Jonathan Legard (born 7 July 1961 in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

), is a sports journalist, best known as the lead 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 ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

TV coverage in 2009 and 2010. Legard has been the BBC's motor racing and football correspondent as well as commentating regularly on Formula One races for

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 ...

from 1997 to 2004. On 24 November 2008, he was confirmed as the lead commentator for the BBC's Formula One coverage in 2009. On 11 January 2011, the BBC announced changes in the F1 commentary team. On Twitter, Legard confirmed to British F1 fans that he would not be commentating on BBC F1 coverage during the forthcoming season. On 19 January 2011 Legard became a sports presenter on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''Today'' programme. In February 2011 Legard began commentating on football in BBC's

The Football League Show ''The Football League Show'' is a BBC One football television show, primarily hosted by Manish Bhasin. It features match highlights from the Championship, League One and League Two. It began on 8 August 2009, at 11:45 pm and immediately f ...

. He has served as the Olympic Broadcasting Services English-language commentator for

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

since 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 ...

Career

*1987–1990:

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside, North and West Cheshire and West Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, t ...

*1990–1997:

*1997–2004: Motor racing correspondent for BBC Radio 5 Live *2004–2008: Football correspondent for BBC Radio 5 Live *2009–2010: Formula One commentator for BBC Television *2011–: Sports correspondent for BBC Radio 4's

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

programme and Football correspondent for BBC Radio 5 Live *2011–: Sports news presenter

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

and

BBC World News BBC News is an international English-language pay television channel owned by BBC Global News Ltd. – a subsidiary of BBC Studios – and operated by the BBC News division of the BBC. The network carries news bulletins, documentaries, an ...

*2011–2015: Commentator on BBC One's ''

'' *2012–: Relief Formula One commentator for BBC *2012: Volleyball commentator for BBC at the 2012 Summer Olympics *2013: DTM highlights commentator for

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV plc. The channel focuses primarily on general entertainment programming targeting a male audience, including action series and films, ...

*2014–: Red Bull Air Race *2016: Rio Olympics commentator

Personal life

Although born in

, Legard grew up in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

after moving there in 1966. He attended the Firs School before continuing his education at a private school in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

. Legard is a lifelong fan of Chester City F.C. who until 2010 played their football in the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

. Legard is married and has three children and lives in

Acton, London Acton () is a town in West London, England, within the London Borough of Ealing. It is west of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, its four Wards of the United Kingdom, wards, East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton ...

References

External links

*
BBC ProfileBBC announces Formula One presentation teamBBC's Formula 1 team
1961 births Living people Motorsport announcers Formula One journalists and reporters British sports broadcasters Journalists from Cardiff Jonathan People from Chester {{F1-stub