Tony Gubba

David Anthony Gubba (23 September 1943 – 11 March 2013) acted as stand-in presenter on Grandstand and the occasional return to Sportsnight, live international football matches and FA Cup matches. This was the era when John Motson and Barry Davies were the BBC's senior commentators so Gubba rarely got to commentate on games at the highest level, but notable matches he covered were the 1986 World Cup semi-final between France and West Germany, the 1992 Olympic Final, and the 1996 Charity Shield.

He also commentated on ice-skating, hockey, table tennis, bobsleigh, ski jumping, speed skating, cycling, rowing, judo, golf and tennis and was the main presenter of the BBC's coverage of the World Darts Championship from 1984 to 1990 and the 1987 Cricket World Cup.

Gubba spent 40 seasons as a football commentator, overtaking Barry Davies as the third-longest serving football commentator on British television after John Motson and Gerald Sinstadt. He listed witnessing the debuts of George Best for Manchester United and Michael Owen for Liverpool as highlights of his career.

He also provided commentaries for football video games: the PC version for FIFA International Soccer and the Nintendo 64 game International Superstar Soccer 98.

ITV Gubba commentated on eight series of ITV's Dancing on Ice from 2006 to 2013. He provided a round-up of the performances and trivia about the celebrities and their skating partners. His last Dancing on Ice commentary was heard on 17 February 2013. The BBC's head of TV Sport, Philip Bernie, said of him: "For a generation he was one of the most familiar and respected names in sports broadcasting. Tony was an outstanding sports journalist and a formidable broadcaster, whose death will sadden everyone at BBC Sport."