Man Utd were the hook for George Hamilton joining Premier Sports
MOVING ON: George Hamilton working for RTÉ during a 2022 World Cup qualifier between Republic of Ireland and Serbia.Picture: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Leaving the institution but not retiring – George Hamilton is making a football transfer he didn’t envisage.
Few players nowadays are one-club loyalists but the voice of Irish football lasted over 40 years at RTÉ until his contract wasn’t renewed this summer.
Anybody listening to the Belfast native commentating on World Cups, the Euros, Olympics, and Six Nations might have felt he was destined to emulate his peers by seeing out his career with the state broadcaster.
At 74, he’s entitled to the rest and time with his grandchildren but the appetite to continue lingers.
Once rival stations realised the national treasure was soon available on a Bosman, they pitched in.
A former colleague secured his rights after they’d secured rights to an expanded portfolio of Uefa competition rights.
Ryle Nugent worked with Hamilton for years as Head of RTÉ Sport before continuing his own journey elsewhere.
That’s as chief executive of Premier Sports Ireland, the station owned by Irishman Mickey O’Rourke. He’s also the majority shareholder since last November of Shelbourne FC, currently leading the League of Ireland title race under the management of Damien Duff.
“It was well known in the industry that his contract at RTÉ was up at the end of the Euro 2024 finals," said Nugent of their reunion.
“George and I spoke about a potential opportunity with Premier Sports. The hook was Manchester United participating in the Europa League, games we'll be televising live in Ireland. George agreed.
“Our arrangement is for the eight Manchester United games. We will review things at this stage and take it from there.
“George's standing and history with Irish audiences as a football commentator is unparalleled in this country - we’re delighted to launch our coverage with him.”
RTÉ director-general Kevin Backhurst paid tribute to Hamilton on Wednesday, thanking for "his remarkable service over the past 46 years which included an incredible 12 World Cups, 12 Euro Championships and 11 Olympics Games."
"An extraordinary career full of magic moments, George has been the voice of many iconic moments in Irish sports as we held our breaths with him and celebrated many highs and lows," Backhurst added.
"He connected with us all, commanded our attention and made us feel that we were there with him. And, of course, we can continue to enjoy George's company on RTÉ Lyric FM in The Hamilton Scores where he shares his love of music and travel. A special talent. We want to thank him and wish him well as he heads into his next chapter."
Hamilton confirmed the switch himself, noting how his prominence with RTÉ had diminished. He also questioned whether the national broadcaster sufficiently values experience.
“There’s an element of truth in that,” says Hamilton. “But it doesn’t apply everywhere.
“It’s dependent on who is in charge and what their philosophy is. There are some who value experience and others...
"My contract with RTÉ Sport has expired and my involvement with RTÉ now is with Lyric FM.
“I was in Germany for Euro 2024 and that was my last involvement for RTÉ Sport.
“My involvement hadn’t been as extensive as it once was, things had changed considerably at RTÉ Sport, and the time came to look around and see what else is there, and that’s what I’ve done.
“I didn’t want to stop doing commentary because I still enjoy it and think I have a contribution to make. I’m delighted that Premier Sports think so too.”
Renowned for his “six for one and half a dozen the other” phrase, there was to be no dozen landmark of Olympic Games on his CV. His trip to Paris for the recent showpiece was purely in a personal capacity, receiving a prestigious award from the International Sports Press Association. He’s surpassed the tally of 10 Games required to be honoured.
Still, football remains the sport he’s most associated with. “Danger here,” used to fret Irish fans compared to his timeless line of "the nation holds its breath" a second before the whistle sounded in Genoa. David O’Leary’s penalty set Ireland up for the 1990 World Cup quarter-final against hosts Italy.
World Cups have eluded Ireland’s men’s team for 22 years but he was also on the microphone for the women’s watershed, attaching the words to Amber Barrett rolling the ball into Hampden Park net in 2022 for Ireland to end their qualification famine.
“Generally, people stop me to talk football and what do I think of the current Irish team,” he told the Irish Independent.
“You want to be optimistic but it’s kind of hard to be optimistic because of the way the international game has developed. There are few enough opportunities for countries at our level to actually rise up, once the seeding goes down.”
Amidst the moneyball concept engulfing the game, he sees the domestic product as the outlier.
“I foresaw, not that it took any great foresight, that once the mega money came in, everything was going to go the way of American sport and it would become entertainment,” he observed.
“The League of Ireland has a renaissance going on at the moment and the view is that it’s because it’s more honest, it isn’t full of prima donnas, they’re actually people you can relate to, they haven’t got €300,000 a week, mansions here and there and six cars in the garage.”
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