Mark Pougatch: As Adrian Chiles leaves ITV, who is his replacement?
A look at the man that will become the new face of football on ITV Sport
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Who is the man tasked with replacing Adrian Chiles as ITV’s lead football host? Meet Mark Pougatch, a 46-year-old from London that cut his teeth in the broadcasting world. Pougatch has made a name for himself calling the shots on BBC Radio 5 Live, but now he must step up and become the main man on ITV.
So what do we know about Pougatch? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot.
Pougatch began his career in radio with BBC GLR, which is now known as BBC London 94.9. Working in sports and news, Pougatch learnt his trade that would pave the way for a career in calling the breaking stories as they happened. At the same time, he also worked for LBC as a sports reporter.
He graduated from the University of Durham having studied politics, and later would complete a Postgraduate Diploma in Radio Journalism at the London College of Printing, London Institute.
A radio and TV presenter? Not bad, but Pougatch doesn’t stop there. He has also written books, including the 2010 release Three Lions Versus the World: England's World Cup Stories from the Men Who Were There, which recapped anecdotes of England’s World Cup campaigns from 1950 through to 2006 – although the reading may make disappointing material bar 1966 given England’s lack of pedigree at the top.
Pougatch hasn’t just covered football, either. He’s covered events in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, matches at Wimbledon, boxing fights and cricket matches around the world.
In 2012, he had the honour of being named the Sports Journalist’ Association award for Sports Broadcaster of the Year, so we can safely assume he’s good at his job.
However, he is likely to offer a more serious, detailed product that Chiles delivered, and it remains to be seen whether that’s what the public want, given they often need cheering up after watching an England performance.
Pougatch will make his ITV debut next month when the Champions League resumes and Chelsea take on Paris St-Germain on 17 February, giving him just three-and-a-half weeks to prepare.
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