I Should Have Been at Work (Abridged‪)‬

One of the most sought-after celebrity titles of recent years, Des Lynam’s autobiography gives a frank and opinionated insight into the man behind the myth.

Famously guarded about his private life, Des sets the record straight on all the stories that have been written about him, giving a unique view of life at the very top of his career – the personalities, the feuds, tragedies and glory.

One of the most accomplished broadcasters of his generation, Des Lynam has graced our screens for more than thirty years.At the BBC, Des covered World Cups and European Championships; many Wimbledons; seven Olympic Games, including the Israeli shootings in Munich; travelling the world; and following his hero Muhammad Ali to fights in Zaire, Malaysia and the USA.

Here he tells of the highs and the lows, the programmes he turned down – and the ones he wished he had! He also offers a candid account of life behind the scenes at the BBC – and of his five years at ITV, his reasons for going there and why his decision was justified but in other ways disastrous. This is the real Des: honest, warm, funny and brilliant – the man a whole nation has taken to heart.

About the author

Des Lynam was born Ireland in 1942. He worked in insurance before he moved to London in the late 1960s, where he began his career in radio journalism, making the move to television and BBC’s Match of the Day in 1978. Since that time, Des Lynam has remained the face of British sports-broadcasting, and was voted top presenter of all time in a poll marking 60 years of BBC television.