By Elliott West
“On a matchday, I’d literally do whatever was needed, whether it was on the car-park, the turnstiles, selling the programmes”.
Phil Seymour
Introduction
Phil Seymour has become a household name in sport in fields such as darts, boxing, pool, snooker and wrestling as a Master of Ceremonies. A proud Yorkshireman, this broadcaster and event host, can often be seen as sporting events centre stage, holding a microphone, using his vast knowledge of statistics and vocabulary to welcome the players onto the stage. Regarded as a “safe pair of hands” in the profession, Seymour has a natural talent to be able to make sportspersons feel at ease in his company and manages to reveal the true side of their gifted craft when he interviews them pre and post-event. Dedicated to his profession, Phil works for multiple television and radio stations, plying his trade through audible excellence.
The Road to Success
Starting his career at York City Knights Rugby League Club, Phil found his feet as a stadium announcer, dipping his toe into a world where you are surrounded by a swathe of audience and left to your own devices, having to produce punchy dialogue and language that will enthuse the crowd assembled. Recognition soon followed and Seymour was able to move on BBC Radio York after several years of vital schooling working at the rugby league club.
Doing some work for BBC Radio York, Seymour continued to develop his Curriculum Vitae by being an expert summariser for their rugby league commentary, Phil was soon snapped up, recruited in 2009 by Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in rugby’s Superleague to add to their matchday experience. So loved and cherished by the club, Seymour still returns to the Wakefield site to this day, working his magic in front of thousands of fans for their home games. In his time at the club, Phil has also hosted various events including shirt launches and question and answer evenings.
Granted his Master of Ceremonies license by the British Board of Boxing Control in April 2009, Seymour was able to now work at sanctioned shows. Building on this stable foundation, Seymour has secured bookings and repeat bookings from a number of boxing promoters, announcing boxers in a whole range of experience, from debutants to world professionals. Working for a number of leading lights in the sport including Eddie Hearn, Frank Maloney and Dennis Hobson, Phil went on in May 2013, to have the honour of welcoming Jamie McDonnell and Julio Ceja into the boxing ring at the Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster to contest the IBF Bantamweight Championship of the World.
In March 2014, Seymour began working for Radio Yorkshire, presenting a radio show, entitled ‘Terrance Talk’, building on his airwaves’ experience of earlier work in student radio and his summary analysis on rugby league for BBC local radio.
Using this vital groundwork to his full advantage, Phil has moved on in leaps and bounds, hosting live darts events on ITV to Pool tournaments, pre-recorded for Sky Sports. He has also been lucky enough to have been invited to a number of high profile events such as ‘Question and Answer’ evenings, sportsmans’ dinners and charity valentines balls, tasked with the duties of carrying out raffles, auctions, interviews and introductions. A critical player in such events, Seymour is the cog in the works that makes sure that each function runs smoothly and to plan.
Phil Seymour has also been a firm in snooker in recent years, following in the footsteps of Rob Walker, working for ITV and Eurosport. Providing vital pre-match assistance from warming up the audience and announcing the players to the table to conducting detailed and in-depth interviews with the players in the grips of victory or defeat. Often gripping, these interviews add to the suspense and drama of the sport, regularly viewed by snooker enthusiasts across the globe on World Snooker’s online portals and various social media platforms.
Summary
Phil Seymour has a vast amount of experience in his career field and continues to go from strength to strength. Much loved by those inside and outside his profession, Phil provides audible excellence to any event that he has the opportunity to be presented with a microphone at. His portfolio speaks for itself, having interviewed countless sportsmen, celebrities, Hollywood actors and even a World Cup final referee. Phil provides a breath of fresh air to anything he turns his hand to, using volume, carefully researched data and connectivity with his audience, to provide a memorable evening of sporting entertainment.
