Wikipedia

Andy Townsend

Andrew David Townsend(born 23 July 1963) is a former professionalfootballerand sports co-commentator forPremier League ProductionsandCBS Sports.

Andy Townsend
Townsend in 2020
Personal information
Full name Andrew David Townsend[1]
Date of birth (1963-07-23)23 July 1963(age 61)[1]
Place of birth Maidstone,[1]England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Welling United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1984 Welling United 105 (n/a)
1984–1985 Weymouth 40 (16)
1985–1988 Southampton 83 (5)
1988–1990 Norwich City 71 (8)
1990–1993 Chelsea 110 (12)
1993–1997 Aston Villa 134 (8)
1997–1999 Middlesbrough 77 (3)
1999–2000 West Bromwich Albion 18 (0)
Total 638 (52)
International career
1994 Republic of Ireland B 1 (0)
1989–1997 Republic of Ireland 70 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player he was amidfielderwho notably played in thePremier LeagueforChelsea,Aston VillaandMiddlesbrough.He also played in theFootball LeagueforSouthampton,Norwich CityandWest Bromwich Albion.Prior to his professional career he had spent four years in Non-League withWelling United.Despite being born inEngland,Townsend played inWorld Cupsfor theRepublic of Ireland national team,making 70 appearances and scoring seven goals.

Following retirement, Townsend moved into sports commentary and wasITV Sport's co-commentator for all of their major coverage of games until 2015. He has also commentated forBT Sport,TalksportandBBC Radio 5 Live.

Early life

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Townsend was born inMaidstone,Kent,but grew up inBexley,where he attended Upton Primary School inBexleyheath,followed byBexleyheath School.He is the son of former Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace footballerDon Townsend.[3]

Club career

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He began his playing career in August 1980 withWelling Unitedin theAthenian League,while working as an ICL computer operator forGreenwichBorough Council in south-east London.[4]After making 105 appearances for Welling, he was signed byWeymouthin March 1984 for £13,500.[5]

In January 1985, he was signed byLawrie McMenemyatSouthamptonfor £35,000[4]and made his professional debut at home toAston Villaon 20 April 1985 as Southampton qualified for Europe, only to be banned in the aftermath of theHeysel Stadium disaster.[5]

Over the next season, he was in and out of the team (then managed byChris Nicholl) but broke his leg in a pre-seasonfriendlyagainst his old club Weymouth in August 1986.[4]He fought his way back to fitness and rejoined the side the following January.

In the1987–88he was a virtual ever-present, playing alongsideJimmy CaseandGlenn Cockerillin the Southampton midfield. He was a hard-tackling, hard-workingmidfielderwith an eye for goal. It was a shock, therefore, when Nicholl sold him toFirst DivisionrivalsNorwich Cityin August 1988, for a fee of £300,000.[4]

He made his debut as asubstituteagainstMiddlesbroughon 3 September 1988, before replacing the suspendedTrevor Putneyfor his first full appearance in a 3–1 win overSpurson 22 October.[5]He retained his place in the Norwich midfield and ended the season with 36 league appearances (5 as substitute) with five goals.[5]He also made six FA Cup appearances with two goals againstPort Valein the Third Round on 7 January 1989. Under managerDave Stringer,he was a member of theCanaries'1988–89side that finished fourth in the top flight andreachedthesemi-finalsof theFA Cup.At the season's end, Townsend was shortlisted for thePFA Players' Player of the Yearaward, which was won byMark Hughes.

Norwich made a handsome profit when they let Townsend joinChelseafor £1,200,000 in July 1990.[5]

After making a total of 138 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 12 goals but winning no trophies (they never finished higher than 11th in the league while he was there), he transferred toAston Villain July 1993 for £2.1million.[5]

He finally won some silverware when Villa won the1994League Cup,beatingManchester United3–1. HecaptainedVilla when they reclaimed the trophy in1996with a 3–0 victory overLeeds United.

