Radio Banyard began his broadcasting career in 1985 as a part-time sports reporter at
GWR FM in
Bristol before becoming sports editor at
Invicta Radio in
Kent in 1988. He moved to
Hallam FM in
Sheffield in 1991, and in 1999, he was named the top Sports Broadcaster at the North East of England Press and Broadcast awards.
Television Banyard moved into television in 1999, initially working as a freelance reporter for
Sky Sports News before establishing himself as a lead commentator on the world television feed of the
English Premier League. This is the broadcast produced by
Premier League Productions at
IMG Media in
London, distributed to more than 600 million people in over 200 countries worldwide. He was part of the commentary team at the first
FIFA World Cup produced by Host Broadcast Services in 2002, going on to work at further international tournaments including the
FIFA World Cup,
FIFA U-20 World Cup,
FIFA U-17 World Cup,
FIFA Confederations Cup,
FIFA Women's World Cup and the
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. He was a lead
commentator at the
Olympic Games at
London 2012 and also presented
FIFA Futbol Mundial and the magazine programme of the
UEFA Champions League. He has commentated several times on the world television feed of the
UEFA European Championship, most recently at
UEFA Euro 2020.
Music Banyard is also a published
songwriter. In 2010, he wrote and produced a
football anthem for the
England national football team called "Let's Hear It England" under the artist name 'Commentators United'. It was published by
The Prince's Trust. The song features lines from well-known
commentators including
Martin Tyler,
Clive Tyldesley,
Guy Mowbray,
Ian Darke,
Jon Champion,
Rob Hawthorne,
Steve Wilson,
Peter Drury,
Simon Brotherton and the late
Peter Brackley. The singing was done by the Cotswold Male Voice Choir. Banyard himself was a member of the choir for 5 years. In 2011, Banyard performed one of his songs in public for the first time. He accompanied soloist Martin Dear on the piano in a performance of "No One Else" at
Cheltenham Town Hall with the Bach String Ensemble Japan. The concert was compered by well known actor
Brian Blessed. He had 3 further songs published in 2015. Then in 2018, he re-recorded and released "Let's Hear It England" under the artist name "The DC Klub". The commentary lines were swapped around, with lead vocals performed this time by teenagers from
Dean Close School in Cheltenham with backing from the Cotswold Male Voice Choir. The video features rare archive footage of
England's FIFA World Cup winning team of 1966 including
Sir Alf Ramsey,
Bobby Moore and
Sir Bobby Charlton. ==Personal==