Nationality British Name Dan Walker Height 1.98 m | Occupation Television presenter Role Television presenter Spouse Sarah Walker | |
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Full Name Daniel Geoff Walker Born 19 March 1977 (age 47) ( 1977-03-19 ) Crawley, Sussex Books Sport and Sundays: Christian BBC Presenter Dan Walker Tells His Story Profiles | ||
Daniel Geoff "Dan" Walker (born 19 March 1977) is an English sports television and radio presenter. He is the current presenter of Football Focus, the BBC's Saturday lunchtime football show, and hosts Afternoon Edition on BBC Radio 5 Live. He has also presented sport on the BBC News Channel and BBC Network News, as well as regularly reporting for Final Score, Football Focus and Match of the Day. He is also a regular presenter on the religious programme Songs Of Praise.
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He was born in Crawley, West Sussex and earned an honours degree in History at the University of Sheffield, before continuing to attain an MA in Journalism at the same institution.
Radio career
Walker's professional broadcasting career started with work experience at Sheffield's Hallam FM. He gained the work experience after winning a competition for young sports commentators. In 1999, Walker moved to a full-time career with a 4-year stint as a sports presenter and commentator for Manchester's Key 103 radio. In his time at the station he presented the regular midweek sports show (often broadcasting from UEFA Champions League matches at Manchester United's Old Trafford ground) and also appeared as the resident sports correspondent for Mike Toolan's breakfast show.
Television career
Walker moved into TV with a six-month spell at Granada Television in Manchester, appearing as a commentator on the Football League Review show, before joining BBC regional news programme North West Tonight. During this time, he was nominated for a number of awards and won the Royal Television Society Sports Award in 2005 for Regional Sports Presenter of the Year. He was unable to attend the ceremony because he was covering the Champions League final in Istanbul.
In 2006, Walker started working in London and in 2008 started presenting and reporting at Wimbledon, The Open, Aintree, Ascot and The Derby at Epsom as well as the 6 Nations.
In August 2009, Walker took over from Manish Bhasin as the presenter of Football Focus. Walker also presents the web-based Friday preview Friday Focus and writes a blog on the BBC website where he discusses the show and football in general.
Walker was part of the BBC Sport team covering the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He spent the tournament travelling from Cape Town at the start of the tournament to Johannesburg for the final in a double-decker bus, filming packages to be shown both as part of the TV coverage and online, and providing commentary and news via the BBC's online channels and Twitter. The bus visited a diverse selection of places along its 6,000 km journey – from townships and social projects to sites of cultural and historic significance, with the intention being to provide UK viewers with a flavour of the host nation both inside and out of the stadia.
On Saturday 26 November 2011, Gary Speed appeared as a guest on Football Focus with Walker. The two men spent a total of about four hours with each other on the day. Walker said of Speed: "I always found him to be kind, funny, intelligent and insightful. I found him to be a top bloke and really enjoyed his company." The following morning on Sunday 27 November 2011, Walker received the news that Speed had died at his house in Cheshire. Walker said that he was "stunned" by Speed's death and that he was "incredibly saddened". He had known Speed for quite a long time and had played football with him in a charity match two months earlier.
In March 2012, Walker said that he was "staggered by the depth of feeling and shock" on the Sunday when Speed's death was announced.
In addition to Walker's TV work, he presents Afternoon Edition every Monday-Thursday on BBC Radio 5 Live and has previously hosted shows on the station's evening sports output.
Personal life
Walker is the son of a Baptist preacher, and his own Christian faith developed in his youth and early adulthood. He has never worked or played sport on Sundays as a result.
He lived in Crawley until the age of 18, where he attended Ifield Primary School, Three Bridges Middle School and Hazelwick Secondary School. He supports Crawley Town FC.
He has been married since 2001 and has three children.
He is a patron of The Children's Hospital Charity in Sheffield. He established his own production company Enormous Pig Ltd.