Mike started his career in the football advertising industry as a football skills double. On set for Adidas in 1997, he doubled in a Predator commercial for Italy’s Alessandro Del Piero. Other stars of the ad included Paul Gascoigne, Zinedine Zidane, Edwin Van Der Sar and an up and coming David Beckham.

After some years in Professional football, Mike worked on a series of football commercials doubling for many footballers. The list includes Ryan Giggs, Pauletta, Claudio Lopez, Freddie Ljunberg and even Ruud Gullit!

"There are times when they need a player who looks something like the player but there are also occasions when I have been used for my footwork so on these occasions it was just important for me to have a similar outfit to the player." - Mike Delaney

On set for the Nike Scorpion commercial in 2001, Mike was used to design and create most of the moves eventually used in the ad. The campaign was a huge success for Nike and Mike was again brought in to work with Figo, Roberto Carlos and Eric Cantona on the re-match.

"It was so great to work with Eric Cantona. He was a really interesting person to talk to and very impressive as an actor. He had been one of my favourite players and one of my highlights on set was playing football tennis with him over some chairs." - Mike Delaney

There were a number of occasions when Mike was used to advertise the product as himself. He appeared in a range of ads- some shown in parts of Europe, others in America. A British favourite was the unforgettable John Smith's 'No nonsense' ad where Mike performs an array of skills before comic Peter Kay boots the ball into a garden.

"I'd got so used to working on the football ads that I didn’t take the time to appreciate the John Smiths ad. I remember Peter Kay being very funny as you’d expect. He refused to let the wardrobe girl rub mud on him..insisting instead to roll across the pitch." - Mike Delaney

This commercial was recently voted as Channel 4’s number one football ad aired on British TV.

In the last 5 years, Mike has officially choreographed a series of football commercial hits. The list includes: Carling 'Big Match', Nike 'Home Game', Carlsberg 'Old Lion' Fuji 'Businessman' Coca-Cola ‘Fridge Match’ and the Adidas 'Impossible Team'

"I have lost count of the number of football commercials I've worked on. It is always a pleasure to work with the great footballers but I feel my true expertise is in choreographing the ads. I feel that my coaching, playing and freestyle background are the factors which give me the confidence to take control of the football scenes. I really enjoy creating the moves from scratch, putting them into practise and making them come alive in front of camera.”

"You should see what this guy does with a ball!"
Ronaldo talking about Mike with team mate Diego
(Nike Ole! Ad)