Jon Champion

HOME

TheInfoList

Click Here for Items Related To - Jon Champion

OR:

Jon Champion on: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Amazon]

Jonathan Martin Champion (born 23 May 1965) is a British sports commentator currently working as the lead association football commentator for

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 ...

(US). Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

and ITV over the last 20 years.He has commentated on four FA Cup Finals and six League Cup Finals, as well as numerous games across the Premier League, Champions League and Football League. Champion currently covers the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for ESPN/ABC and the 2022 FIFA World Cup for ITV. His late father David Champion was the deputy headmaster of the independent school

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The schoo ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. Jon's commentaries can also be heard on the worldwide feed of many

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 ...

and

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

matches worldwide.

Early life

Jonathan Martin Champion was born on 23 May 1965 in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

, West Riding of Yorkshire.

BBC Sport

Champion joined

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

in the late 1980s and worked as a football commentator on BBC Radio Five Live between 1992 and 1996. He worked alongside Alan Green, Mike Ingham, Ron Jones, Rob Hawthorne, and Jonathan Legard covering Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, and Football League matches for the network. During this time, Champion commentated on the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

and 1996 First Division play-off Finals, and the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final between Juventus and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

. His fellow commentator on that evening was future ITV colleague Peter Drury. In 1995, an opportunity arose to further Champion's career at the BBC.

John Motson John Walker Motson (10 July 1945 – 23 February 2023) was an English football commentator. Beginning as a television commentator with the BBC in 1971, he commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio. From the late 1970s to 2008, Mo ...

took a three-month break from his role as a commentator on ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...

'', allowing Champion to be drafted in to cover. Champion spent the whole of the 1995–1996 season combining his Five Live duties with appearances as a commentator on ''Match of the Day''. He was successful enough to move across to TV permanently the following season, after Clive Tyldesley left the BBC and rejoined ITV. Champion spent five seasons between 1996 and 2001 as a full-time member of the BBC's commentary team, covering edited highlights of the Premier League and the FA Cup, in addition to occasional matches from the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. At the 1998 World Cup, Champion commentated on highlights of England's 2nd Round exit at the hands of Argentina. He also commentated on rugby league Challenge Cup games on BBC television, typically taking the televised Sunday game of each round with

Ray French Raymond James French, MBE (born 23 December 1939) is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. French played at international level in both codes. He won four caps for England in rugby union ...

commentating on the Saturday game.

ITV Sport

In the summer of 2000, ITV surprised the BBC with a successful bid for Premier League highlights. This kicked in from 2001, and left the BBC without any regular week-by-week football. Champion therefore moved to join ITV in 2001, and was a regular part of ITV's commentary team for the

, Football League, and the

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 ...

Setanta and ESPN

In 2007, ambitious new-boys Setanta Sports UK signed up Champion as their lead FA Premier League play-by-play announcer. Champion remained contracted to ITV but was loaned out to Setanta. For two seasons, he thus managed to combine his ITV duties with 'live' matches on Setanta. During the 2008–09 season, Champion was increasingly heard more on Setanta who had also secured rights to the FA Cup. In May 2009, Champion commentated on his first FA Cup Final. Within a month, Setanta had gone into administration and were forced to relinquish their football rights. These were scooped up by the Disney-owned sports broadcaster

, who rapidly established a brand new sports channel

ESPN UK BT Sport 4 is a British sports television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA and the BT Group. It is part of the BT Sport group of channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is predominantly focused on sports from North America. ...

for the U.K. and Ireland and starting broadcasting Premier League football in August 2009. Champion was the natural choice as their lead play-by-play commentator, and moved across from ITV permanently. However, Champion was loaned back to ITV for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, working alongside his ESPN colleague Craig Burley. As well as being ESPN's lead Premier League commentator, Champion also commentates on the Europa League and the

. On 14 May 2011, he commentated the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

between Manchester City and Stoke City with Chris Waddle. In 2012, he was a commentator for ITV's coverage of Euro 2012 usually alongside Craig Burley. He then was loaned back to

for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

alongside former Arsenal player Stewart Robson. Champion now part-time commentates for USMNT friendlies alongside

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

when lead commentator

Ian Darke Ian Darke (born 1954) is an English association football and boxing commentator who currently works for ESPN and BT Sport. Darke was previously one of Sky's "Big Four" football commentators alongside Martin Tyler, Alan Parry and Rob Hawthorne. ...

is not available. Champion returned to ITV for the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

FIFA World Cups where he paired with

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland in ...

