Long standing supporters of Southern Cricket League presentation functions will be saddened to hear news of the passing of broadcaster, impressionist and after dinner speaker supreme Peter Brackley, aged 67.
Cutting his teeth on the dinner circuit in the mid-1980s, he first appeared solo, but on return visits to Southampton worked alongside long standing sporting colleagues Ian Darke, Gary Richardson and Mike Osman, forever having his audience rocking in the aisles with his sharp wit and brilliant impressions.
He will be remembered as having one of the most recognisable voices on radio and television. He did his media training at Highbury College in Cosham (Portsmouth) and before he became a household name in broadcasting worked as a red coat at Butlin’s Holiday Camp in Bognor Regis.
He was a hugely talented, knowledgeable, outrageously funny, his knowledge of soccer unsurpassed.
Peter Brackley began his career on the radio with BBC Radio Brighton in the 1970s, before making the switch to television and taking up a role with ITV, where he began covering some of the biggest football events, including the 1984 European Championships, the 1986 European Cup Final between Steaua Bucharest and Barcelona, along with the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals.
A lifelong Brighton & Hove Albion fan, he continued to work at the biggest football events after moving over to BSkyB in the late 1980s, and covered the 1990 FIFA World Cup for then BSkyB-owned channel Eurosport.
He then took arguably the role for which he is best known, when he began commentating on Channel 4’s brand new Football Italia show throughout the 1990s, working alongside the likes of the late Ray Wilkins, James Richardson and Luther Blissett.
The legendary broadcaster returned to ITV, which coincided with his work for Channel 4, and he featured at another four World Cups between 1994 and 2006, as well as the 1996 and 2000 European Championships.
Throughout the 1990s he featured on the Saint and Greavsie TV show and, a great impressionist, he often provided voice for the satirical current affairs show Spitting Image.
His last local ‘on stage’ appearances came at Mayflower Theatre in Southampton and the King’s Theatre, Southsea, where he wrote and produced shows on Saints and Pompey, which provided him with the platform to demonstrate both his acting and comic abilities on memorable evenings in front of many hundred soccer fans.
Soccer and broadcasting has lost one of its greats with the passing on Sunday of Peter Brackley.
* The Crease is indebted to Andy Naylor of the Brighton Argus in the preparation of this tribute.
Cutting his teeth on the dinner circuit in the mid-1980s, he first appeared solo, but on return visits to Southampton worked alongside long standing sporting colleagues Ian Darke, Gary Richardson and Mike Osman, forever having his audience rocking in the aisles with his sharp wit and brilliant impressions.
He will be remembered as having one of the most recognisable voices on radio and television. He did his media training at Highbury College in Cosham (Portsmouth) and before he became a household name in broadcasting worked as a red coat at Butlin’s Holiday Camp in Bognor Regis.
He was a hugely talented, knowledgeable, outrageously funny, his knowledge of soccer unsurpassed.
Peter Brackley began his career on the radio with BBC Radio Brighton in the 1970s, before making the switch to television and taking up a role with ITV, where he began covering some of the biggest football events, including the 1984 European Championships, the 1986 European Cup Final between Steaua Bucharest and Barcelona, along with the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals.
A lifelong Brighton & Hove Albion fan, he continued to work at the biggest football events after moving over to BSkyB in the late 1980s, and covered the 1990 FIFA World Cup for then BSkyB-owned channel Eurosport.
He then took arguably the role for which he is best known, when he began commentating on Channel 4’s brand new Football Italia show throughout the 1990s, working alongside the likes of the late Ray Wilkins, James Richardson and Luther Blissett.
The legendary broadcaster returned to ITV, which coincided with his work for Channel 4, and he featured at another four World Cups between 1994 and 2006, as well as the 1996 and 2000 European Championships.
Throughout the 1990s he featured on the Saint and Greavsie TV show and, a great impressionist, he often provided voice for the satirical current affairs show Spitting Image.
His last local ‘on stage’ appearances came at Mayflower Theatre in Southampton and the King’s Theatre, Southsea, where he wrote and produced shows on Saints and Pompey, which provided him with the platform to demonstrate both his acting and comic abilities on memorable evenings in front of many hundred soccer fans.
Soccer and broadcasting has lost one of its greats with the passing on Sunday of Peter Brackley.
* The Crease is indebted to Andy Naylor of the Brighton Argus in the preparation of this tribute.
