James White (born 16 July 1957 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 ...

) is a Scottish radio and television presenter, known primarily for his work with

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

and Talksport.

Early life

After completing a pre-entry

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

course at

Napier College , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, White began his media career with Scottish & Universal Newspapers in 1974.

Broadcasting career

Television

In 1979, White moved into television as an entertainment reporter on STV's flagship ''

Scotland Today ''Scotland Today'' is a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central (formerly Scottish Television). Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's C ...

'' news programme. In 1986, he was appointed sports reporter and one of his first assignments was to travel with the Scotland team to the World Cup Finals in Mexico. In 1988, he became the main host of ''

Scotsport ''Scotsport'' is a Scotland, Scottish sports television programme, broadcast on STV (TV channel), STV in northern and central Scotland between 1957 and 2008, as well as on ITV Border in southern Scotland. It was first broadcast in 1957 as ''S ...

''. In 1990 White presented coverage of Scotland's campaign in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and in 1991 he was part of the team that won a

Scottish BAFTA BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televis ...

. White became presenter of STV's ''

'' in 1989, succeeding

Arthur Montford Arthur Montford (25 May 1929 – 26 November 2014) was a Scottish Television sports journalist, best known for his 32-year tenure as the presenter of Scottish Television's '' Scotsport''. Although he was most associated with football, he covered ...

. He also presented its spinoff show ''Scotsport Extra Time''. White joined Sky Sports in 1998. In June 2003 he travelled to Senegal with Arsenal captain

Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...

to report on Vieira's Diambers charity. He is especially known for his round-the-clock presenting marathon on

transfer deadline day A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer w ...

. In August 2019, White was criticised for his reporting style of the news that

Bury FC Bury Football Club is an English association football club based in Bury, Greater Manchester, whose team last played in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football, in the 2018–19 season. The team are known as "The Shakers", and ...

had been expelled from the EFL. He was seen reporting for Sky Sports in front of a countdown clock. In June 2021, Sky Sports announced that White was leaving the channel after 23 years as a presenter.

Radio

In September 2016, White took over Talksport's morning programme from

Colin Murray Colin Murray (born Luke Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. In 2010, he became host of BBC Television's '' Match of the Day 2'' on BBC Two, while still anchoring shows on BBC Radio 5 Live, including '' 5 ...

Personal life

White was fined £750 and banned from driving for a year in 2005 after refusing a breath test. In 2010 he was stopped from boarding a British Airways flight due to being drunk. In October 2021, he stated on his TalkSport radio programme that he had been sober for 10 years.

References

Scottish television presenters Living people Anglo-Scots Sky Sports presenters and reporters 1957 births {{scotland-footy-bio-stub