Des Lynam
Lynam at a book signing
Born	September 17, 1942 (1942-09-17) (age 64) Ennis, County Clare, Ireland
Occupation	TV presenter
Children	Patrick (b. 1970)

Desmond Michael Lynam (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish sports presenter and game show host on British television and radio, born in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. He is one of the best known sports broadcasters in the United Kingdom, having 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. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For people named Ennis, see Ennis (surname). ... County Clare (Contae an Chláir in Irish) is in the Irish province of Munster. ... is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For people named Ennis, see Ennis (surname). ... County Clare (Contae an Chláir in Irish) is in the Irish province of Munster. ... Grandstand is a British television sport programme, and is one of the BBCs longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year. ... For the Doctor Who novel, see Match of the Day (Doctor Who). ... Holiday is a long-running UK television programme on BBC1, and the oldest travel review show on UK television. ... Reina is a self produced album by the Mexican electro-pop band Kinky. ... Countdown is a British game show presented by Des OConnor and Carol Vorderman. ...

Career

Desmond Michael Lynam was born in South-West Ireland but in early 1949 he, along with his family, moved to Brighton. He eventually lost his strong Irish accent, and passed the eleven-plus in 1954, to attend Varndean Grammar School. Lynam didn't go to University however, after sitting his A-levels. Instead 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 who was born in 1970. However, by 1973 the marriage began to break down due 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. 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Brighton is located on the south coast of England, and together with its immediate neighbour Hove forms the city of Brighton and Hove. ... The Eleven Plus is an examination which was given to students in their last year of primary education in the United Kingdom under the Tripartite System. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A grammar school is a school that may, depending on regional usage as exemplified below, provide either secondary education or, a much less common usage, primary education (also known as elementary). Grammar schools trace their origins back to medieval Europe, as schools in which university preparatory subjects, such as Latin... Representation of a university class, 1350s. ... The A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education qualification in the United Kingdom, usually taken by students during the optional final two years of secondary school (Years 12 & 13, commonly called the Sixth Form), or at a separate sixth form college or further education college... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ...

He started his career in broadcasting as a freelance in radio, 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. Freelance 800F - The compact solution ABBs Freelance 800F control system combines easy engineering with an open, modern system architecture. ... BBC Radio Brighton was one of the first wave of BBC Local Radio stations which took to the air during the late 1960s. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... Sports Report is one of the longest-running programmes on British radio. ... BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBCs national radio stations and is the most popular station in the UK. It broadcasts throughout the UK on FM radio between 88 and 91 MHz from its studios in Western House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. ... Today, sometimes referred to as the Today programme to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4s long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, which is now broadcast from 6am to 9am from Monday to Friday and from 7am to 9am on Saturdays. ... old Radio 4 logo BBC Radio 4 is a UK domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ...

He moved to television in 1977 starting off with Sportswide as part of Nationwide which he did until the show's end until 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, The Grand National, the Football World Cup (1982–1998) and the Olympic Games (1980–1996). Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Nationwide was a BBC current affairs television series broadcast on BBC One each weekday following the main evening news. ... Grandstand is a British television sport programme, and is one of the BBCs longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year. ... This article is about the BBC television programme. ... Wimbledon logo The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly referred to as simply Wimbledon, is the oldest and arguably most prestigious event in the sport of tennis. ... The Grand National is the most valuable National Hunt handicap horse race in the United Kingdom. ... The FIFA World Cup Trophy, which has been awarded to the world champions since 1974. ... The five Olympic rings were designed in 1913, adopted in 1914 and debuted at the Games at Antwerp, 1920. ...

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 July 19, 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. Franklin Ray Bruno (born November 16, 1961) is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1995. ... Terrible Tim Witherspoon (1957-present) is an American prizefighter who twice was recognized as Heavyweight Champion of the World by a professional boxing sanctioning organization. ... World Boxing Association (WBA) is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title, at the professional level. ... Wembley Stadium was a football stadium located in Wembley, London. ... is the 200th day of the year (201st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker MBE (born Peter Dingley, 30 March 1945 in Birmingham, England) is a radio disc jockey. ...

Lynam defected to ITV in 1999, where he presented their flagship football programmes, including coverage of the FA Premier League and UEFA Champions League. He decided to retire from television presenting 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 the 2005 Wimbledon for BBC Radio Five Live. Independent Television (generally known as ITV, but also as ITV Network) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990 and the Broadcasting... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... For the Scottish equivalent see Scottish Premier League The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays Premiership in England and the Barclays English Premier League or just simply The EPL internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system... The UEFA Champions League (also known as the European Cup, UCL, CE1, C1[1] or CL) is a seasonal club football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the most successful football clubs in Europe. ... Euro 2004 Logo The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly called Euro 2004, was held in Portugal between 12 June and 4 July 2004. ... BBC Radio Five Live is the BBCs radio service providing live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries. ...

