Peter Drury has shared the fascinating story of how he started as a commentator – and revealed his passion for the job even stretched to commentating on his mum and dad doing daily tasks when he was a boy.
Drury, whose voice has become known around the world for his iconic commentary on World Cups, Champions League games and more, joined the Hayters TV Podcast to discuss how he got into the industry, his favourite moments as a commentator and much more.
It was confirmed earlier this month that he would be joining Sky Sports from the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season, and the former Hayters man spoke of how he always knew he wanted to be a commentator from an early age.
“Like kids always have since television and radio began, I pretended to be a commentator. Some would say I still do pretend to be a commentator!” he explained.
“Anything I saw, I kind of described.
“I had a view out of the bedroom window of the park opposite our house and my dad used to get up in the morning and have to walk through the park to go and buy his newspaper, then turn round and come back down the hill towards our house.
“When he was coming back down towards our house I could see him 200 yards away and it was like Coe and Ovett finishing the 1500m at the Olympics, seeing how quickly he’d reach it.
“I used to time it so I could say ‘and Drury finishes in three minutes 25 seconds’.
“So there you go, it’s been a bit of an obsession and an addiction.”
But despite his early passion for commentary, Drury also spoke of his struggle to get his first break – having decided to quit his job in accounting following university after just a month – before he was given a sports writing job by Hayters founder Reg Hayter.
“I left university in Hull and became a trainee accountant, which I survived for a month. I hated it,” he said.
“I resigned after a month and started going through the process of writing letters, applying for jobs that I had no chance of getting.
“I literally, by the side of my bed, had a pile of rejection letters. People bothered to reply which was nice!
“But I applied to one I saw in the UK Press Gazette saying football writers required, no experience. And that was me.
“I went in and met him, the great man, and months later once I was on the books, like we all used to, I crept into his office to see what he was saying about me.
“I saw his notes on me and all it said was Drury – good handshake, and that got me the job.”