. Starting in 2019 MLS season, Champion was named '' MLS on ESPN'' and USMNT lead play-by-play commentator alongside lead color commentator

Taylor Twellman Taylor Timothy Twellman (born February 29, 1980) is an American former soccer player who played professionally from 1999 to 2010. He now works in the media as a soccer television commentator. Twellman is best known for his play with the New Eng ...

. In December 2019, he and his ITV color commentator

was one of the broadcast teams of commentators for Prime Video Sport's UK Premier League coverage. Champion is also the lead commentator for ESPN's coverage of the

and EFL Cup working alongside Stewart Robson.

TV credits

s: 2009 (Setanta), 2011, 2012 and 2013 (ESPN UK), 2021 (ESPN US) * League Cup Finals: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 (all ITV), 2021 (ESPN) * Championship Play-off Final: 2005 (ITV), 2009 (ITV), 2021 (ESPN) *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

(BBC), 2002 (ITV), 2006 (ITV), 2010 (ITV),

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

(ABC/ESPN),

(ITV),

(ITV) *USMNT Friendlies: 2014–2022 (ESPN) *

: 2007–2009 (Setanta), 2009–2013 (ESPN), 2013–2019, 2021-present (Premier League Productions), 2019–present (Prime Video UK), 2019 (BT Sport) *

: 2001–2009 (ITV Sport), 2015–2019 (BT Sport) *

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. ...

: 2009–2019 (ESPN/BT Sport) *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

(BBC), 2004 (ITV),

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

(ITV),

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

(ITV),

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

(ESPN),

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

(ABC/ESPN) *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

: 2018–2021 (ABC/ESPN) *

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

: 2019–2022 (ABC/ESPN)

Other media

Champion was the commentator for the first time in the ''

Pro Evolution Soccer ''eFootball'', formerly known as ''Pro Evolution Soccer'' (''PES'') internationally and in Japan and North America, is a series of association football simulation video games developed and published by Konami since 1995. The series consists ...

'' series from ''

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2008'' (''PES 2008''), known as ''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2008'' in Asia and sometimes called ''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 11'' (PS2) in North America, is an association football video game in the ''Pro Evolution So ...

'' to '' Pro Evolution Soccer 2015''. He worked alongside analyst and former Irish international

Mark Lawrenson Mark Thomas Lawrenson (born 2 June 1957) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool, among others, during the 1970s and 1980s. After a short career as a manager, he then became a radio, television and internet pun ...

from ''

'' to '' Pro Evolution Soccer 2010''. From '' Pro Evolution Soccer 2011'' to '' Pro Evolution Soccer 2015'', he worked together with analyst from ITV,

Jim Beglin James Martin Beglin (born 29 July 1963) is an Irish former professional footballer and current co-commentator for RTÉ, CBS Sports, BT Sport, and Premier League Productions. Playing career Shamrock Rovers Beglin played schoolboy football ...

. He was then replaced by Peter Drury as the commentator for ''

Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2016'' (abbreviated as ''PES 2016'', marketed as ''Winning Eleven 2016'' in Japan) is a football simulation game developed by PES Productions and published by Konami for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox ...

''.

World Cup

Champion was selected as a commentator for ITV at the 2010 World Cup in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. For the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil he commentated for

's coverage in the U.S. During the 2018 tournament champion was praised for his commentary partnership with

Personal life

Champion is a supporter of

York City F.C. York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Jon 1965 births British association football commentators Living people People from Harrogate British reporters and correspondents English television presenters English rugby union commentators Association football commentators Alumni of Leeds Trinity University Major League Soccer broadcasters