Douglas Donnelly (born 7 June 1953) is a Scottish television personality best known for presenting sports coverage.

Career

Donnelly was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, where he began his career with Radio Clyde in the 1970s, presenting the top-rated Mid Morning Show from 1979 until 1992. He also presented a Dougie Donnelly File show on Sunday evenings in 1987 through to 7 August 1988 which reviewed a famous musician/band each week. He was twice voted Scottish Radio Personality of the Year. Towards the end of his time, he mostly presented on

Clyde 1 Clyde 1 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Glasgow, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Glasgow and West Central Scotland. As of September 2022, the station has a weekly audi ...

and occasionally presented on

Clyde 2 Clyde 2 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Glasgow, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Glasgow and West Central Scotland. As of September 2022, the station has a wee ...

. He joined BBC Scotland's Sports Department in 1978, presenting programmes such as '' Sportscene Live'' (which includes events such as the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

internationals), ''Grandstand from Scotland'', ''Afternoon Sportscene'', the network's

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

coverage, and football World Cups in 1990 and 1998. He presented two series of a TV chat show, ''Friday Night with Dougie Donnelly'' directed by Martin Cairns, and was TV Personality of the Year in Scotland in 1982. He left the BBC after the

2010 Scottish Cup Final The 2010 Scottish Cup Final was the 125th final of the Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition, the Scottish Cup. The match took place on 15 May 2010, at Hampden Park, Glasgow and was contested by first time finalists Ross Coun ...

, his 30th in a row, and is currently (as of 2020 lead commentator on European Tour Productions' worldwide live TV coverage of golf's

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

on the

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...

,Interview: Dougie Donnelly on modern-day football coverage, giving the ‘Big Yin’ his first £100 gig and compering Miss Scotland
By Aidan Smith, The Scotsman, 4 April 2020 travelling to around 20 tournaments a year around the world. Donnelly was known outside Scotland by his involvement in the BBC's networked output of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

, snooker and bowls. He was the first Scot to present the '' Grandstand'' programme on the network, which he did on a regular basis between 1992 and 2002. International exposure also saw Donnelly serve as commentator/presenter for the

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decem ...

during the 1980s on ITV. He covered four

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, four Summer Olympic Games and three

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, where, in the 2002 event at

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, he commentated on the British women curlers' Gold victory. He has also hosted quiz shows on radio and TV and has appeared on ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. ...

'', ''

Ready Steady Cook ''Ready Steady Cook'' is a BBC daytime TV cooking game show. It debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last original edition was broadcast on 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley ...

'', '' Banzai'' and '' The Games''. In addition, he provided a voice over on the Sky One science entertainment show '' Brainiac: Science Abuse''; solely for the "Brainiac Golf" sketch when a caravan is blown up; detonated by a fuse triggered by a professional golfer's putting stroke. In February 2016, it was announced that Donnelly would become a columnist for '' bunkered'' golf magazine, writing a column in every edition. He is also an after-dinner speaker and awards host.

Personal life

Donnelly was raised in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

,Dougie Donnelly slams Scottish Government over sacking
The Scotsman, 17 January 2008; accessed 5 April 2014. educated at the former

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, and was featured in a 1950 Scottish Seconda ...

and is a graduate of the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

Law School. He was chairman of the

Scottish Institute of Sport Sportscotland (officially styled sport), formerly the Scottish Sports Council, is the national agency for sport in Scotland. The Scottish Sports Council was established in 1972 by royal charter. The body works in partnership with public, pri ...

from 2005-2008, and currently chairs the Scottish Commonwealth Games Endowment Fund. He is a fan of

Clyde F.C. Clyde Football Club is a Scottish semi-professional football club who play in Scottish League One. Formed in 1877 at the River Clyde in Glasgow, the club host their home matches at New Douglas Park, having played at Broadwood Stadium from 1994 ...

For several years he appeared in television adverts for the furniture store ''Sterling'', based in

Tillicoultry Tillicoultry ( ; Scottish Gaelic: Tulach Cultraidh, perhaps from older Gaelic ''Tullich-cul-tir'', or "the mount/hill at the back of the country") is a town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Tillicoultry is usually referred to as Tilly by the loc ...

, near

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. He returned to advertising for I&K Motors, and provided voiceovers for their spring 2008 advertising campaign.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Dougie Golf writers and broadcasters 1953 births Living people People from Rutherglen Scottish television presenters BBC sports presenters and reporters Curling broadcasters People educated at Hamilton Academy Alumni of the University of Strathclyde

Career

Personal life

See also

References