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. BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. ... Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show; produced by Hat Trick Productions and a flagship programme for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been running since 1990. ... Sir David Paradine Frost, OBE (born April 7, 1939) is an English television presenter. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

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 October 31. Although his contract was for two years, on 30 September 2006, it was announced that Lynam would quit Countdown at the end of 2006 ^[1], due to the fact that he needed to regularly travel to Leeds where Countdown is filmed, while his home is in West Sussex. It had previously been suggested that Countdown may move to London to better suit Lynam, but this was impractical as all of the programme's staff are based in the North. He was then replaced by Des O'Connor. is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Richard Whiteley, OBE, DL (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was an English television presenter and journalist. ... This article is about the British television station. ... is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation). ... West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex (with Brighton and Hove), Hampshire and Surrey. ... Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (born January 12, 1932) is a veteran English television personality. ...

On October 3, 2005 he released his autobiography called I Should Have Been at Work, taken from when Lynam, during the 1998 Football World Cup finals, said to those watching "Shouldn't you be at work?". is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Qualifying countries The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th staging of the World Cup, was held in France from June 10 to July 12 after 60 years to celebrate the third edition scheduled in 1938. ...

In July 2007, Lynam signed on to appear in Setanta Sports' commercials for its coverage of the Premier League, and it is rumored that he will take some part in Setanta's Premier League programming.^[2] July 2007 is the seventh month of that year. ... Setanta Sports (pronunciation: ) is an international sports broadcaster, operating 12 channels in 24 countries. ... The original FA Premier League logo, used until 2007 The Premier League (officially known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons, colloquially known as The Premiership), is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top echelon of the English football league system (above The Football League). ...

In the advert, he plays a Pie-man, serving pies out of a van outside a stadium, and the woman he works with, played by Star Stories & Balls of Steel star Thaila Zucchi, gets annoyed with the customer, who cannot pronounce "Setanta".^[3] Telstra Stadium in Sydney, Australia is capable of being converted from a rectangular rugby football field to an oval for cricket and Australian rules football games This article is about the building type. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... // General Information Host Mark Dolan (The Richard Taylor Interviews) puts a team of comedians and performers to the ultimate challenge: he and his studio audience want to know just one thing - who has the biggest Balls of Steel? His special guests are keen to prove themselves by performing death-defying... Thaila Lucia Zucchi[1] (born 19 January 1981 in Swindon, Wiltshire) is an Italian-English singer and actress. ...

It is thought that more adverts will be made with Des in them.

Trivia

• He is a supporter and former director of Brighton and Hove Albion F.C.^[4]
• Lynam was a master of the (un)prepared witticism, arguably his finest being while presenting the BBC's coverage of the Atlanta Olympic Games: "Going down to the pub is not yet an Olympic sport, but beach volleyball is."
• 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 2007 Lynam appeared in advertisements for Setanta Sports with actress, Thaila Zucchi. After repeatedly mispronouncing 'Setanta', a character in the ads then refers to Lynam as 'Dickie', a reference to Lynam's rival sports presenter Dickie Davies.

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. are an English football team based in Brighton. ... This article is about the British author. ... The correct title of this article is If— . It appears incorrectly here due to technical restrictions. ... Roald Dahl (IPA: ) (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a Welsh novelist, short story author and screenwriter of Norwegian parentage, famous as a writer for both children and adults. ... A collection of Betjemans poetry, published by John Murray in January 2006 Sir John Betjeman CBE (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Whos Who as a poet and hack. He was born to a middle-class family... Brian Patten (photo by Hugo Glendinning) Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946, Liverpool) is a British poet, born in a working-class neighbourhood near the docks. ... Combatants Argentina United Kingdom Commanders President Leopoldo Galtieri Vice-Admiral Juan Lombardo Brigadier-General Ernesto Crespo Brigade-General Mario Menéndez Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse Rear-Admiral John “Sandy” Woodward Major-General Jeremy Moore Casualties 649 killed 1,068 wounded 11,313 taken prisoner 75 fixed... Setanta Sports (pronunciation: ) is an international sports broadcaster, operating 12 channels in 24 countries. ... Thaila Lucia Zucchi[1] (born 19 January 1981 in Swindon, Wiltshire) is an Italian-English singer and actress. ... Dickie Davies (born 1933) is a British television presenter, best known for presenting World of Sport from the late 1960s until 1985. ...

References

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... PR Newswire is a U.S-based company that is primarily in the business of disseminating corporate news releases to the news media, financial institutions and web sites. ...

External links

• BBC News Coverage of Lynam and Countdown
• Channel 4Countdown Profile
• Des Lynam Page
• In-depth article on Des Lynam
• Video clip of Des Lynam presenting Grandstand from early 80s