Ashley Malcolm Morrison is an Australian/British sports commentator, broadcaster, writer, and documentary filmmaker.

Early life

Born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, Wiltshire, he grew up in

Purton Purton is a large village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about northwest of the centre of Swindon. The parish includes the village of Purton Stoke and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll, Purton Common, Restrop, The Fox and Widham. Th ...

, near Swindon. He was educated at Stowe School, Buckingham and played cricket for Wiltshire.

Career

On moving to Australia, Morrison worked for Impact Publications and was later Cargo Manager Australia & New Zealand for South African Airways. In 2008 he set up his own media business, Ashley Morrison Media.

Broadcast work

Morrison has appeared on radio in Perth since 1991, first with 6NR covering the Perth Glory games in the National Soccer League, before moving to 6PR, where he also covered rugby. With the start of the Hyundai A league in 2004 he moved to 6RPH, which broadcast the A League as well as the first season of the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. F ...

in Super Rugby. In September 2006 he launched ''Not The Footy Show'', a two-hour radio show that focussed on all sports except AFL, with co-host Darren Harper. It later became a regular

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

with co-host John Lee. Morrison was part of the

Fox Sports Australia Fox Sports Australia Pty Limited (formerly Premier Media Group Pty Limited) is the division of Foxtel that owns and operates the Fox Sports television networks and digital properties in Australia. The group operates nine Fox Sports Channels as w ...

A League coverage from 2006 to 2011. He has commentated sport for, among others,

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...

Star Sports Star Sports refers to several current or former Asian sports networks owned by The Walt Disney Company: * Star Sports (East Asian TV channel) * Star Sports (Indian TV network) * Fox Sports (Southeast Asian TV network) Fox Sports (formerly ESPN ...

Astro Arena Astro Arena may refer to: * Astro Arena (Houston), now NRG Arena, a sports centre in Reliant Park, Houston, Texas *Astro Arena (TV channel) Astro Arena is a Malaysian television station owned and operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia and Astr ...

Neo Sports NEO Sports was an Indian television channel, owned and operated by Nimbus Communications. Launched on 8 November 2006, it covers virtually all prime events in almost all popular sports like Golf, Football, Basketball, Tennis, Table Tennis, Mot ...

, and the FIH. In hockey his coverage includes the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, the Asia Cup, the Junior Asia Cup,

Hockey World League The Men's FIH Hockey World League was an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation. The league also served as a qualifier for the 2014 and 2018 Men's Hockey World Cups and the 2016 Olympic Games. Th ...

, Australian Hockey League finals in 2017, and three editions of the

Hockey India League Hockey India League (HIL), known as the Coal India Hockey India League is a professional field hockey league in India. The league is organized by Hockey India, the governing body for the sport in India. HIL, along with the Indian Premier League, ...

. He has also commentated at multi-sport events such as the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, as well as

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

for One World Sports and the World Sports Group. Other sports that Morrison has commentated are badminton, boxing, floorball,

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

, gymnastics,

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

Kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

and rugby union.

Documentaries

''Standing at the Touchlines''

In 2010 Morrison produced and directed his first

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

, ''Standing at the Touchlines''. It is a journey through Africa during the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

that shows not only how football has played such a key role in so many African communities, but also to look at whether the World Cup would in fact unite a continent, as then President of South Africa

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

had said it would. The film travels through

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

, Lesotho during the competition, finishing in host nation South Africa. It aired in Africa and Asia and was part of the African World Documentary Film Festival, screening in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and South Africa, where it won an Audience Choice award.

''No Apologies''

In 2012 he produced and directed ''No Apologies'', a film about two young Aboriginal women,

Kyah Simon Kyah Pam Simon (born 25 June 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Tottenham Hotspur of the FA Women's Super League. In 2011, Simon became the first Indigenous Australian player to score a goal in a FI ...

and

Lydia Williams Lydia Grace Yilkari Williams (born 13 May 1988) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Australia national team. Williams previously played for Melbour ...

, representing Australia at the Women's World Cup in Germany in 2011. ''No Apologies'' won the award for Best Editing in a Documentary and Best Documentary at the Southampton International Film Festival. It also won an Award of Excellence and three Honourable Mentions awards at the International Film Festival for Health Environment and Culture and the International Film Festival for Peace Inspiration and Equality. The film was also selected for the Tiger Paw Sports Film Festival in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, and was selected to be screened during NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) week around Australia ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2. In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had ...

'' magazine listed it as one of the one of its "Five Football Documentaries to see Before You Die" in its December 2012 edition.

''Mark Our Place''

In 2019 he produced and directed the documentary ''Mark Our Place'', the story of three rugby players who all played for the same club in Dublin, Wanderers, who went on to represent Ireland, and who were all awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. Their names were Robert Johnston,

Thomas Crean Major Dr. Thomas Joseph Crean, (19 April 1873 – 25 March 1923) was an Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor. During the Second Boer War, while serving with the Imperial Light Horse, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. In ...

and Frederick Harvey. The Film was an official selection at the Richard Harris International Film Festival in 2022. It was voted Best Documentary at the MoviePlay International Film Festival in October 2022, Best Sport Short Film at the Calgary Independent Film Festival in November 2022 Best war Film at the Dublin Movie Awards in February 2023 and Best Documentary at the EdiPlay International Film Festival in October 2023.

''Return To Your Corner''

In February 2023 he produced and directed "Return To Your Corner" a documentary on the life of the first boxing world champion born in Africa,

Battling Siki Louis Mbarick Fall (16 September 1897 – 15 December 1925), known as Battling Siki, was a French light heavyweight boxer born in Senegal who fought from 1912 to 1925, and briefly reigned as the World light heavyweight champion after knocking ...

. The Premiere was host by the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

at the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manhattan, and Traver ...

Publications

Morrison has written several books: *''Headingley Remembered: A Century of Ashes Cricket'' * ''Please Sir Can I Have My Ball Back'' – about his battle with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an ...

*''The Professor: The Azumah Nelson Story'' –biography of three-time World Champion boxer

Azumah Nelson Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC featherweight title from 1984 to 1987 and the WBC super-featherweight title twice ...

*''Australia's Hockey Grail'' – about the Australian men's hockey team and their quest for Olympic Gold *''Into The Nest: The Story Behind WASPS Hockey Club''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Ashley English documentary filmmakers English non-fiction writers English sports journalists English broadcasters Living people People from Salisbury English male non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Stowe School Field hockey commentators