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On Tuesday, Minnesota United announced their inaugural broadcast team, who Club President Nick Rogers called “one of the best broadcast teams in MLS.”
Callum Williams, formerly of Sky Sports, the BBC, and talkSPORT, will be joined by former Gopher’s soccer player Kyndra de St. Aubin in the booth. Former United player Jamie Watson will stay with the club as sideline reporter.
Williams is a seasoned broadcaster who brings a wealth of experience to the job. The Englishman, who brings a fitting accent to the play-by-play post, has been covering MLS for European audiences, as well as other competitions such as the English Premier League and the Europa league.
Delighted to be announced as new voice of @MNUFC. Can't wait to get started as we approach clubs 1st @MLS season.https://t.co/MxvoXZjMYh
— Callum Williams (@CalWilliamsComm) January 17, 2017
New color commentator Kyndra de St. Aubin was a star and two-time letter winner for the Minnesota Golden Gophers Women’s soccer team. The Stillwater native has been covering the Women’s National Team for Fox Sports since 2011 and was on one of the five American broadcast teams covering the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
The final member of the broadcast team is a face who should be very familiar to Loons fans. Fan-favorite Jamie Watson will remain in Minnesota as the club’s new sideline reporter. The former winger played for United for 3 seasons and has scored in six different divisions of U.S. soccer.
The new commentary team will replace the longstanding duo of Alan Willey and Chris Lidholm. Willey is the most prolific scorer in Minnesota soccer history, having tallied nearly 300 goals for the Strikers and Kicks. Lidholm, meanwhile, had been the voice of professional soccer in Minnesota since 1993.
24 years was a great run. Saddened not to continue with United into MLS in 2017.
— Chris Lidholm (@chrislidholm) January 10, 2017
I wish the team well.
Thank you fans, players and team.
Lidholm and Willey were the only commentators a lot of Minnesota soccer fans had ever known, and there were many who were upset when it was announced that they would not be staying on in the move to MLS. However, the new broadcast team is a good mix of experience and familiar faces, and they should do a fantastic job for the club.
While the club has now announced who will call the game, they have not yet announced a broadcast partner. It remains to be seen which channel will cover United matches. In the past, the club has partnered with Channel 45 and my29. Now that they are in MLS, however, the club may switch to Fox Sports North, who broadcast games for the Wild and Timberwolves, but that is still only speculation at this point.