The real reason 'fuming' Des Lynam quit TV years ago and started a bizarre new job

With Euro 2024 finally getting under way on Friday, memories of tournaments past spring to mind. From Wales' triumphant run to the semi-finals and Van Basten's stunning volley to Gazza's 'dentist's chair' and Greece's shock win 20 years ago, there have been some truly iconic moments in the championships to date.

Of course, one of the most infamous lines from the tournament came from Des Lynam, who opened the BBC's coverage of England's Euro 96 semi-final against Germany with the words: "You've obviously heard there is a football match on tonight". The presenter had a unique knack for finding the perfect words on such occasions, with his opening to England's afternoon 1998 World Cup clash with Tunisia - "Shouldn't you be at work?" - also going down in sports broadcasting history.

But today, Lynam hasn't presented live sport in 20 years and, now 81, has an entirely different job altogether with his TV appearances sporadic having shied away from the spotlight in recent times.

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His broadcasting career had spanned more than 40 years, in which time he hosted TV coverage of many of the world's biggest sporting events including the World Cup, the Olympics and Wimbledon, while he also fronted iconic sports shows Match of the Day and Grandstand.

Even non-sports fans will likely remember Lynam best from his time on Match of the Day, which he presented for 11 years between 1988 and 1999. His witty, down-to-earth presenting style made him a fan favourite and he is associated with many of the show's most memorable moments.

However, after three decades at the BBC, Lynam made the surprise switch to rivals ITV in August 1999, agreeing a deal to present their live football coverage, including midweek Champions League games.

At the time, he said that he was seeking a "new challenge", with the BBC not having a portfolio of live football coverage at the time. He explained: "Leaving the BBC after 30 years was not an easy decision to make, but it was time for a new challenge and it's no secret that live football is what I love best."

There were suggestions that Lynam had grown frustrated with the BBC's late scheduling of Match of the Day, which had sometimes started at 10.50pm on Saturday evenings. A month before he announced his departure from the show, he told a newspaper: "The moment you put it past 10.30pm, I start fuming."

However, ahead of Euro 2024, he told the Irish Independent the real reason he quit was ITV had offered him significantly more money to work for them.

“I was very happy to do Match of the Day, and would have gone on doing it," he explained. "Only ITV came to me with a bucket-load of money! I couldn’t turn it down, it would have been stupid. It was a hell of a lot more than the BBC were paying, for a lot less work.

"At the time, obviously, I didn’t say I was leaving for the money, I just said I wanted a new challenge - and that new challenge was to bank some more money!”

But in 2005, a year after he retired from presenting live sport altogether, Lynam admitted that he regretted his decision to make the switch to ITV. "If it was a decision I had to make now I probably wouldn't do it," he said. "Some people said I went from being a great broadcaster, or at least a very acceptably good one, to being a somewhat inadequate one overnight."

After quitting live sport coverage, he worked predominantly in radio but took over the reins of Countdown in 2005 following the death of Richard Whitely. However, he left the show after less than 18 months, having needed to travel regularly to Leeds to record the show, 250 miles away from his home in West Sussex.

Lynam, who has been married to his wife Rosemary since 2011 and has a son with his ex-wife Susan, now has a completely new job, having made his latest forays into publishing by writing two children's books about animals. The Now Who's Talking? series features imagined conversations between a vast range of animals, with the likes of crocodiles, magpies and spiders discussing all manners of topics.

Explaining how he got the idea from watching two magpies in the garden one day, he said: "On this particular day, they seemed not to be talking. They were ignoring each other. So my imagination went on to them having a row.

"I wrote it out in human words, and that’s how it started," he added. "I wrote a couple more of these little stories for local magazines, and eventually the publisher picked it up. They thought it’d make a couple of nice little books.”