Alastair Brownlee (14 April 1959 – 14 February 2016) was an English radio broadcaster best known for his coverage of

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional association football club based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Nicknamed the Boro, they were fo ...

on BBC Tees from 1982 onwards. His connection to the club earned him the honorific "Voice of the Boro".

Early life

Brownlee was born on Byelands Street,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, close to the team's

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in the Ayresome area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It ...

ground. He attended school with comedian

Bob Mortimer Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, author, television presenter, writer and actor. He is one half of the comedy double act Reeves and Mortimer with Jim Moir, Vic Reeves, and appears in the ''Mortimer & Whitehouse ...

and worked in a bank before embarking on his media career.

Career

Brownlee covered over 1,000 matches for the team, and also presented BBC Tees' breakfast show. From 1995 to 2007, Brownlee and partner

Bernie Slaven Bernard Joseph Slaven (born 13 November 1960) is a former professional Association football, football Forward (association football), striker. He scored 223 goals in 567 league and cup appearances throughout an 18-year career and also earned sev ...

worked for commercial station

Century FM Century Radio was the brand name of a group of Independent Local Radio stations in England. The brand was developed with the launch of 100-102 Century Radio in North East England in 1994, with John Myers as managing director and John Simons as ...

(now

Heart North East Heart North East is a regional radio broadcasting, radio station owned and operated by Global Group, Global as part of the Heart (radio network), Heart network. It broadcasts to North East England. History Century Radio Century Radio was the ...

), before the rights to Middlesbrough's matches returned to the BBC. He owned the publishing house Linthorpe Publishing, writing and printing works on Middlesbrough F.C. with his friend Gordon Cox, with titles including ''The Road to Eindhoven'' and ''The Class of ’86''. Brownlee was a fundraiser for charities including

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

and the hospice Zoe's Place. He lived in

Linthorpe Linthorpe is a neighbourhood in Middlesbrough in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It borders the neighbourhoods of Acklam, Ayresome, Grove Hill, the town centre and Whinney Banks. History Deriving from 'Leofa's villa ...

, was married to Wendy, and had two daughters, Alison and Emily.

Illness and death

Brownlee was diagnosed with

bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

in November 2015, informing his listeners of his condition. He continued his coverage of ''Boro'' – then pushing for a return to the

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 ...

– until December. In Middlesbrough's

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

match against Everton at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since its opening in 1995. It has an all-seated capacity of 34,742, although provisional planning permission is in place to expan ...

, the fans put on a light show in solidarity with him, covered live by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

. He fought his disease for three months before his death at 56. He died at home surrounded by his family. He was survived by his wife and two daughters. Middlesbrough F.C. chairman Steve Gibson mourned a "true friend", praising his career and charity, while former manager

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

remembered his cheerful demeanour. Tributes also came from neighbouring clubs

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

alongside clubs from as far away as Everton and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. Brownlee's funeral cortege passed the Riverside and the site of Ayresome Park before a private service at St. Mary's Church in Acklam on 25 February.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownlee, Ali 1959 births 2016 deaths People from Middlesbrough BBC radio presenters Deaths from colorectal cancer in England Charity fundraisers (people) English sports broadcasters English book publishers (people) BBC sports presenters and reporters English association football commentators Heart (radio network) presenters 20th-century English philanthropists 20th-century English businesspeople