeared in the Rowan Atkinson comedy film '' Bean'' in 1997 and the

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. ...

directed '' Blackball'' in 2003. He is the son of conductor

James Loughran James Loughran CBE, DMus., FRNCM, FRSAMD (born 30 June 1931, Glasgow, Scotland) is a conductor. Early life Educated at St Aloysius' College in Glasgow, Loughran conducted at school and afterwards, while studying economics and law. When he ...

and was educated at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition located in the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1802 as a boys' school, it is situated in the groun ...

. He is a fan of

Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd), or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, ...

As a 15-year-old, Loughran was involved in an elaborate prank on Chris Tavaré during a cricket

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

"The crowd of just 1,444 showed their disgust, crying "boring, boring, boring" repeatedly as Tavaré and England continued to bat on and on. Before too long, a 15-year-old boy appeared at the wicket holding a stool, apparently indicating to the batsman that he must need a rest after batting for such a long time. The boy in question was the young Angus Loughran, or Fantasy Football's Statto as he would later become known. The interruption entertained the agitated fans, and even amused officials so much that Loughran was offered life membership to the Oval. And he also made a profit during his one-man protest. His friends, thinking reasonably that he wouldn't be able to pull off such a stunt, invested in Loughran's bet, meaning that there was £300 riding on the wager. "I figured I'd probably be arrested but the fine would only be £100, so I'd still be £200 up," Loughran later revealed, showing a nose for a money-making scheme even from an early age."

He was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

at a hearing at Manchester County Court on 4 February 2008 due to large debts owed to Sporting Index. The bankruptcy was annulled in April 2008 when he presented an IVA to his creditors.

Notes

External links

*
Loughran commentating for ESPN

My United Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loughran, Angus British sports broadcasters British association football commentators British male journalists 1966 births Living people People educated at Ampleforth College