Martin Tyler, the legendary soccer announcer renowned for his thrilling commentary, recently revealed a personal health crisis that nearly cost him his iconic voice forever.
Legendary soccer announcer Martin Tyler reveals he almost lost his voice for good https://t.co/2hDkmZ0E8Q pic.twitter.com/6L8rXTN1gH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 17, 2024
Tyler, who stole millions of hearts worldwide with his powerful voice during Premier League matches, shared that he underwent two vital surgeries in London to repair his damaged vocal cords.
Tyler’s health issue was initially discovered during a tournament, unveiling an overgrowth of protein on his vocal cords.
This buildup was found to create lesions that inevitably hampered his voice. The cause behind it was attributed to overstraining his voice during the tournament and the dry, potentially harmful air in Qatar, where the matches were held.
Through both surgeries, medical professionals aimed to salvage Tyler’s voice, which involves delicate procedures due to the intricate nature of the vocal cords.
This ordeal was an unprecedented event in his illustrious career as a soccer announcer. Postoperative rehabilitation was an integral part of Tyler’s recovery process.
The soccer legend had to engage in rigorous speech therapy and treatments to regain the strength of his voice.
Here is the official release from BBC:
“It has given him a career that has lasted 50 years and been the soundtrack to some of the game’s most dramatic moments – remember “Agüeroooo!” when Manchester City won the Premier League title in 2012?
So when Tyler overused his voice at the 2022 World Cup finals, in Qatar, and doctors realised his vocal chords could have been permanently damaged, it was “frightening”.
But after two operations at St George’s Hospital, in south-west London, and a course of “amazing” speech therapy, the most recognisable voice in football is back – and on television again.
This is the first time the former Sky Sports commentator has talked about nearly losing his voice.”
Despite the daunting health issue, Tyler made a remarkable comeback. This season, he returned to the microphone, continuing his narration of syndicated Premier League matches.
He recently covered the Chelsea-Everton match.
“Since returning to the commentary box in October, with Premier League Productions, Tyler has completed 45 games, going from one a month to two in two days.
He says they stood by him when he wasn’t able to do his job and were happy to wait until he’d properly recovered.
It is late after Chelsea’s 6-0 win over Everton and Tyler is already thinking of how he will protect his voice when he gets home after commentating on the match.
He says he’ll drink lots of water and then do chanting number routines in the morning, before commentating on Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain’s Champions League game this evening.”
