Alastair Brownlee (14 April 1959 – 14 February 2016) was an English radio broadcaster best known for his coverage of

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...

BBC Tees BBC Radio Tees is the BBC's local radio station serving the former county of Cleveland which comprises the unitary authorities of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV ...

from 1982 onwards. His connection to the club earned him the honorific "Voice of the Boro".

Early life

Brownlee was born on Byelands Street,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, close to the team's Ayresome Park ground. He attended school with comedian Bob Mortimer and worked in a bank before embarking on his media career.

Career

Brownlee covered over 1,000 matches for the team, and also presented BBC Tees' breakfast show. From 1995 to 2007, Brownlee and partner

Bernie Slaven Bernard Joseph Slaven (born 13 November 1960) is a former professional football striker. He scored 223 goals in 567 league and cup appearances over the course of an 18-year career and also earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland. He star ...

worked for commercial station Century FM (now

Heart North East Heart North East is a regional radio broadcasting, radio station owned and operated by Global Group, Global as part of the Heart (radio network), Heart network. It broadcasts to North East England from studios in Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. ...

), before the rights to Middlesbrough's matches returned to the BBC. He owned the publishing house Linthorpe Publishing, writing and printing works on Middlesbrough F.C. with his friend Gordon Cox, with titles including ''The Road to Eindhoven'' and ''The Class of ’86''. Brownlee was a fundraiser for charities including

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educat ...

, Children in Need and the hospice Zoe's Place. He lived in

Linthorpe Linthorpe is an inner-area of Middlesbrough in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It contains two wards: Linthorpe (containing the cemetery with a population of 9,711) and Park (containing Albert Park with a population o ...

, was married to Wendy, and had two daughters, Alison and Emily.

Illness and death

Brownlee was diagnosed with

bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...

in November 2015, informing his listeners of his condition. He continued his coverage of ''Boro'' – then pushing for a return to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

– until December. In Middlesbrough's Football League Cup match against Everton at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

, the fans put on a light show in solidarity with him, covered live by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

. He fought his disease for three months before his death at 56. He died at home surrounded by his family. He was survived by his wife and two daughters. Middlesbrough F.C. chairman Steve Gibson mourned a "true friend", praising his career and charity, while former manager

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...

remembered his cheerful demeanour. Tributes also came from neighbouring clubs

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

and Sunderland alongside clubs from as far away as Everton and Stoke City. Brownlee's funeral cortege passed the Riverside and the site of Ayresome Park before a private service at St. Mary's Church in Acklam on 25 February.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlee, Ali 1959 births 2016 deaths People from Middlesbrough BBC radio presenters Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from colorectal cancer Charity fundraisers (people) English sports broadcasters English sports journalists English book publishers (people) BBC sports presenters and reporters English association football commentators Heart (radio network) 20th-century philanthropists 20th-century English businesspeople