Rob Palmer is a football commentator and sports broadcaster on

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 ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

and other outlets around the world. He has appeared on Sky Sports since 1995, originally joining from Granada Television to act as the North West correspondent for the Sports News channel. His broadcasting career started at BBC Radio Humberside (alongside Sky Sports colleague Rob Hawthorne) and BBC Radio Merseyside. Rob Palmer is best known for his commentary on Sky Sports (La Liga Coverage) over the years. He has commentated on the Clásico every year since 1996.

Footballer

He is a former goalkeeper with Derby County F.C.
Originally signed as a schoolboy, he played several seasons professionally in the development team and in the FA Youth Cup.
In 1983, he accepted a scholarship at the University of New Haven
Connecticut in the USA to play football and take a BSc in Mass Media Communication. He broke several

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

records as The Chargers progressed to the Regional and National finals in 1984 and 1985. His roommate was Juan Carlos Osorio, who later would be the Mexico national team manager. After returning to the UK, he played for several

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

football teams and Scunthorpe United.
He was given his break in television whilst playing for Bridlington Town

John Motson John Walker Motson (10 July 1945 – 23 February 2023) was an English football commentator. Beginning as a television commentator with the BBC in 1971, he commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio. From the late 1970s to 2008, Mo ...

pulled out of reporting on "The Road to Wembley" FA Cup feature and Palmer, who was keeping goal for Bridlington was asked to step in as Motson's replacement.

Broadcaster and Journalist

Palmer started his journalism career in newspapers and a Midlands newsgathering agency. He moved into radio in 1987 to work for BBC Radio Humberside and then BBC Radio Merseyside, commentating on

Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

winning the League in 1990. He has since established himself as a well-respected TV commentator, reporter and presenter.

Television commentator

He is currently heard as the commentator on La Liga for EPSN+ in the USA as part of their comprehensive coverage of Spanish football. He joined the American network in 2021 when they signed a multi-million dollar eight year deal. He continues to call Premier League matches around the official world-feed and Sky Sports. He also commentates on live EFL matches for Sky, international matches for the UEFA world feed and the Champions League/Europa League for

DAZN DAZN ( "da zone") is a global sports entertainment platform. Different to traditional linear and satellite broadcasting, DAZN is an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service meaning that it is delivered directly to viewers via the internet. The ...

in Canada. He is widely regarded as the 'voice of La Liga' in the UK and on TV stations that took the Sky feed of Spanish matches from 1996 to 2018. Palmer writes a weekly column for the Spanish based, Sur in English, newspaper and regularly appears on SuperSport in South Africa plus Sirus Radio in the States. During his stint at

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

, he covered live Sunday-afternoon matches and was often heard in other regions commentating on highlights, and on the late night Football League Extra programme in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons and he also covered the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network. His subsequent credits include: weekly appearances on '' Gillette Soccer Saturday'', presenting stints on ''

Soccer AM ''Soccer AM'' is a British football-based comedy/talk show, produced by Sky Sports. First broadcast in 1995, the programme currently airs on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football at 10.30am on Saturdays during the f ...

'', Copa America, Football First, England Under 21s and Fishomania. Rob is known for voice-overs for many Premier League football clubs including Manchester United,

, Everton, and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

. He commentated on the 1994 World Cup for ITV, the Champions League Final 2010 (Sky 3D coverage) and Euro 96 for the host broadcaster. In recent years, he has guest commentated for DAZN in Canada, the Seattle Sounders. He also presented and commentated on a variety of sports at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. His voice has also appeared in TV shows such as Coronation Street and Cracker. He's anchored the annual Fishomania show on Sky Sports, organised by Matchroom Sports, since replacing Jeff Stelling as host in 2004.

Charity work

He is also a key fundraiser and ambassador for the children's

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

charity Stick 'n' Step. He was voted as the 'Spirit of Merseyside' Celebrity Charity Champion (2010) at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in May 2010 - following Liverpool footballer

Jamie Carragher James Lee Duncan Carragher (; born 28 January 1978) is an English football pundit and former footballer who played as a defender for Premier League club Liverpool during a career which spanned 17 years. A one-club man, he was Liverpool's v ...

who won the award in 2009. He hosts an annual golf tournament which is supported by many football legends including Robbie Fowler,

Jason McAteer Jason Wynne McAteer (born 18 June 1971) is a former professional footballer. His primary position was in centre midfield, though he was also an able right winger and full-back. During his professional career from 1992 to 2007, McAteer played ...

Kevin Ratcliffe Kevin Ratcliffe (born 12 November 1960) is a Welsh former professional footballer who spent most of his career playing for Everton. Club career Ratcliffe was born in Mancot, near Queensferry in Flintshire, Wales. He joined Everton as an appren ...

and

Derek Mountfield Derek Mountfield (born 2 November 1962) is an English former footballer who played as a centre-back. His time at top-flight clubs Everton and subsequently Aston Villa were where he gained most fame, as Everton enjoyed successful periods at th ...

. He is married to Bronach and his son Ellis is a champion of disabled rights and BBC journalist.

References

External links

Stick 'n' Step: charity helping children with cerebral palsy
www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/.../2010/.../spirit-of-merseyside-awards-held-at-liverpool-cathedral-92534-26677345/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Rob University of New Haven alumni British association football commentators English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Derby County F.C. players Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)