Alan Green (born 25 June 1952) is a Northern Irish former sports commentator, mainly on

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

but also on

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, rowing and the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. Green was one of

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

's most senior football commentators and was a winner of a Sony Radio Academy Award for Sports Broadcaster of the Year. He is noted for his forthright style of football commentary and has been involved in several controversies and disputes with managers including

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

and Sam Allardyce. He also worked briefly in the MLS as Atlanta United play by play lead announcer for Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast.

Career

Alan Green was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, and attended

Methodist College Belfast Methodist College Belfast (MCB), locally known as Methody, is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in Belfast, located at the foot of the Malone Road, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1865 by the Methodist Church in Ireland and is one of e ...

. After gaining an honours degree in modern history from

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, he worked in local newspapers until he moved to the BBC in 1975 as a news trainee with the ambition of becoming a TV news producer. Green presented current affairs on both radio and television in Northern Ireland, before he moved to Manchester, joining BBC Radio's sport department. Green's first World Cup as a BBC commentator was in 1982, and in 1986 he made his debut covering the FA Cup Final as the junior commentary partner to Peter Jones. He returned to the Cup final in 1988, and following Jones' untimely death, he covered every FA Cup final from 1990 to 2016, missing only 2010 due to ill health. In 1989, Green was present at the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...

with Jones. In a 2009 radio programme marking the 20th anniversary of the disaster, he spoke of his bitterness that justice had been denied for the 96 people who died at Hillsborough. Green's forthright commentary style has often divided opinion among radio listeners. He has won the admiration of some listeners for his honest assessments of football games and for his uncompromising opinions. Green has disputed the notion that the English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

is the greatest in the world. In 2013, he wrote an article in which he said: "The Premier League I see week in, week out, isn't remotely as good as it thinks it is." In the article for the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its e ...

'', Green criticised what he called "woeful defending", "selfish, oafish behaviour" and "the underwhelming, overpaid footballers that populate the Premier League." In an interview with ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' in 2009, Green said of his career as a sports commentator: "Apart from one time in 1984, I've never applied for a television job." Green said that he told a

BSkyB Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), trading as Sky, is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers ...

executive, who had floated the idea of him moving from radio to the satellite channel, that he is too outspoken to work for Sky TV. The Sky executive implored Green to "always accentuate the positive". Green told him that his role as a commentator was "to tell the truth, not to act as a propagandist." Green debuted as a commentator on BBC 1's ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

'' on 13 September 2014, covering highlights of the

game between West Brom and Everton. He later covered

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Anfield. In July 2015, Green featured as the narrator on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

programme ''Lookalikes''. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for Atlanta United (MLS) for Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast for the inaugural 2017 season. His BBC 5 Live contract was not renewed following the 2019–20 football season.

Disputes with football managers

Green had a long-standing dispute with

''Their feud is such a central part of our football folklore that any game involving Green's commentary and Manchester United makes for compelling listening.'' following an incident in which Green said on air that he was "learning not to believe the propaganda that comes out of the Manchester United manager's office". Green felt that he had been deliberately misled by Ferguson giving him inaccurate team news the day before a match. In 2009, Green said of Ferguson: "He either bullies or frightens. It's the way he exerts his control over the media. He would be a fantastic propaganda minister. He knows how to manipulate and some of my colleagues take it in." In 2006, Green was banned from Bolton Wanderers'

Reebok Stadium The Toughsheet Community Stadium is a Association football, football stadium in Horwich near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers Football Club, with an all-seated capacity of 28, ...

after accusing manager Sam Allardyce of playing "ugly" football. Following Allardyce's departure to Newcastle United, the club invited Green back.The Bolton News, daily, Wanderers, Phil Gartside, Kelly, Reebok Stadium, tv, video, Bolton MP
In an article for '' The Belfast Telegraph'' in 2010, Green wrote: "Am I alone in thinking Sam Allardyce must be the most arrogant football manager that's ever lived?" In January 2013, Green criticised Allardyce's style of play at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, which he described as "hitting the ball long and high to a big man up front."

Other controversies

In 2004, Green was censured by

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

after he made a comment live on-air about Manchester United's

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba speaking

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...

English with the referee. Green said that Djemba-Djemba was saying "me no cheat" to the referee. A listener complained that it was inappropriate to suggest a black man was unable to speak grammatical English. Green had previously described

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

's Chinese defender Sun Jihai as wearing shirt "Number 17 – that'll be the Chicken Chow Mein, then" during a live radio broadcast. In 2005, Green had a dispute with Everton fans after he wrote an article in which he suggested that manager David Moyes, "instead of raising expectations after Everton's fourth-place finish the previous season, should suppress them." Green's article led to him receiving some death threats. In 2007, he commentated on a match between Everton and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

. Film star

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

was paraded on the pitch and Green joked about whether Stallone's limousine would still have wheels when he returned to it. This prompted an official complaint to the BBC by

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...

, upset at his stereotypical views about car crime in the city. Green is reported to have fallen out with a number of his broadcasting colleagues over the years. In 2009, he was reported to have had a rift with former fellow BBC broadcaster Mark Saggers, that surfaced in on-air exchanges. Saggers left the BBC to join rival

Talksport Talksport (styled as talkSPORT) is a sports radio station in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by News Broadcasting. Its content includes live coverage of sporting events, interviews with the leading names in sport and entertai ...

at the end of the 2008–09 English football season. In June 2016, Green stated that he would boycott the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia due to the "horrendous atmosphere" he had experienced on previous trips to Russia.

Personal life

Green lives in Somerford with his wife Brenda, whom he married on 29 March 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Alan BBC sports presenters and reporters British association football commentators Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Radio personalities from Northern Ireland Broadcasters from Belfast 1952 births Living people People educated at Methodist College Belfast Belfast Telegraph people