Jim "Ping" Spence is a Scottish Sports presenter from Dundee who works for BBC Scotland and is the current rector of Dundee University.

Career

Spence presented the nightly football magazine ''90 Minutes'' on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scotland, Scottish radio station, radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same na ...

from 2004 until it was axed in 2006 to make way for more comprehensive sports coverage. Spence now hosts the station's weeknight programme

Sportsound ''Sportsound'' is BBC Radio Scotland's main radio sports show. It provides coverage to listeners on medium wave, FM, DAB Digital Radio and via the internet. It is best known for its exclusive live commentary of Scottish Premiership football g ...

twice a week. Spence is a fan of

Dundee United F.C. Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in ...

He became an Internet hit in 2009 after a faltering interview with

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Dušan Perniš Dušan Perniš (born 28 November 1984) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dubnica. Perniš has been capped for Slovakia at senior level. Club career Perniš began his professional football career at FC Nitra, in ...

. Despite Perniš apologising for his poor English, Spence continues the interview with limited success. He is forced to rephrase each question several times, but just receives baffled looks from the goalkeeper. In 2015 it was announced that Spence had joined the Dundee-based newspaper '' The Courier'' as columnist. As of 2016 he is a sports columnist for the newspaper. Spence has also been impersonated by Jonathan Watson on the BBC Scotland comedy show

Only an Excuse? ''Only an Excuse?'' is an annual Scottish comedy sketch show that was broadcast on BBC One Scotland on Hogmanay from 1993 to 2020. It starred the actor and comedian Jonathan Watson and featured impressions of some of Scottish football's great ...

during his time fronting ''90 Minutes''. He studied law at the

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

as a mature student. In February 2019 it was announced he had been chosen as the new

Rector of the University of Dundee The rector of the University of Dundee is elected by the matriculated students of the University of Dundee. From 1967 (when the university gained independence from the University of St. Andrews) to 2010, the rector was automatically a full membe ...

, in succession to Mark Beaumont. In March 2021 it was announced that he was standing down as Rector before completing his three year term. He cited "a change in his commitments" which meant he was unable to devote enough time to supporting students. On 5 May he joined

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

as Club consultant.

References

External links

* Scottish association football commentators Living people Alumni of the University of Dundee Rectors of the University of Dundee People from Dundee Year of birth missing (living people) Journalists from Dundee {{UK-radio-bio-stub