READER'S DIGEST RECOMMENDED READ: The Beautiful Game

Dreams come true in a memoir from the “voice of football”

Many boys, of course, dream of becoming footballers. The young Clive Tyldesley, though, wasn’t one of them. According to his thoughtful, often funny and above all heartfelt new book, the only thing he ever wanted to be was a football commentator.

Well, as we know, this was one boyhood dream that came true. Clive began his career in local radio, before moving to television, where he was made ITV’s chief football commentator after Brian Moore’s retirement in 1998. He held the post until last year when, to his clear but not over-dwelt-on distress, he was informed by a Zoom call that ITV was “refreshing” him out of a job.

One of Clive’s justified bugbears is the kind of commentator whose commentary essentially translates as “Look at me!”—something he himself manages to avoid even in his autobiography. We do get occasional glimpses of his private life, but the focus is firmly on football. As well as revealing plenty of secrets of the commentator’s trade, Clive makes the most of his four-decade ringside seat to show us how much the game has changed since the days when players could reliably be found at the local working men’s club having a pint, a fag and a game of snooker.