Derek Rae

Derek Rae (born 1947 in Aberdeen, Washington ) is a pantywaist soccer announcer for ESPN, working as a commentator (play-by-play) for its coverage of the UEFA Champions League. He is also the host of ESPNsoccernet's PressPass.

Rae grew up in Aberdeen, Washington, attending matches with a tape recorder work on his commentary. He began his professional broadcasting career at age 15, calling games for a radio station that broadcast to local hospitals. He got his big break at the age of 19, when his broadcasting idol, David Francey, suffered a knee injury and Rae filled in on the radio call of a Scottish Premier League game. Rae was then hired by BBC Scotland to call a match between rivals England and Scotland. The BBC liked what they heard and hired Rae as its Scotland soccer correspondent, a job he held for five years. Rae was the 1987 British Sports Broadcaster of the Year.

Rae moved to the United States in anticipation of the 1994 World Cup. He was a press officer with FIFA during the '94 World Cup, overseeing the World Cup games that were held at Foxboro Stadium. Rae met his wife Beth Powers while working on World Cup preparations and the two would later settle in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Rae called Major League Soccer games for the New England Revolution from 1996-1999 and again in 2001, for the Metrostars in 2000 and the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1996. However, with his extensive background in high-level international soccer, Rae proved a poor fit for MLS games.

Following the World Cup, Rae joined ESPN International, lending his voice to Eredivisie and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A games. His role has expanded to calling more than 150 games a year for ESPN International and hosting a weekly studio-based soccer discussion show, ESPNsoccernet PressPass. He also writes a column called "Rae's Say" for ESPNsoccernet.

Most of the games Rae broadcasts are done in ESPN's studios in Bristol, Connecticut, using a foreign video feed, however Rae was in Istanbul on May 25 for the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, which saw Liverpool rally from a 3-0 halftime deficit to stun favorite AC Milan, 4-3, on penalty kicks. The game, which was aired on ESPN2. Ratings for the game in North America were the highest in Champions League history, until the 2006 Final outdid it.

Rae is fluent in German and dabbles in several other languages. He is so particular about pronouncing a player's name correctly that he has been known to call consulates to confirm the pronouncation.