Geoff Shreeves is the man credited with starting Gary Neville’s rise as one of Sky Sports’ top pundits.
Beginning his career with the broadcaster at the dawn of the Premier League, Shreeves was often seen as a touchline reporter and post-match interviewer. However, an unseen aspect of his role crucially involved scouting potential pundits among Premier League players.
Neville, who signed up with Sky Sports in 2011, quickly became a fan favourite, especially noted for his insightful commentary and analysis on Monday Night Football. Fast forward to the current day and views on the Manchester United legend can split opinion, but his broadcast career could have looked completely different if he had not been approached by Shreeves.
“Part of my role at Sky was to always be on the lookout for new talent,” Shreeves revealed in a chat on Ben Foster’s Fozcast. “It was always players. I mean, we stalked Niall Quinn for ages because, having heard him on the radio, he’s such a good speaker and he’s an intelligent guy.
“As soon as you hear somebody, your ears prick up and you think, ‘That guy, he’ll be a really good studio pundit’. You could always tell. Gary had already done TV, he was at ITV, but my bosses were editorial, former newspapermen, so I was kind of front of house. I contacted Gary and it basically went from there.”
Shreeves, whose time with Sky Sports ended last season, indeed played a vital role in introducing the modern generation of pundits. In his conversation with Ben Foster, Shreeves how his position as a matchday reporter helped him to convince former stars to join the punditry team.
“I did the same with Jamie Redknapp, I did the same with Alan Shearer when he came over to Sky as well. I get the credit for bringing them because I was the initial contact,” Shreeves added.
“When you and I didn’t know each other, you knew me. You’d have said, ‘That’s the little fat bloke from Sky’. You knew who the bloke from Sky was and that is your credibility in terms of the football world.
