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Derek Rae

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Derek Rae
Born(1967-04-09)9 April 1967(age 57)
Aberdeen,Scotland
EducationAberdeen University
OccupationFootballcommentator
Employer(s)ESPN(United States)
Deutsche Fußball Liga(Worldwide)
Amazon Prime Video(United Kingdom)

Derek Rae(born 9 April 1967[1]) is a Scottishassociation footballcommentator and presenter who currently works forESPNandABCin theUnited Statesfor the English-language coverages ofBundesliga,DFB Pokal,andLa LigaandDeutsche Fußball Ligafor the English-language world feed as well as thePremier Leaguecoverage onAmazon Prime Videoin theUK.He has provided the English commentary for theFIFA/EA FCvideo game series alongside former Arsenal playersLee Dixonin 2020 andStewart Robsonsince 2021. He is also an ambassador forBerwick Rangers.

Early life and education[edit]

Rae grew up inAberdeen,Scotland.[2]During his youth, he attended football matches with a tape recorder to work on his commentary. At the age of 15, he began his professional broadcasting career calling games for Grampian Hospital Radio that broadcasts to local Aberdeen hospitals. In 1986,BBC Radio ScotlandannouncerDavid Franceysuffered a knee injury and Rae, a 19-year-old student at theUniversity of Aberdeenwho had sent the BBC a copy of his radio work, substituted for him on the commentary of aScottish Premier Divisiongame betweenKilmarnock F.C.andDumbarton F.C.[3]The station was impressed and hired Rae to commentate on theRous Cupmatch betweenrivalsEnglandandScotlandthe following week.[4]He remained with the BBC as its Scotland football correspondent, regularly commentating on Scottish Premier League and Scotland matches, a job he held for five years. Rae was the 1987 British Sports Broadcaster of the Year.[5]

Career[edit]

Rae moved to the United States in anticipation of the1994 FIFA World Cup.FIFA hired him as a press officer and he oversaw the World Cup games that were held atFoxboro Stadium.Rae met his wife Beth Powers while working on World Cup preparations and the two would later settle inBeverly, Massachusetts.[5]

Rae calledMajor League Soccergames for theNew England Revolutionfrom 1996 to 1999 and again in 2001, for theMetroStarsin 2000 and theLos Angeles Galaxyin 1996.[5]

After the World Cup, Rae joinedESPN International,where he calledEredivisieandCampeonato Brasileiro Série Agames. His role later expanded to calling more than 150 games a year and hosting a weekly studio-based football discussion show,PressPass.[5]He also writes a column called "Rae's Say" for ESPNsoccernet.

Rae is fluent in German and dabbles in several other languages. Rae has been known to call consulates to confirm that he has the correct pronunciation of a player's name.[5]

From 2002 to 2009, he teamed up withTommy Smythas the lead broadcast team for theUEFA Champions Leaguetelecasts onESPN2,including the final on-location.[6][7]The duo also paired up for their coverage ofUEFA Euro 2008[8]and2009 FIFA Confederations Cup[9]before they returned to provide alternateBritish Englishcoverage on theAmazon Videobroadcast ofThursday Night Footballin the US since 2017.[10][11]

In August 2009, Rae began splitting his time between the States and Scotland after being hired as lead play-by-play commentator forScottish Premier Leaguematches onESPN UK.[12]

In June 2010, he was in South Africa to commentate on 12 matches at the2010 FIFA World Cupfinals for ESPN USA partnered byRobbie MustoeandAlly McCoist.[13]In the summer of 2010 it was announced that Rae would be making the move back to the UK to continue commentating on a wider basis for ESPN's London-based channel.

In July 2013, Rae was confirmed as one of the lead voices on the newBT Sportchannels. He commentated every week on theSPFLas well as theEuropa League,Bundesliga,andLigue 1.

Rae served as a match commentator for ESPN USA's coverage of theUEFA Euro 2012in Poland-Ukraine,[14]the2014 FIFA World Cupin Brazil, andUEFA Euro 2016in France.[15][16]

In 2017 he announced that he was to leaveBT Sportto return to the United States to work forESPN.[17][18]Rae also calls selected Premier League matches and has been a studio host forNBCSN.He will be calling Rugby Six nations games for them in 2018, having announced it on his Twitter feed on 29 January. In 2018, Rae became a commentator alongsideLee DixonforFIFA 19'sUEFA club tournamentpart of the game which can be found in Kick Off, tournaments and Career mode.[19]This partnership continued inFIFA 20with inclusion of him also commentating some 'default' games (kick off, tournament, career and Ultimate Team modes), as well as inFIFA 21.Since FIFA 22,Stewart Robsonjoined him for all broadcasts.[20][21]

Rae also worked as a commentator for the2018 FIFA World Cupand2022 FIFA World CupforFox Sportsin the U.S., pairing with lead women's color commentatorAly Wagner.[22][23]

Rae broadcast his first MLS game for Fox on 2 March 2019 with a match between theLA Galaxyand theChicago FireatDignity Health Sports Parkwith former MLS playerMaurice Edu.

