When you’re watching the latest football game kick off, your eyes are pinned on the players. While you cheer on your favorite team, there’s a voice that helps add to the excitement of the game.
There are many commentators behind football, but Derek Rae is surely one we can consider iconic. BetZillion had the privilege to host an exclusive interview with Rae, so in this article, we’ll recap his career insights and opinion on how things are changing in the industry.
Derek Rae’s Career Highlights
“The first time I realised I was interested in football commentary was at age even in 1974!”
During Betzillion’s interview with Rae, he talked about where his interest in football commentary started. At age seven, Rae got a stereo cassette recorder. It was something new at the time and immediately caught Rae’s attention. He began recording his voice and playing it back. A starting point in football commentary for him was during the 1974 World Cup.
“My first major tournament as a commentator was the 1990 World Cup in Italy.”
When Derek Rae made a mark as the voice behind football in 1990, he continued to gain recognition in the years to come. He was the commentator at the 1994 FIFA World Cup games that were played at the Foxboro Stadium. The Derek Rae FIFA contributions were a great start for his career and allowed him to pursue more roles as a commentator.
He became part of ESPN International, commentary on the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A games. During his career with ESPN International, he delivered his voice for over 150 football games annually.
By 2002, Rae and Tommy Smyth became part of the UEFA Champions League, delivering their commentary on the ESPN2 channel.
Rae has also provided his iconic voice as a football caller for ESPN UK, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Europa League, Ligue 1, UEFA Euro 2012, and many other events. More recently, his voice helped drive the thrill of games played during the 2022 FIFA World Cup together with Aly Wagner. He also recently provided his commentary for the UK Premier League after Amazon Prime Video hired him along with several other commentators.
An achievement that Rae is really proud of is the fact that he got to commentate on Scotland at a major tournament.
Hasn’t quite hit me yet that my country is actually playing in a major tournament & I’m commentating on them. Other commentators from other countries almost take that for granted. Could never have imagined when I did my first 🏴 tournament in Italy in 1990, it would be this way.
— Derek Rae (@RaeComm) June 4, 2021
Evolution of Football Commentary
Football commentary is a career on its own and plays an important part in keeping things exciting. With football entering the video game market, Rae has also become a commentator for the FIFA franchise, created by EA Sports.
“Working on EAFC, as the game is now titled, has introduced my work to a whole new generation, I feel.”
Rae has now been working with the production team at EA (Electronic Arts) since 2018 and really enjoys this transition in his career.
We’ve recently seen the introduction of VAR systems powered by AI in the Premier League and several other areas of Football. Rebecca asked Rae to give us his opinion on the use of these technologies in live games, to which he commented:
“I was a big proponent of VAR at the start of its life and still feel it would be wrong not to use the technology when it exists.”
He is clear on the fact that he supports the use of VAR technology in football, but at the same time, he also stresses the fact that there can be fun in games where it’s not used.
“… there is something wonderful about the early rounds of the DFB-Pokal here in Germany with no VAR.”
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