David Andrew Oates (1962 – 3 February 2013) was a British sports commentator for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. A BBC journalist for more than 25 years, he provided regular commentary and reporting on

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Biography

Oates was born in 1962. He covered three football

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s, three

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by senior men's national teams who each represent member nations of the International Rugby League who run and administer the tournament. The tournament has be ...

s and two

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

for the BBC, and provided commentary for the BBC's coverage of the shooting events at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He was also commentating for BBC Radio 5 when

Fabrice Muamba Fabrice Ndala Muamba (born 6 April 1988) is a Congolese-born English former professional footballer who played for Arsenal, Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers as a central midfielder. Born in Zaire, Muamba moved to England at the age of 11 a ...

collapsed on the pitch during a game and was praised for the professional way he approached the situation. He was a keen

Blackpool F.C. Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, the ...

supporter. He also took part in several London marathons. Oates died in London after a short illness on 3 February 2013, at the age of 50. He was survived by his wife, Charlotte, a

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

producer, and their two children, Imogen and Kate. To show respect Blackpool F.C produced a two-page memorial in the match magazine when they played Millwall on 9 February 2013, also made a Blackpool F.C. shirt with Oates on the back as well as the number 62, the year in which he was born.

References

1962 births 2013 deaths BBC sports presenters and reporters British association football commentators People educated at Arnold School People from Blackpool {{UK-radio-bio-stub