He forged an on-air partnership in France with former US women's national team defenderDanielle Slatonduring the2019 FIFA Women's World Cupagain on Fox Sports.[24]They were commentators for many high-profile matches including most of the France and Netherlands matches & ending with the Netherlands-Sweden semi final on 3 July 2019.

He worked as one of the many commentators forAmazon Prime Video's UK Premier League coverage working alongsideSue Smith.In 2020, Rae was named as ESPN's leadBundesligacommentator as well as a contributor toESPN FC,a columnist on ESPN, while simultaneously doing the same for the world feed of theBundesliga,and a commentator for theEnglish-languageLa Ligacoverage on ESPN/ABC in theUnited States.

Television credits[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Boston Local Search – Boston Globe Archives".
  2. ^Legendary broadcaster and Aberdeen fan Derek Rae shares his favourite XI,Kieran Fleming, Aberdeen Live, 30 June 2022
  3. ^Webster, Jack (28 April 1986)."Three of a kind".The Glasgow Herald.Retrieved12 June2012.
  4. ^Broadfoot, Darryl (28 July 2009)."Rae ready to make another transatlantic crossing".The Herald.Retrieved12 June2012.
  5. ^abcdeGasper, Christopher L. (23 June 2005)."Great Scot: Rae on top of world".The Boston Globe.
  6. ^"ESPN Goes to Rome for 2009 UEFA Champions League Final".Sports Media News.21 May 2009.Retrieved30 June2023.
  7. ^Harris, Christopher (9 April 2013)."ESPN Deserves Praise For Excellent Champions League Coverage".World Soccer Talk.Retrieved30 June2023.
  8. ^Powell, Brian (28 May 2008)."Your ESPN/ABC Commentators For Euro 2008".Awful Announcing.Retrieved30 June2023.
  9. ^"ESPN and ESPN2 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Television Commentators".Sports Media News.11 June 2009.Retrieved30 June2023.
  10. ^"Amazon Prime Video Launches New Features for Thursday Night Football Allowing NFL Fans Around the Globe to Customize Their Streaming Experience".Press Center.25 September 2019.Retrieved30 June2023.
  11. ^Bupp, Phillip (29 September 2017)."Amazon's NFL UK broadcast team is brutally honest about Bears' performance on TNF".Awful Announcing.Retrieved30 June2023.
  12. ^Mahoney, Ridge (25 September 2009)."Backline: ESPN's Derek Rae blazes new trail".SoccerAmerica.Retrieved12 June2012.
  13. ^"ESPN Play-by-Play Announcers for 2010 FIFA World Cup".ESPN Press Room U.S.4 March 2010.Retrieved30 June2023.
  14. ^Yoder, Ryan (25 May 2012)."ESPN reveals announcers for Euro 2012 coverage".Awful Announcing.Retrieved30 June2023.
  15. ^"ESPN Play-by-Play Commentators for 2014 FIFA World Cup".ESPN.20 March 2014.Retrieved2 June2014.
  16. ^"Darke, Champion to call Euro games on site".ESPN.10 May 2016.Retrieved30 June2023.
  17. ^"Derek Rae to quit commentating on Scottish football".scotsman.Retrieved5 May2017.
  18. ^Harris, Christopher (4 May 2017)."Commentator Derek Rae announces return to United States".World Soccer Talk.Retrieved5 May2017.
  19. ^"FIFA 19 Champions League Features - EA SPORTS Official Site".EA SPORTS.Retrieved3 January2019.
  20. ^Bliss, Nathan; Hill, Sam (21 July 2021)."Alex Scott will feature in FIFA 22 as a Goal Commentator confirms EA".mirror.Retrieved30 June2023.
  21. ^White, Mark (30 September 2021)."Who are the FIFA 22 commentators? Alex Scott and Stewart Robson are new arrivals to the game".fourfourtwo.Retrieved30 June2023.
  22. ^Daniels, Tim."Fox Announces World Cup 2018 Announcers, Aly Wagner Will Be 1st Female Analyst".Bleacher Report.Retrieved30 June2023.
  23. ^Bucholtz, Andrew (4 October 2022)."Full Fox 2022 FIFA World Cup commentator roster revealed, with all commentary teams on site".Awful Announcing.Retrieved30 June2023.
  24. ^Hernández, Kristian (7 June 2019)."Behind the Mic: Fox Sports Flies Out Broadcast Teams for 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France".Sports Video Group.Retrieved30 June2023.
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