Legendary BBC presenter quietly bows out after almost 50 years of TV hosting

Daily Mirror

4 hours ago

BBC and ITV sports presenting icon Steve Ryder gave his last broadcast on Sunday as he presented the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park for ITV4
Sports presenter Steve Ryder has announced his retirement from broadcasting after an impressive 48-year career. The 75-year-old covered major sporting fixtures for both the BBC and ITV over the course of his time on the air.
On Sunday, the star was broadcasting from the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park in Cheshire when he revealed he would be hanging up his microphone. He was covering the event for ITV4 when he announced the news of his departure from the screen.
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A montage of clips was then shared showing drivers including Lando Norris, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jenson Button and David Coulthard all bidding farewell to the broadcaster. Over the years, he has hosted Sportsnight and Sports Personality of the Year, as well as the BBC's coverage of every Olympic Games between 1988 and 2004.
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He departed the BBC in 2005 and joined ITV where he presented coverage of Formula One, as well as the football and rugby World Cups. His final appearance proved to be a muted exit, but he has previously explained why he decided the time had come to quit.
He told the Daily Mail: "The biggest emotion as you get into the last two minutes of something like that is, 'For God's sake, don't c**k it up.'
"Because you'd be thinking about that for the next 20 years. I've probably outstayed my welcome. I've been hugely lucky with the places that the career has taken me. But it's close to 50 years now, so the cracks are showing."
Steve famously used to present Match of the Day and was left miffed when he was replaced by Gary Lineker as the main host - admitting he had cut the former footballer out of his life.
The beef began when Gary said in 2015 that he though the R&A as 'pompous' and accused them of feeling like 'superior beings'. This, in turn, provoked a furious reaction from Steve.
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He told the Golf Paper: "I hold Gary Lineker in the highest regard as a football presenter, but his reflections on his experiences as a golf presenter need a huge reality check. For four years, the R&A and most other observers knew that Gary was the wrong man in the wrong job. Hazel Irvine has just delivered once again at the Open presentation skills of the highest quality. Not many people can do that and Gary certainly came up short.
"Roger Mosey, the head of sport, knew Gary was a golf fanatic and was further encouraged by Gary apparently volunteering for the Masters vacancy within a few minutes of my exit from Television Centre.
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"But if Mosey thought long and hard before offering Gary the golf job, it's even more baffling. Match of the Day is scripted and rehearsed. Golf presentation, especially at Augusta, is seat of the pants, unpredictable and demanding."
Away from sport, Steve also won praise for being open about a battle against prostate cancer after he was diagnosed with the disease in October 2023.
He underwent emergency surgery which stopped the cancer from spreading. He previously told BBC Breakfast: "They took one look and said, 'We're going to operate in two weeks'.
"No messing around. We did Brands Hatch for ITV on the Sunday and I had the operation on the Thursday. So it slotted into the schedule quite nicely!"