Ironically, Clive Tyldesley’s most iconic moment behind a mic came whilst commentating on the club he followed as a boy. Next time you hear his often repeated line “and Solskjaer’s won it!” screamed during the final seconds of the 1999 Champions League final, listen with the context that the commentator supported Manchester United as a youngster.
But today he admits to FourFourTwo, “I shouldn’t have done”. Not for reasons of impartiality, but because his next-door neighbour as a boy was the then Bury manager – and they probably really did need the support.
“My dad was a United fan,” recalls Tyldesley. “I think the first game I went to was in 1960. When I was 14 or 15, I started to go on the Stretford End, then I started to go home and away when Manchester United had a very average team, slipping into the Second Division. I think I missed only six, seven games that season. If you’d told me then that I would ever have an affection for any other club, we would have got into a very heated argument".
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