ICONIC Sky Sports broadcaster Geoff Shreeves has confirmed he will leave Sky Sports after 30 years at the channel.
The big-name reporter is to quit with immediate effect after SunSport exclusively revealed he was to become the latest victim of Sky’s cost-cutting efforts.
Shreeves was offered a contract renewal on reduced terms but has ultimately decided to depart the channel where he made his name as an interviewer and touchline reporter.
His 30 years with the broadcaster has seen him become a household-name among football fans – thanks to some iconic moments along the way.
From being told to “f**** off” by Fergie to clashing with Kenny Dalglish, here are his most notable moments in his role…
Breaking Ivanovic’s heart
Perhaps Shreeves’ most iconic moment came after Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final victory over Barcelona in 2012.
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Branislav Ivanovic had starred as part of Chelsea’s backs to the wall defensive performance – with the Blues down to 10 men for the majority of the game.
But Shreeves’ broke the Serb’s heart when he told him that a yellow card he received in the victory would see him ruled out of the final.
Shreeves told Ivanovic: “You know that means you’re out of the final now, unfortunately that means you don’t play in the final.”
It was clearly the first time Ivanovic had been told, and the crestfallen defender was barely able to utter the words “unfortunately” in response.
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Chelsea would go on to win the 2012 Champions League, with the suspended John Terry and Ivanovic infamously joining the team in full kit.
Rowing with Kenny Dalglish
As shown by his takedown of Ivanovic, Shreeves has never been afraid of a tough line of questioning.
And one of his most tense exchanges came when he rowed with Kenny Dalglish over Luis Suarez – which nearly saw the Scotsman storm out of the interview.
The interview came after Patrice Evra had refused to shake Luis Suarez’s hand before the game after Suarez had racially abused the Frenchman.
Shreeves pressed Dalglish on the fact that police and stewards were needed to separate the two teams in the dressing room post-game.
Dalglish sought to deflect from Shreeves’ line of questioning and said: “You know something, when we had our FA Cup tie because there was no 24 hour news channel in the build up to the game nothing like this happened.”
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Shreeves was clearly shocked by the suggestion Sky Sports had incited the incident and said: “So are you blaming the news channel? What are you saying?”
An angry Dalglish snapped back: “If you want to know what happened in there ask somebody else that was there because I wasn’t.”
Being told to f**** off by Fergie
Shreeves has said that him and Fergie generally enjoyed a “fantastic” relationship and it was common for Sir Alex to close out his interview with “Well done Geoff”.
But there was one point where the two’s relationship boiled over.
In an interview with the Times, Shreeves said his biggest run-in with any manager came when he asked Sir Alex whether Ronaldo had dived for a penalty against Middlesborough.
He said: “The biggest (run-in) was over Cristiano Ronaldo going over for a penalty against Middlesbrough and we had a huge falling out which threatened to get very out of hand in the tunnel.
“Fergie came after me physically, never got there. People jumped in.”
Shreeves stood his ground while repeatedly being told to “f**** off” by Fergie.
He said to Fergie: “Don’t talk to me like that. If you want to behave civilly, fine.
“We sorted it out very amicably, very quickly and it was never mentioned again.”
Being surrounded by Pep
Ahead of Covid shutting down the Premier League in 2020, Liverpool hosted Manchester City in a clash that would decide the fate of the title.
Pep Guardiola was livid after Liverpool scored a goal despite Trent Alexander-Arnold clearly appearing to handle the ball in the build up.
Shreeves told Sky Sports that Guardiola and his staff surrounded him and his Sky Sports crew and demanded to view why a penalty wasn’t given.
He said: “Pep Guardiola is livid,
“His entire backroom staff surrounded us at half-time to ask ‘Why wasn’t it given?’. To say they are unimpressed is an understatement.”
Liverpool would go on to win the game 3-1 and run away with the title by 18 points.
Virtual Shreeves
Shreeves became a name known to a global audience through his cameo appearances on the EA Sports FIFA game series.
Beginning with FIFA 13, Shreeves was on hand as a touchline reporter in the same way he does in real life.
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Fans of the game series became familiar with Geoff saying the line “He’s a tough cookie, he’ll carry on” seemingly no matter the severity of any injury.
Shreeves still features in the game 10 years later.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
