Broadcasting: Sky Soccer analyst (1991-92). BBC TV Soccer analyst (1992-)

Awards & Qualifications: Runner-Up Football Writers Player of the year 1986 and 1990.
Anglo-Scot of the Year 1986

Until a knee injury ended his playing career in 1991 Alan Hansen was one of the most successful British soccer players of all time. He is the only person to have won all of the honours available at club level at least twice and captained the Liverpool side to historic double in 1986. A keen tactical understanding of the game has made him the face of Match of the Day BBC TV along with Gary Lineker. He also contributes a weekly newspaper column on soccer and is establishing a reputation as a motivational speaker. As well as playing golf (handicap of 3), his interests include tennis and the theatre.

He joined the BBC as a rugby commentator in 1972 and has covered almost every major match all over the world for the past 25 years. He was Rugby correspondent of the Sunday Times for three years between 1980 and 1983 but returned to the microphone to become BBC correspondent in 1983. He appears regularly on T.V as a member of the Rugby Special team with BBC 2 and still presents rugby previews and features for BBC 1.

Ian is a prolific writer and is author or co-author of 26 books including several best sellers with Gareth Edwards, Bill Beaumont and Andy Irvine. He also helped to write the official biography of the actor Richard Burton for Burtons younger brother, Graham, with the forward written by Elizabeth Taylor. This book was a best seller in over 20 countries.

In the summer he masquerades as an expert on horse racing for the BBC and he has had numerous shares in a succession of very slow horses lacking in any sort of ambition.

Having experimented with contact lenses, Taylor began to wear the large snooker glasses that were to become his trade mark in 1983. The following season, he collected his first title. The sudden death of his mother at the start of the season had caused him to pull out of the first tournament of the season, but he went on to claim an inspired and emotional victory in the Grand Prix, beating Cliff Thorburn in the final.

It was just a few months later that Taylor took the world title in extraordinary fashion. When Steve Davis took an 8-0 lead in the first session, it looked as it Taylor would have to settle for the runners-up spot again, but he fought back to trail just 9-7 overnight, and the contest eventually went right down to the wire. Few could believe the events of the final session although over 18 million were watching after midnight on BBC television as the contest reached its climax. Taylor claimed the title on the final black and became part of a snooker legend.

He continued to be a powerful force in snooker and reached the latter stages of many ranking events without winning another. He did, however, claim the 1987 B&H Masters title after a nailbiting final against Alex Higgins. Later on that year it was against Taylor that an 18-year-old Stephen Hendry claimed his first ranking title in the Grand Prix. Always an entertaining player, Taylor has always been widely sought after for his exhibition evenings when his combination of trick shots, humour and top-class snooker have made him popular with every audience. He is also part of the BBC television commentary team and is likely to remain involved in the game for a long time to come.