Tommy Smyth

Tommy Michael Smyth (pronounced Smith) (born in Knockbridge, County Louth, Republic of Ireland in 1933) is one of the most recognized soccer commentators in the USA . He is a color commentator for ESPN, which he joined in February 1993 as a football analyst. He provides co-commentary or in-studio analysis for most major soccer events. He also commentates on Gaelic games, horse racing, and harness racing for ESPN.

Smyth moved to the United States in 1963 following a brief football career with a local Scottish team. In America, he played with the Shamrock Club in the German American Soccer League.

Smyth was the voice of the MetroStars of Major League Soccer from the team's inception in 1996 to the early 2000s, when his ESPN contract prohibited him from working for the MSG Network.

Smyth's trademark is analysis adding color commentary to Derek Rae. Smyth is known for signing off when commentating as "Tommy Smyth... with a "Y" and for his description of a ball flying into the net when a goal is scored as "a bulge in the auld onion bag."

He currently commentates regularly for ESPN International covering matches weekly for La Liga, Serie A, International matches and the FA Cup and is one of the regular panelist on ESPNSoccernet PressPass which is hosted by Derek Rae. He also commentates matches from the UEFA Champions League which coverage is taken up by ESPN stations around the world including ESPN2 in the United States. In 2007 he joined ESPN's MLS broadcast team and has also done a few World Cups for ESPN, including the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he partnered with Adrian Healey. He commentates on the UEFA Highlight show on Thursdays and Fridays. Mr. Smyth will occasionally be a phone-in guest pundit mostly during the UEFA Champions League campaigns on the CSRN radio programme, The 2 G's, sharing his opinion regarding the upcoming matches.

During ESPN's coverage of Euro 2008, Smyth was relegated from game commentary to post-game analysis thanks to the arrival of commentator Andy Gray. The rationale for this demotion seems to be that Gray, having played the game at its highest level, has a firmer grasp on the nuances of a football match than Smyth does, who was never a professional player.

Tommy M. Smyth was the 2008 Grand Marshal of the 247th St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City. He is also the co-host for WNBC coverage of the New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade from 1998-Present.

His affections for the Gotham area were apparent on a June 12 episode of ESPN First Take, where Smyth stated that he was a New York Knicks fan.

External links

* [http://www.ainewoods.com Listen online a song about Tommy Smyth by Irish Country Artist Aine Woods.]
* [http://epltalk.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=206464 BME Talk Podcast interview]
* [http://www.revolutionrecap.com/archives/Revolution%20Recap%20(9-9-07).mp3 Revolution Recap radio interview]