In August 1997, just after the start of the1997–98 season,he transferred toBryan Robson'sMiddlesbroughfor £500,000 having made 134 league appearances forthe Villans,scoring eight league goals.[5]

He made 37 appearances in his first season onTeesside,scoring twice asBoro'wonpromotionto thePremier League.In the1998–99 season,he formed a useful partnership withPaul Gascoigneas Middlesbrough finished comfortably in mid-table in their first season back in the Premier League.[5]

In the following season, he found it harder to get into the first team and on 17 September 1999 he moved down a division toWest Bromwich Albionfor £50,000. Townsend's high wage demands prevented a move back to Norwich or a loan spell with non-leagueBoston United.[5]

In his one season at West Bromwich Albion he only made 17 league appearances before a recurrent knee injury forced his retirement in July 2000, after a season in which Albion narrowly avoided relegation to Division Two.[6]

"I was very flattered by Albion's offer. I thought long and hard about it but I just felt that if I am going to go down the road of management I am going to have to do things my own way."

— Townsend rejects Albion managerGary Megson's offer of a coaching role at the club.[6]

On 21 April 2016, Townsend joinedBolton Wanderersas a consultant.[7]

International career

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His contribution to Norwich's successful season saw Townsend selected for theRepublic of Ireland,making his debut againstFrancein February 1989. He qualified for Ireland due to his Irish family heritage.'[8]

He played in the next year'sWorld Cup,in Italy, where he played in all five of Ireland's matches. They reached the quarter-finals, the country's strongest ever campaign. The Irish drew their three group matches – againstEngland,Egyptand theNetherlands.Scoring apenaltyin the shoot-out withRomania,his country were eventually sunk by aSalvatore Schillacigoal forthe hosts.They had conceded just three goals in those five games. They had scored just two goals in those five games.

He was captain of the Ireland squad for the1994 World Cup.All four teams ofGroup Efinished on four points, they got their revenge on the Italians, but were defeated byMexicoand drew withNorway.Ireland lost 2–0 to the Dutch at theCitrus Bowlin the knock-out stage.[9]

On 22 March 2015, Townsend was inducted into theFAI Hall of Fame.[10]

Broadcasting career

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Townsend signing an autograph at the 2010 FA Cup Semifinal.

ITV Sport

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Townsend's most prominent role was as part ofITV Sport's liveChampions League,FA CupandEngland internationalscoverage. He took over fromRon Atkinsonas the channel's lead co-commentator, forming a long-running partnership with main commentatorClive Tyldesley,as well as appearing as a studio pundit. He co-hostedTalksport'sWeekend Sports Breakfaston Sundays withMike Parry,and hosted the station's drive-time show on Fridays. He also hosted the mid morning discussion on talkSPORT from 10am to 1pm from Monday to Friday, having replacedJon Gaunt,who was sacked for calling a guest aNazi.[11]He left the station because he no longer wanted to commute from his Midlands home to the London studio. He also hosts ITV1's regional programmeSoccer Night,alongsidePeter Beagrie.Townsend was part of ITV's coverage of the Premier League after they won the rights from the BBC to show top flight football on Saturday evening. In January 2015 ITV confirmed that Townsend, along with presenterAdrian Chiles,would not be retained by the broadcaster after the expiry of his contract in the summer of 2015, with the channel having lost Champions League broadcasting rights.[12]

BT Sport

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After leaving ITV in 2015 he joinedBT Sportas a co-commentator for their coverage of thePremier League,FA Cup,UEFA Champions LeagueandUEFA Europa League.He made his co-commentating debut on 15 February 2015, co-commentating onArsenalvsMiddlesbroughin the FA Cup fifth round alongsideIan Darke.

