RENOWNED football commentator and avid Albion fan Peter Brackley is best remembered as the voice of Channel 4’s much-loved coverage of Italian football in the 1990s.

Peter died on Sunday aged 67 after suffering a period of ill-health.

His sharp sense of humour and passion for football earned him respect and admiration from fellow broadcasters and footballers alike.

He was also described as talented, knowledgeable, funny and a man with a lovely character.

Peter was born in Brighton 1951 and started his career as a sports commentator at BBC Brighton in the early 1970s.

He also worked for ITV and Sky.

One of his career highlights was interviewing former footballer and Albion boss Brian Clough who went on to manage Nottingham Forest to back-to-back European Cup triumphs.

Peter then made the switch to television in 1982. He took up a role with ITV where he began covering some of the biggest football events.

This included two FA Cup finals and the European Cup final between Steaua Bucharest and Barcelona, as well as the 1986 World Cup finals.

Peter also presented two flagship programmes on Sport on Two and Sports Report.

In 1988, he left ITV to move to Sky Television. He led the commentary team at the 1990 World Cup, along with Ian Drake, Paul Dempsey and Gary Bloom.

When Sky merged with British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), Peter continued to be behind the mic for FA Cup matches and Italian football.

Peter is best known for commentating on Channel 4’s Football Italia show throughout the 1990s.

He worked with the likes of the late Ray Wilkins, James Richardson and Luther Blissett.

In 1992, Peter returned to ITV and he was featured in another four World Cups between 1994 and 2006, as well as the 1996 and 2000 European Championships.

Peter was also a regularly commentator on the network’s Champions League programmes.

He contributed frequently to highlights programmes on Central and Meridian Broadcasting in the South of England.

In 2000, Peter commentated on the League Final Cup between Leicester City and Tranmere Rovers.

Peter also worked on the FA Cup highlights show for ITV from 2008 to 2009.

The talented broadcaster was not just brilliant behind the microphone but he also received praise for voice acting.

In the 1990s he was featured on the Saint and Greavsie TV show and often provided voices for the satirical current affairs show Spitting Image.

Peter had a sharp sense of humour and many Albion fans will fondly recall the brilliant stage show he produced and presented – The Goldstone Days 20 Years On! at the Theatre Royal, alongside Guy Butters.

He had hoped to top even that with a follow-up show, though those plans were put on hold due to concerns over his health.

Peter also took his broadcasting skills to computer games.

He commentated for the popular football games series Pro Evolution Soccer, up until Pro Evolution Soccer 6.

Peter also enjoyed being in comedy shows. He had taken part in UK tours with comedian, radio presenter and impressionist Mike Osman. He took part in George Best and Rodney Marsh’s stage show.

Peter was a columnist for the Argus. He was a regular in the media lounge and West Stand at The Amex until his health worsened.

About ten days ago, Peter was joking with The Argus sport desk via email about being in a hospital ward with Crystal Palace fans as he made arrangements to watch the win over West Ham on television.

He was also apologising for not producing his weekly column for our pages.