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Derek Rae
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Derek Rae
Derek Rae (born 9 April 1967) is a Scottish association football commentator and presenter. He currently works for ESPN and ABC in the United States for the English-language coverage of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and La Liga and Deutsche Fußball Liga for the English-language world feed as well as the Premier League coverage on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. He has provided the English commentary for the FIFA/EA FC video game series alongside former Arsenal players Lee Dixon in 2020, and Stewart Robson, who also played for West Ham United, since 2021. He is also an ambassador for Berwick Rangers.
Rae grew up in Aberdeen, Scotland. During his youth, he attended football matches with a tape recorder to work on his commentary. At 15, he began his professional broadcasting career by commentating for Grampian Hospital Radio that broadcast to local Aberdeen hospitals. In 1986, BBC Radio Scotland announcer David Francey suffered a knee injury and Rae, a 19-year-old student at the University of Aberdeen who had sent the BBC a copy of his radio work, substituted for him on the commentary of a Scottish Premier Division game between Kilmarnock F.C. and Dumbarton F.C. The station was impressed and hired Rae to commentate on the Rous Cup match between rivals England and Scotland the following week. He remained with the BBC as its Scotland football correspondent, regularly commentating on Scottish Premier League and Scotland matches, a job he held for five years. Rae was the 1987 British Sports Broadcaster of the Year.
Rae moved to the United States in anticipation of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. FIFA hired him as a press officer and he oversaw the World Cup games that were held at Foxboro Stadium. Rae met his wife Beth Powers while working on World Cup preparations and the two would later settle in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Rae called Major League Soccer games for the New England Revolution from 1996 to 1999 and again in 2001, for the MetroStars in 2000 and the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1996.
After the World Cup, Rae joined ESPN International, where he called Eredivisie and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A games. His role later expanded to calling more than 150 games a year and hosting a weekly studio-based football discussion show, PressPass. He also writes a column called "Rae's Say" for ESPNsoccernet.
Rae is fluent in German and dabbles in several other languages. Rae has been known to call consulates to confirm that he has the correct pronunciation of a player's name.
From 2002 to 2009, he teamed up with Tommy Smyth as the lead broadcast team for the UEFA Champions League telecasts on ESPN2, including the final on-location. The duo also paired up for their coverage of UEFA Euro 2008 and 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup before they returned to provide alternate British English coverage on the Amazon Video broadcast of Thursday Night Football in the US since 2017.
In August 2009, Rae began splitting his time between the States and Scotland after being hired as lead play-by-play commentator for Scottish Premier League matches on ESPN UK.
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Derek Rae
Derek Rae (born 9 April 1967) is a Scottish association football commentator and presenter. He currently works for ESPN and ABC in the United States for the English-language coverage of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and La Liga and Deutsche Fußball Liga for the English-language world feed as well as the Premier League coverage on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. He has provided the English commentary for the FIFA/EA FC video game series alongside former Arsenal players Lee Dixon in 2020, and Stewart Robson, who also played for West Ham United, since 2021. He is also an ambassador for Berwick Rangers.
Rae grew up in Aberdeen, Scotland. During his youth, he attended football matches with a tape recorder to work on his commentary. At 15, he began his professional broadcasting career by commentating for Grampian Hospital Radio that broadcast to local Aberdeen hospitals. In 1986, BBC Radio Scotland announcer David Francey suffered a knee injury and Rae, a 19-year-old student at the University of Aberdeen who had sent the BBC a copy of his radio work, substituted for him on the commentary of a Scottish Premier Division game between Kilmarnock F.C. and Dumbarton F.C. The station was impressed and hired Rae to commentate on the Rous Cup match between rivals England and Scotland the following week. He remained with the BBC as its Scotland football correspondent, regularly commentating on Scottish Premier League and Scotland matches, a job he held for five years. Rae was the 1987 British Sports Broadcaster of the Year.
Rae moved to the United States in anticipation of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. FIFA hired him as a press officer and he oversaw the World Cup games that were held at Foxboro Stadium. Rae met his wife Beth Powers while working on World Cup preparations and the two would later settle in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Rae called Major League Soccer games for the New England Revolution from 1996 to 1999 and again in 2001, for the MetroStars in 2000 and the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1996.
After the World Cup, Rae joined ESPN International, where he called Eredivisie and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A games. His role later expanded to calling more than 150 games a year and hosting a weekly studio-based football discussion show, PressPass. He also writes a column called "Rae's Say" for ESPNsoccernet.
Rae is fluent in German and dabbles in several other languages. Rae has been known to call consulates to confirm that he has the correct pronunciation of a player's name.
From 2002 to 2009, he teamed up with Tommy Smyth as the lead broadcast team for the UEFA Champions League telecasts on ESPN2, including the final on-location. The duo also paired up for their coverage of UEFA Euro 2008 and 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup before they returned to provide alternate British English coverage on the Amazon Video broadcast of Thursday Night Football in the US since 2017.
In August 2009, Rae began splitting his time between the States and Scotland after being hired as lead play-by-play commentator for Scottish Premier League matches on ESPN UK.