Derek Rae

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Derek Rae (* 1967 in Aberdeen ) is a Scottish soccer host. He was under contract for many years with the broadcaster ESPN , where he worked as a game commentator for the Champions League broadcasts. He was also the "host" of the ESPNsoccernet program PressPass . He now works for the British sports channel BT Sport .

life and career

At the age of seven, the 1974 World Cup in Germany made a lasting impression on him . The preoccupation with the host country meant that he chose German as a foreign language at school and visited Hamburg as a 12-year-old . Later he even spent a lot of time in Wildeck-Hönebach as part of student exchanges . His knowledge of German was thereby excellent. He also developed a fan relationship with the nearest larger club, KSV Hessen Kassel . Fascinated by football, he would not be content with the native contests and listened with preference to pick up strong stations Radio Bremen and NDR with their (the WDR the switched) commentators Werner Hansch and Jochen Hageleit that he admired for their Ruhr Valley humor. The DFB Cup had particularly impressed him, because he preferred the hard-fought qualifying matches for the German teams against the tactical Cup encounters in the British Isles.

Under the impression of the 1974 World Cup, Rae had gone to local games to make live reports on his tape recorder, which marked his career path. Rae's career began at the age of 15 while working as a football commentator for a radio station that broadcast in local hospitals. At 19, when spokesman David Francey sustained a knee injury that prevented him from traveling, he got the chance to stand in for him on a Scottish Premier League radio broadcast . Rae then commented for BBC Scotland on a game between the national teams of England and Scotland in London . Soon afterwards, in the same year 1986, Rae was hired by BBC Scotland as a Scottish football correspondent. All this time Rae was a student at Aberdeen University .

In 1987 Rae, still based in Aberdeen, was awarded the title "Sony British Sports Broadcaster of the Year". In 1991 he left the BBC for Boston , Massachusetts . There he was entrusted with the duties of a local press spokesman for the organizing committee for the 1994 World Cup in the USA . He was particularly busy explaining the largely unknown European football sport and making its weight in the world clear. In 1994 he started working for ESPN. During his time in the United States , Rae also served as "the voice" of Major League Soccer 's New England Revolution . Rae was best known for his critical position towards the then Revolution trainer Walter Zenga during an Internet radio broadcast.

On May 25, 2005, Rae was at the microphone for the ESPN2 broadcast of the historic UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool FC and AC Milan in Istanbul . The audience rating in North America was the highest ever recorded for a Champions League game. Rae also wrote a column on ESPNsoccernet's website called "Rae's Say", which was very popular.

In the summer of 2010, after many years at ESPN headquarters on the east coast of the USA and a year of commuting between the continents, Rae moved to London because an ESPN UK reporter was needed after acquiring the Champions League broadcast rights. In 2014, he was in action for ESPN in Brazil for its seventh World Cup. He is currently the main commentator for the Scottish football scene at BT Sport, the successor broadcaster to the dissolved ESPN branch , but he also reports on match days in the Bundesliga , Serie A , Ligue 1 and the Europa League .

His wife, Beth Powers, is from Beverly , Massachusetts, Massachusetts, where they both lived together before moving to London.

Reportage style

What he has ahead of other commentators is his endeavor to correctly pronounce the foreign player names, which in case of doubt also leads him to call the embassy of the respective country.

It is said that his reports are neither unemotional nor are he prone to exaggerated outbursts of emotion, rather he uses emotions in a well-placed and balanced manner.

Rae's distinctive greeting of his announcements is: "Hello from me, Derek Rae".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Derek Rae. Derek Rae is BT Sport's Lead Scottish Football Commentator. In: sport.bt.com. April 22, 2015, accessed November 17, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b Double Pivot: An Interview with Derek Rae. In: worldsoccertalk.com. June 27, 2009, accessed November 17, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b Derek Rae: Rae's Say: German Cup and the 'Six Plus Five' Formula. In: espnfc.com. ESPN, March 1, 2007, accessed November 17, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Liam Apicella: Interview: ESPN Football Commentator Derek Rae. In: sportsmole.co.uk. October 6, 2012, accessed November 17, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Derek Rae: I'm Following in the Footsteps of Giants Behind the Mic. In: eveningtimes.co.uk. July 27, 2013, accessed November 17, 2015 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e Jonathan Tannenwald: Derek Rae Excited to Return to ESPN for 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In: philly.com. July 14, 2014, accessed November 17, 2015 .
  7. ↑ a b c d Derek Rae. Soccer Commentator. In: espnmediazone.com. Retrieved November 17, 2015 .
  8. ↑ a b Alicia Rodriguez: An Appreciation of Derek Rae, ESPN's Best World Cup Announcer. Yeah, I said it, he's the best. In: thegoatparade.com. July 4, 2014, accessed November 17, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Rae, Derek
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British soccer presenter
DATE OF BIRTH 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Aberdeen