David Michael Croft (born 19 June 1970) is a British television broadcaster for
Sky Sports. He is the lead commentator for Sky's
Formula One coverage, a role he has held since 2012. He was born and raised in
Stevenage
Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...
,
England.
Early career
Croft began his broadcasting career in hospital radio at Radio Fairfield. He spent three years working at
BBC Three Counties Radio, first as a sports reporter then as sports editor. He moved to BBC
Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...
in December 1998. During his time at the station he covered the
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
,
2004 Athens Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
and presented Saturday Sport on 5 during both the summer of 2004 and 2005.
BBC Sport commentator
Formula One commentator
Croft was the
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...
Formula One commentator and presenter, succeeding Maurice Hamilton at the start of the
2006 Formula 1 season. He worked alongside former
Super Aguri,
Honda and
Minardi
Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followin ...
F1 driver
Anthony Davidson and pitlane reporters
Ted Kravitz and
Natalie Pinkham, covering each Grand Prix and qualifying as well as the three practice sessions which could be heard via the
BBC Red Button service, BBC Sport Online and
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. It was announced on 7 December 2011 that Croft would be lead commentator for
Sky Sports' coverage of F1 for the
2012 season, and would be joined by
Anthony Davidson, Ted Kravitz, Natalie Pinkham and
Martin Brundle.
Croft celebrated his 250th Grand Prix as a Formula One commentator at the
2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (formally known as the Formula 1 SOCAR Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 28 April 2019 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The race was the 4th round of the 2019 ...
.
Other sports
Croft has also commentated on the
BDO World Darts Championship and
Winmau World Masters for BBC Television from 2004 to 2012 after first covering the World Championship for BBC Radio 5 Live in 2002. From 2013 onwards, Croft has been working as a presenter and occasional commentator for Sky Sports' coverage of
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World ...
events.
Further commentary work
His work outside the BBC has included commentary on:
*two rounds of the
2010 FIA GT1 World Championship
The 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship was the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship, a motor racing competition reserved for FIA GT1 cars. The championship was a replacement for the FIA GT Championship which had been held annually from 1997 to 2009 ...
and
FIA GT3 European Championship in
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
and
Portimao as well as one round of the
2011 FIA GT1 World Championship
The 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season was the second season of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars complying with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) GT1 regulations. The champ ...
and
FIA GT3 European Championship season, both at
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
.
*Boxing for Premier Sports including an early
Tyson Fury fight
*boxing for
Setanta Sports including
Joe Calzaghe's farewell fight against
Roy Jones Jr.
Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American former professional boxer who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. He competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018, and held multiple world championships in four weight classes, inc ...
at Madison Square Garden
*the 2008 and 2009
Free Running World Championship
*the
2009 Goodwood Revival and
2010, 2011 and 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed
*The Race on Sky 1
*
Red Bull Track Attack for
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
*the
F1 in Schools competition, namely for the world finals events
*presenter of the 2014 and 2016
World Branding Awards
Video games and film
He is the voice of the paddock reporter in the
Codemasters ''
F1 2010'' game and in the sequel ''
F1 2011''. In ''
F1 2012
The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 63rd FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internatio ...
'', ''
F1 2013'', and ''
F1 2014'', he guides the player through the games' respective menus, and in ''
F1 2015
The 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars. It was the 66th Formula One World Championship recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ( ...
'', ''
F1 2016'', ''
F1 2017'', ''
F1 2018'', ''
F1 2019
The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars which marked the 70th running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the F ...
'', ''
F1 2020'', ''
F1 2021'' and ''
F1 22'' he is a commentator during in-game sessions alongside
Anthony Davidson.
Croft also voiced the character of Lofty Crofty in the European release of ''
Planes
Plane(s) most often refers to:
* Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft
* Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface
Plane or planes may also refer to:
Biology
* Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant
* ''Planes' ...
''. The character was the European equivalent of Colin Cowling.
Radio presenter
Croft has previously presented a midweek sports show and a Monday night football phone-in show on
BBC London 94.9FM, where he has also stood in for
Paul Ross and co-presented the Breakfast show first with
JoAnne Good and then
Gaby Roslin.
Croft is a fan of rock music and is regular contributor to
Primordial Radio with his Crofty's Tracks
appearing on the afternoon show with Dewsbury.
References
External links
*
David Croft's Agent detailsBBC BiographyDavid Croft's ''Harvey Voices'' Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, David
1970 births
Living people
British radio personalities
Darts commentators
Motorsport announcers
People from Stevenage
Sky Sports presenters and reporters