Other work

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He has also presentedBBC Radio 5 Liveand written columns for theDaily Mail.He has also been the commentator on severalEAfootball games withClive Tyldesleyincluding2006 FIFA World Cup,UEFA Champions League 2006-2007,UEFA Euro 2008,2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa,UEFA Euro 2012,2014 FIFA World Cup Braziland most recentlyFIFA 12to this gameFIFA 17.

Personal life

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He is the son of formerCharlton AthleticandCrystal PalacedefenderDon Townsend.[13]

Business interests

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Townsend was a consultant for Harlequin Property, where he helps set up football schools at theirCaribbeanresorts.[14]The company's proposed investment intoPort Valehad set in motion plans for him to become a football advisor at the club,[15]though nothing was to come of these talks.

Charitable activities

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He is patron of the George Coller Memorial Fund. He ran in theGreat North Runin 2007, finishing in a time of 2 hours and 20 minutes.[16]

Honours

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Aston Villa

Middlesbrough

Individual

References

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  1. ^abc"Andy Townsend".National Football Teams.Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann.Retrieved5 April2020.
  2. ^Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987).Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88.London: Queen Anne Press. p.336.ISBN978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. ^"Townsend brings Irish career to a well-timed close".Independent.7 March 2008.Retrieved13 November2011.[dead link‍]
  4. ^abcdHolley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003).In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC.Hagiology Publishing. p. 589.ISBN0-9534474-3-X.
  5. ^abcdefghi"Andy Townsend".ex-canaries.co.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 30 October 2009.Retrieved21 October2009.
  6. ^ab"Townsend retires".BBC Sport.7 July 2000.Retrieved21 October2009.
  7. ^"Andy Townsend: Bolton Wanderers appoint TV pundit in consultancy role".BBC Sport. 21 April 2016.
  8. ^Dunphy, Eamonn (22 May 1994)."Football: Why Charlton's men are the guardians of Irish identity".The Independent.London. Archived fromthe originalon 16 June 2010.Retrieved13 November2011.
  9. ^"Netherlands – Republic of Ireland".fifa.Archived fromthe originalon 14 October 2007.Retrieved20 October2009.
  10. ^ab"Andy Townsend speaks to FAI TV - Football Association of Ireland".fai.ie.
  11. ^Oliver Luft (16 January 2009)."Townsend and Parry to replace Jon Gaunt on TalkSport".London: Guardian.Retrieved17 April2012.
  12. ^"ITV confirms Andy Townsend's contract will not be renewed next season".theguardian.8 January 2015.Retrieved8 January2015.
  13. ^"Townsend brings Irish career to a well-timed close".Independent.7 March 2008.Retrieved13 November2011.
  14. ^Shaw, Steve (19 October 2009)."Port Vale: Townsend no threat to Adams, says Ames".The Sentinel.Archivedfrom the original on 22 October 2009.Retrieved19 October2009.
  15. ^"Townsend set for Port Vale role".BBC Sport.19 October 2009.Archivedfrom the original on 22 October 2009.Retrieved19 October2009.
  16. ^George Coller Memorial Fund patronsArchived13 January 2005 at theWayback Machine
  17. ^Lovejoy, Joe (27 March 1994)."Football / Coca-Cola Cup Final: Saunders destroys United's dream: Aston Villa's master plan puts paid to Ferguson's malfunctioning Big Red Machine as Kanchelskis is dismissed".The Independent.Retrieved16 April2024.
  18. ^"Milosevic gives; Villa a touch of magic".The Independent.25 March 1996.Retrieved2 April2024.
  19. ^"Chelsea v Middlesbrough, 29 March 1998 - 11v11 match report".11v11.AFS Enterprises.Retrieved31 March2024.
  20. ^Lynch.The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes.p. 147.
  21. ^Lynch.The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes.p. 148.
  22. ^Lynch.The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes.p. 149.
  23. ^"Cunningham Player of the Year".independent.Retrieved14 May2022.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Aston Villacaptain
1995 – 1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Middlesbroughcaptain
1998 – 1999 		Succeeded by
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