talkSPORT Presenter Profiles
Meet the talkSPORT Presenters
Alan Brazil anchors talkSPORT’s award-winning Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show alongside Ronnie Irani from Monday to Friday between 6:00am-10:00am and Saturday between 8:00am-12:00pm.
The Glasgow-born footballer was described as one of the most exciting footballers in a career which was tragically cut short by injury. Earning a total of 13 caps for Scotland, Brazil played his club football for a number of teams but it was his time at Ipswich Town, under Sir Bobby Robson, where he played at his best. Alongside the likes of Paul Mariner and John Warke, Ipswich won the UEFA Cup in 1981 in addition to reaching the FA Cup Semi Final and finishing second in Division One behind Aston Villa.
Brazil also graced at field for Manchester United, Tottenham, Coventry and Queens Park Rangers, but at the age of 27, he was forced to retire from the game through a career-threatening back-injury. Following retirement, he began a career in radio broadcasting working as a co-commentator for BBC Radio Suffolk before moving in to television at Anglia TV in Norfolk, where he got his first exposure on television.
In the early 1990s, Brazil appeared on GMTV later to be invited to join Andy Gray in The Boot Room show on Sky Sports. This led to a role as co-commentator alongside Rob Hawthorne and Alan Parry on Sky Sports’ coverage of the Football League and League Cup. In 1999, Brazil joined Talk Radio to host his own evening show, It’s Just Like Watching Brazil. It was on this show that he forged his on-air partnership with Mike Parry.
A year later, Brazil was appointed as presenter of talkSPORT’s weekday Sports Breakfast programme and was partnered with Parry to form one of radio’s most entertaining duos. Their partnership, however, only last four years. Brazil was sacked by talkSPORT in 2004 after failing to turn up to present his show following a series of outside broadcasts at The Cheltenham Festival. This, however, led to the station receiving thousands of emails and letters demanding his reinstatement to The Sports Breakfast alongside Parry. Two weeks, in April, after being sacked, he was reunited with Parry to resume their partnership
Later that year, Parry was struck down with a life-threatening heart condition resulting in Graham Beecroft being appointed as Brazil’s new co-presenter. Audience figures continued to rise with a weekly audience of over one million people tuning to the show. Further praise was heaped on Brazil when, in December 2005, the show was awarded the title of The UK's Best Radio Show by industry magazine publication Campaign.
In September 2007, Brazil is partnered with former Essex CCC captain Ronnie Irani to co-present the talkSPORT’s Sports Breakfast and was also appointed as co-presenter of Matchday Live alongside Adrian Durham providing live coverage from the Premier League. He also released his autobiography: There's an Awful Lot of Bubbly in Brazil, which was co-written by Mike Parry detailing events in his life. |
