John McDonald (commentator)

John McDonald is an English sports commentator and MC. He is best known for his boxing and Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) commentary in the United Kingdom for various channels including ITV and Sky Sports. McDonald is a former British Army paratrooper.^[1][2]

John McDonald
Born	(1960-08-07) 7 August 1960 (age 63) London, United Kingdom

Life and career

McDonald was born in London, United Kingdom. He started his career as a paratrooper in the British Army. From 1982 and 1994, McDonald travelled around the world to report from important sports events. In 1994, he began working as an MC and commentator. McDonald has commentated on multiple Darts World Championship Games.^[3] Throughout his career, McDonald has commentated on Boxing, Snooker, Fishing, Poker, Tennis, Table-Tennis and Darts for Sky Sports and ITV both in the United Kingdom and abroad.^[4]

In 2023, McDonald made headlines after accidentally announcing the wrong name for a darts player in the World Darts Championship. Darts player Keegan Brown was announced as Boris Krcmar.^[5][6]

Parachute accident

McDonald once revealed a horrifying parachute accident when he worked as a paratrooper in the British Army. McDonald told the Darts Show Podcast; I started to kick out and I realised I couldn't lower the equipment and I was getting more and more tangled. I was literally feet from the ground at that point when someone went underneath me and stole the air from the parachute, it completely collapsed and then I fell about 70 foot, upside down, feet were still in the rigging lines. All the equipment is still on into the ground, I remember nothing. Woke up six weeks later in a military hospital, couldn't move a muscle, couldn't feel any part of my body apart from my face. ^[7]

References

1. Global Darts: John McDonald. GlobalDarts.De (02 February 2024). Retrieved on 03 February 2024.
2. Watch World Grand Prix MC John McDonald take us back stage ahead of the final session. North Wales Live (13 March 2016). Retrieved on 03 February 2024.
3. Sky Sports - The voice of reason. Sky Sports (6 January 2010). Retrieved on 03 February 2024.
4. Global Darts: - Sporting Career. GlobalDarts.De (01 February 2024). Retrieved on 03 February 2024.
5. MASTER OF World Darts Championship major blunder as MC calls player by wrong name in awkward walk-on. Express.co.uk (19 December 2023). Retrieved on 03 February 2024.
6. Sky Sports - When walk-ons go wrong! | MC calls out wrong player's name. Sky Sports (20 December 2023). Retrieved on 03 February 2024.
7. MASTER OF CEREMONIES JOHN MCDONALD RECALLS HORRIFYING PARACHUTE ACCIDENT: "IT COMPLETELY COLLAPSED AND THEN I FELL ABOUT 70 FOOT. dartsnews.com (02 November 2022). Retrieved on 03 February 2024.