Gerald Sinstadt, former and ITV commentator who was one of the world’s best known voices died last week. He appeared in a variety of programmes including The Voice Of America, Sky News and Match Of The Day during his career which spanned over five decades.
Gerald Sinstadt, a former and ITV commentator died aged 91. The cause of death was reported as being from natural causes.
In 1968, Gerald Sinstadt (second right) worked on a World Service program with Sir Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore.
Gerald Sinstadt, a former television analyst, died at the age of 91.
After beginning with Granada Television in the 1970s, Sinstadt’s work for the and ITV earned him one of football broadcasting’s most recognizable voices.
He covered four World Cups on ITV between 1970 and 1982, and then worked for the on Olympic Games.
Andrew Clement, who worked with Sinstadt at the for almost 30 years, described him as “a craftsman, a really skilled commentator, and simply a great guy.”
While racist chants from the stands were generally neglected by football commentators throughout the 1970s, Sinstadt was one of the first to call out the abuse during his coverage, such as during West Bromwich Albion’s 5-3 victory against Manchester United in 1978.
Denis Law’s backheel goal for Manchester City against United in 1974 and Liverpool’s European Cup quarter-final second-leg triumph over St Etienne in 1977 were among the many memorable games he covered during that time.
He also covered West Germany’s controversial 1982 World Cup semi-final triumph over France, as well as Diego Maradona’s goal in the 1994 World Cup, before to his expulsion from the tournament.
Sinstadt was a pitchside reporter on the day of the Hillsborough catastrophe in 1989, and he appears in Jimmy McGovern’s 1996 TV docu-drama on the event.
He also covered Sir Steve Redgrave, who won the first four of his five Olympic gold medals in rowing, as well as the Boat Race for the.
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Until his retirement, Sinstadt was a fixture on Football Focus, Match of the Day, and Final Score. He was often called upon to write and voice obituaries alongside Clement at the conclusion of his career.
Sport executive producer Clement stated, “He taught me a lot.” “He was a tremendous mentor to a lot of us when we first started out in television, and he was extremely giving with his time.”
“When it came to paying respect to some of the game’s greats in obituaries, he was a terrific writer.”
“His command of the English language was unparalleled, and he was a master at connecting words to images. He used to sit in on the editing process, which was unusual back then. If I made a shot for him, he’d make it come to life with a well-chosen word or picture. His works were handcrafted by him.”
Sinstadt, who was born in the Kent town of Folkestone, began his career in 1949 with the British Forces Broadcasting Service, when he met Barry Davies.
After they returned to the United Kingdom, Sinstadt assisted Davies in joining him at Radio, where the former worked in the 1950s and 1960s, and the two became two of the most well-known voices in sports broadcasting in the 1970s.
Sinstadt also worked for Channel 4 as a golf commentator and was the first person to host the long-running Trans World Sport show in 1987. He also created TV shows on his other great interest, opera, while he wasn’t doing sports.
After settling in the Potteries, Sinstadt continued to write a weekly column for the Stoke Sentinel until his retirement in 2019.
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