Des Lynam

Des Lynam
Lynam at a book signing
Born	17 September 1942 (1942-09-17) (age 69) Ennis, County Clare, Ireland
Occupation	Radio/Television presenter
Years active	1968–present
Spouse	Susan Skinner (m. 1965–1974) (divorced)
Children	Patrick (b. 1970)

Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE^[1] (born 17 September 1942, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland) is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.

He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years. He has presented the popular shows, Grandstand, Match of the Day, Holiday, How Do They Do That? and Countdown.

Career

Desmond Michael Lynam moved with his family to Brighton at the age of six. He recalled having a strong Irish accent at the time, but eventually lost it. He passed the eleven-plus in 1954, to attend Varndean Grammar School. After sitting his A-levels, he went into the insurance business, working as a salesman, where he remained for most of the 1960s.

He married Susan Skinner in 1965 and had one son, Patrick (born 1970); however by 1973 the marriage began to break down owing to Lynam's career and other commitments, and they divorced in 1974. Lynam has never remarried, but has lived with Rose Diamond, his long-time partner, for many years.

He is a supporter of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.^[2]

On the radio

He started his career in broadcasting as a freelance radio journalist, on BBC Radio Brighton (1968–1969). He quickly joined national BBC radio in London, originally specialising in commentating on boxing, and went on to anchor Sport on Two and Sports Report (1969–1978) on BBC Radio 2. From 1974–1976 he co-presented the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on three mornings each week.

BBC Television

He moved to television in 1977 starting off with Sportswide as part of Nationwide continuing until the series' ended in 1983, and then presented Grandstand (1979–1991, occasionally until 1999), Sportsnight (1991–1997) and Match of the Day (1988–1999) on the BBC for many years, and also fronted BBC coverage of Wimbledon (highlights 1985-1990, main presenter 1991-1997 and 1999), the Grand National, the Football World Cup (1982–1998) and the Olympic Games (1980–1996). As a broadcaster with the BBC he was present at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, whilst covering the game for Match of the Day. Throughout his time on the BBC, Lynam was praised for his witty and down-to-earth style. An example of this was after the BBC's 1998 World Cup coverage he narrated the famous Rudyard Kipling poem "If" on the ending credits.

Lynam made a return to radio in 1986 to commentate for the BBC on the Frank Bruno vs. Tim Witherspoon WBA Heavyweight World Title fight at Wembley Stadium on 19 July 1986. He also made a brief return to BBC Radio 2 in 1998, presenting the 5-7pm Drivetime show on Fridays only. Johnnie Walker had started presenting the show Mondays - Thursdays.

ITV

Lynam moved to ITV in 1999, to present their live football coverage, including coverage of the FA Premier League and UEFA Champions League. He decided to retire from presenting live sport after the Euro 2004 football championships. Soon afterwards the BBC announced that Lynam would present a new weekly radio programme, Des Meets..., on BBC Radio Five Live from August 2004. He also covered Wimbledon 2005 for BBC Radio Five Live.

In 2002, the BBC released a CD of poems read by Lynam to music. 'Time to stand & stare' featured classic poems such as Rudyard Kipling's 'If', and others written by Roald Dahl, Sir John Betjeman and Brian Patten. The CD featured one of Lynam's own poems, "The Silly Isles", written about the Falklands War.

In May 2005, Lynam presented the BBC1 programme 'We'll Meet Again', marking the 60th anniversary of VE Day and which celebrated the end of the second World War. The following month, he presented an episode of Have I Got News For You on BBC1, the third time he had presented the show having been in the hot seat twice the previous year. In June and July 2005, he co-presented (with Sir David Frost) the series The World's Greatest Sporting Legend on Sky One.

On 3 October 2005 his autobiography was published, I Should Have Been at Work, a reference to when Lynam, during an England game that kicked off at 2pm on a Monday afternoon during the 1998 Football World Cup finals, said to those watching "Shouldn't you be at work?". The book's most controversial passage concerns a small cat.

Countdown

On 22 September 2005, Lynam was named the host (replacing the late Richard Whiteley) of Channel 4's Countdown, with his first episode airing on 31 October. Although his contract was to last until December 2007, on 30 September 2006, it was announced that Lynam would leave Countdown at the end of 2006,^[3] because he regularly needed to travel to Leeds where Countdown is recorded, while his home is in West Sussex. It had previously been suggested that Countdown might move to London to suit Lynam better, but this was impractical as all of the programme's staff are based in Yorkshire. He was replaced by Des O'Connor.

Since leaving Countdown, Lynam has appeared in Setanta Sports' commercials for its coverage of the Premier League and hosted Sport Mastermind.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.

Lynam is also well known for his charitable work. Gillette famously donated a sizeable sum to a charity of Lynam's choice after he shaved off his trademark moustache,^[4] and in January 2008 he also pledged his support for donkey charity 'Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land'.^[5]

References

1. ^ New Year Honours List 2008
2. ^ A press release distributed by PR Newswire Europe
3. ^ "Countdown's Des quits show". Countdown. The Sun. 2006-09-30. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006450519,,00.html. 
4. ^ Lynam asked to shave off moustache for charity
5. ^ http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-173297332.html

External links

• BBC News Coverage of Lynam and Countdown
• Channel 4Countdown Profile
• Des Lynam Page

Media offices
Preceded by David Coleman	Regular Host of Grandstand 1984–1991	Succeeded by Steve Rider
Preceded by Jimmy Hill	Regular Host of Match of the Day 1988–1999	Succeeded by Gary Lineker
Preceded by Steve Rider	Regular Host of Sportsnight 1991–1997	Succeeded by Show ended
Preceded by Richard Whiteley	Host of Countdown 2005–2006	Succeeded by Des O'Connor
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Jim Rosenthal	RTS Television Sport Awards Best Sports Presenter 1998	Succeeded by Jim Rosenthal

Persondata
Name	Lynam, Des
Alternative names
Short description	TV presenter
Date of birth	17 September 1942
Place of birth	Ennis, County Clare, Ireland
Date of death
Place of death