Geoffrey Twentyman (born 10 March 1959) is an English former professional footballer, who later became the main sports presenter for

BBC Radio Bristol BBC Radio Bristol is the BBC's local radio station serving Bristol, Bath and North & North East Somerset. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Broadcasting House in Bristol. According to RAJAR, the stati ...

and BBC Radio Somerset. The son of former

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

player

Geoff Twentyman Geoffrey Twentyman (19 January 1930 – 16 February 2004) was an English footballer who is mainly remembered for his links with Liverpool Football Club as both a player and as chief scout. Player Born in Brampton, Cumberland, the left-half pl ...

, Geoff Jr. began his career as a trainee at his father's club, but after failing to make the grade there he played for

Formby Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "For ...

before being sold on to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

for around £1,000 and from there to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. After making 98 league appearances for Preston, scoring four goals, he was released by the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

club, and was signed by

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. He was taken to Rovers by

Bobby Gould Robert Hewitt Gould (born 12 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. Early life Gould was born in Wyken, Coventry, Warwickshire on 12 June 1946. He is the son of Henry Gould and Helen McKellar Gould (née Morton). He spent hi ...

, and was later managed by

Gerry Francis Gerald Charles James Francis (born 6 December 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Playing career Francis made his first team debut for Queens Park Rangers against Liverpool in March 1969. He was captain and central midfield play ...

, playing a total of 252 league games, scoring six goals, and made a

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

appearance in the final of the

Associate Members' Cup The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

in 1990. Twentyman began coaching youth football with Brimsham Green F.C. in

Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswolds, Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, Somerset, Bath, with regular rail services ...

shortly after moving to Bristol, and is now the club's honorary president. When Francis left Rovers in 1991, Twentyman applied for the vacant manager's job, but was not appointed. After the end of his playing career he studied at

Bristol Polytechnic The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

and then joined Radio Bristol as a sports journalist. In 1993, he became the sports editor of Radio Bristol. When

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

became the manager of Bristol Rovers in 1996, Twentyman joined him as assistant manager. The job was not to his liking and he returned to his previous job in 1997. On 22 June 2008, he played for Bristol Rovers in the inaugural Western Masters, where the team finished third of the four teams competing. In late 2015, it was announced that Twentyman would leave the Drivetime show he had been presenting on Radio Bristol and instead present a nightly sports show every weekday between 6-7pm, in addition to his presenting duties on Saturday Sport. On 11 April 2023, it was announced that Twentyman would be leaving the BBC after three decades. His last programme was aired on 22 May 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twentyman, Geoff 1959 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players Formby F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Yate Town F.C. players Linfield F.C. players NIFL Premiership players British sports broadcasters BBC people Alumni of the University of the West of England, Bristol Footballers from Liverpool Radio presenters from Liverpool