Dickie Davies, the television personality who fronted ITV’s sports coverage for over twenty years, has died at the age of 94.
He hosted the program World of Sport every Saturday afternoon during the 1960s until it ended in 1985.
Richard John Davies was born in Wallasey on 30 April 1928. After passing his eleven-plus, Davies enrolled at Oldershaw Grammar School in Wallasey. Following his education, he completed his National Service with the Royal Air Force before working as a purser on the ocean liners RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth.
Initially starting his broadcasting career as an announcer for Southern Television, Richard Davies adopted the name Dickie Davies at the recommendation of his colleague Jimmy Hill while working for ITV Sport.
He began his tenure as an understudy to Eamonn Andrews on ITV’s World Of Sport, which was initially called Wide World of Sports, in 1965. Davies took over as the presenter in 1968 after Andrews left the program.
After World of Sport ended in 1985, Davies remained with ITV and continued to present boxing, darts, and snooker. He also contributed to their coverage of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. However, Davies left ITV Sport in August 1989.
Following his departure from ITV, Davies became a part of the original version of Eurosport, which was owned by Sky at the time, as well as the European Broadcasting Union. He hosted their snooker coverage, which included the one-off event Mita World Masters in 1991. Additionally, he served as Classic FM’s inaugural sports editor and presented sports news from his home during the station’s early days.
In 1995, Davies suffered a stroke, which led him to leave his role at Classic FM. Although he made a good recovery, it took him a year or two before his speech returned to normal. During the late 1990s, he hosted a show titled Dickie Davies’ Sporting Heroes.
Davies is mentioned in the song “Dickie Davies Eyes” by Birkenhead band, Half Man Half Biscuit.
Image: Dickie Davies. Credit: Hrse12 CC BY-SA 4.0
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