Sky Sports lead football commentator Martin Tyler is to leave the channel ahead of the new Premier League season.
The 77-year-old has been Sky’s voice of football since the launch of the Premier League in 1992.
“In my humble opinion, the huge corporation Sky is today has stemmed from Sky Sports’ innovative and inspired coverage of the Premier League,” said Tyler.
“It has been a privilege to play a small part in the broadcasting history of the greatest league in the world. Along the way I have worked alongside legions of wonderful professionals in all aspects of the television industry. I thank them all for their support and expertise. It has been an honour to be a member of a very gifted team.”
Tyler’s replacement is 55-year-old Peter Drury, who has commentated for the BBC, ITV, BT Sport and Premier League Productions. He already provides Premier League commentaries for NBC, controlled by Comcast, which also owns Sky.
Drury has won the award for Football Supporters’ Association commentator of the year for three out of the past four seasons. He said he was “massively excited” about taking up the role.
Tyler is the second major name to leave Sky in the closed season after Jeff Stelling left the Soccer Saturday programme. No replacement has so far been announced for Stelling.
The departures come at a time when Sky is in the middle of a redundancy programme, both on and off the screen. It’s understood that Sky Sports is also reducing the number of reporters it has covering football.
