TV3 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PANEL ANNOUNCED

TV3 GROUP NEWS RELEASE
IMMEDIATE: Thursday, 13th August 2009

TV3 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PANEL ANNOUNCED

Celtic v Arsenal Live on TV3

UEFA Champions League soccer returns to TV3 this month, with the play-off between Celtic and Arsenal as its first pick for the opening live match of the 2009/10 season.

Celtic and Arsenal go head to head at Celtic Park on August 18 in the first leg of the play-off round for a place in the lucrative group stage of the competition.

Former Arsenal player Martin Keown, who has made over 500 top level league appearances for Arsenal, Aston Villa and Everton and also played for England on forty three occasions, joins former Celtic and Ireland Star Tony Cascarino as a Studio Analyst, while the programme will also see Matt Cooper debut as the UEFA Champions League anchor following his success on Championship Live and the Rugby World Cup.

Commentary will be by Trevor Welch and former Liverpool great, Mark Lawrenson.

ENDS.

For further information:
Ciara Byrne
TV3 PRESS OFFICE
+353 1 419 3329
Ciara.byrne@tv3.ie
publicity@tv3.ie
www.tv3.ie

NOTES TO EDITOR:

Presenter:
Matt Cooper
Matt Cooper continues as TV3’s Live Sports Anchor having successfully hosted Championship Live and the Rugby World Cup for TV3 previously. Matt is also widely known for his regular day job is as presenter of The Last Word radio programme on Today FM each weekday between 4.30pm and 7pm. It was the top-rated programme in its time slot in 2009 and includes substantial sports sections on Monday and Friday that include extensive Champions League and Premier League coverage with his TV3 Colleagues Tony Cascarino and Mark Lawrenson. A former Newspaper Editor, Matt's interest in sport is extensive and he is looking forward to his first season of UEFA Champions League on TV3.

Analysts:
Tony Cascarino
Tony made his name as an 88 times capped Republic of Ireland International and with clubs such as Millwall, Aston Villa, Celtic and Chelsea. In the latter part of his career he was hugely successful in France where he played over 200 games with Marseilles and AS Nancy. Since retiring from Football he has established himself as an authoritive and outspoken Pundit working for a variety of Radio Stations, Newspapers and of course TV3. His autobiography written with Paul Kimmage was one of the most revealing books ever written by a Professional Footballer and he has since established himself as a Poker Player of some note also.

Martin Keown
Martin made over 500 top level league appearances for Arsenal, Aston Villa and Everton. He also played for England on forty three occasions and was in their World Cup Squads in 1998 and 2002. Tough and uncompromising on the field, he has since retiring garnered a reputation for considered and intelligent coverage of the game he played for two decades. This will be Martin’s first season working with TV3 and he will bring a vast knowledge of the game in England and the Continent to the role.

Co-Commentator:
Mark Lawrenson
Mark returns to the TV3 team for another season and this season will be our regular co-commentator. A regular contributor to The Last Word and the Irish Times, he is well known to Irish fans for his performances for the National team over a ten year period. His career was cruelly cut short by injury in 1988 resulting in him missing out on Euro ‘88 the team’s first finals tournament. As a player at Liverpool, Mark won five league titles and one European Cup.