Danny Kelly has died aged 69 after a battle with cancer, and talkSPORT has told listeners it is heartbroken. The broadcaster’s death closes the book on a long-running radio presence who fronted Trans-Europe Express on Sunday nights and was a regular voice on Hawksbee and Jacobs.
“We are heartbroken to share that our much-loved friend and colleague Danny Kelly has died, aged 69,” talkSPORT said. “A cherished part of talkSPORT for so many years, Danny brought extraordinary wit, warmth and knowledge to our airwaves.”
talkSPORT and Hawksbee and Jacobs
TalkSPORT’s tribute also set out why Kelly mattered inside the station: his passion for football, music and life was “infectious,” while his kindness “touched everyone around him.” That is more than obituary language. It is the reason his absence will be felt across a schedule that leaned on his voice for years, especially on Sunday nights and during his appearances on Hawksbee and Jacobs.
Danny Baker said Kelly died yesterday afternoon, while Ian Abrahams called him “absolutely heartbroken” at the news. Abrahams said Kelly was “one of the best broadcasters I’ve worked with” and “one of the most amazing, kindest, funny, passionate people I knew.”
Danny Baker and Ian Abrahams
The public response was immediate and personal rather than ceremonial. Baker described Kelly as his “great friend,” “supreme broadcaster” and “funniest man I ever knew,” and said he could not believe he would never hear his voice again. Abrahams, also known as Moose, closed his tribute by saying: “Danny, we’ll always have 'I love Football'. I will miss you my friend, sleep well.”
That mix of grief and specificity tells the real story here: Kelly was not treated as a distant industry figure, but as a working broadcaster whose voice had become part of the station’s identity. For listeners who followed him there, the practical change is simple and final — one of the familiar names attached to the schedule is gone, and the tributes now do the work his voice used to do.
