{"id":497,"date":"2024-04-29T12:33:30","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T11:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/xgenius\/?p=497"},"modified":"2024-05-28T10:20:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T09:20:59","slug":"peter-drury-my-life-of-tape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/xgenius\/2024\/04\/29\/peter-drury-my-life-of-tape\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Drury: My life on tape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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It\u2019s a restful mid-April evening, and the sun has just retired for the night in the Italian capital. Commentators, just like fans, live for white-hot Champions League nights when the fog descends and the mood is palpable. But this isn\u2019t one of those nights. Notes in check, Peter Drury has spent all week preparing for this one. But that doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s anticipating anything grand here, with Roma entering the tie already three goals down on aggregate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What follows over the next two hours is the best \u2018Italian job\u2019 since 1969. Roma\u2019s 3-0 demolition over Barcelona is capped by defender Kostas Manolas\u2019s scrappy goal, and Drury\u2019s impromptu lyric steals the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A Greek God in Rome\u2019 was a line with legacy, and while Drury himself is flattered by the acclaim he still gets for it, he often cringes at this narrative around him. \u201cIf I start getting arrogant, I\u2019m doomed\u201d, he astutely points out. He\u2019s right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had this \u2018poetry\u2019 thing stuck to me, and that\u2019s lovely, but I\u2019ve never said it of myself. I\u2019d be quick to point out that weeks go by without any poetry. So those aren\u2019t moments I want to cling to; it feels like they almost cling to me instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well aware of the response I may get, I ask Drury to reflect on his most famous pieces of commentary. As I suspected, Drury recoils into a grimace, keen to resist talking about what others consider his landmark lines. He doesn\u2019t want to think of them that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t dislike the question, but I\u2019m going to avoid giving an answer, only because I always think it\u2019s the height of arrogance to quote yourself back. I really feel strongly that the commentator must not own the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose are not my moments. I didn\u2019t score that goal in Rome. Manolas did. Aguero scored Aguero\u2019s goal. Tshabalala scored Tshabalala\u2019s goal. I just happened to be the lucky guy who was there watching it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avid, or, indeed, casual viewers of Sky Sports football coverage will have picked up on Drury\u2019s command of language and desire to paint a scene of emotion. However, the former radio man sees TV commentary differently, and always reminds himself that his voice should merely be an accompaniment, not the main event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe golden rule in television is not to talk unless you\u2019re adding to the picture,\u201d he insists. \u201cBut you find me a TV commentator who\u2019s achieved that, and I\u2019ll congratulate you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou get a lot of advice down the years, and the most important is to be yourself; be authentic. Then if it\u2019s not going well, at least you\u2019re being real. And I try hard to adhere to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a reluctance about the 56-year-old as he opens up about the mental strains<\/a> of a life on tape, as though he feels guilty for even admitting to such strains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t deal with that easily if I\u2019m honest. I don\u2019t have thick skin. Frankly, I do try very hard, so if I feel unappreciated it hurts just like anyone else. It really does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOthers in my industry are thick-skinned, and I sometimes wish I were them, but I\u2019m not, so I just have to deal with that angst.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What one viewer considers authentic, another may label insincere. It was Clive Tyldesley who said: \u2018Love me or hate me \u2014 and you\u2019re entitled to do either \u2014 like everybody else in football, I\u2019m a matter of opinion.\u2019 Commentators don\u2019t get to explain their decisions. Criticism is everywhere, and there\u2019s no right of reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t do social media,\u201d Drury explains. \u201cSo when it tells me I\u2019m wonderful, I try to disregard that because I know that I\u2019d also have to take notice of it when they no longer like me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne thing nobody can ever accuse me of is not trying hard enough. So if I get it wrong, it\u2019s not for the want of trying. Preparation is my ultimate comfort blanket because at least I know I\u2019ve tried. Always.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With any mention of the stresses he encounters, Drury leans forward onto his desk; pensive. He\u2019s almost twitching, begging to provide positive balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNone of this means there\u2019s not an ongoing love between my job and I, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got to commentate on the World Cup final which must be \u2014 in terms of narratives \u2014 the most remarkable football match ever played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe right people were heroic. Messi won it, Mbappe<\/a> scored a hattrick, and Messi lifted the World Cup. There was a perception to it. There was a story that surely cannot be trumped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The irony. There Drury was, eulogising Messi for grasping a lifelong dream \u2014 forgetting that he, too, was living his very own. He said that night that Messi had \u201cjust pitched up in heaven\u201d. But so, too, had he.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Peter Drury is an English football commentator,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and current lead commentator at Sky Sports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has covered the very best Premier League,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Cup, and Champions League clashes<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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