Sandy Roberts (born 22 February 1950) is a veteran sports presenter and commentator formerly working on television for

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 ...

and radio with

Crocmedia Sports Entertainment Network (SEN), formerly Crocmedia, is an Australian radio and television distribution company established in 2006 by journalists James Swanwick and Craig Hutchison. SEN's parent company is Sports Entertainment Group (SEG ...

. He was a long-time personality of the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

for four decades, notably part of the

Seven Sport Seven Sport is the brand and production department under which all sporting events on the Seven Network are broadcast. It broadcasts some of Australia's most prominent sporting events, such as the AFL, cricket, the Olympics and Paralympics, as ...

Olympics coverage as a host for more than 20 years.

Career

Roberts' career started at Perth radio station 6PM, after a short stint as a copyboy for the Adelaide ''News''. Roberts then travelled extensively throughout Europe for two years, before returning to Australia, where he joined Radio 3CS Colac as an announcer. In 1971, he switched to television station BCV8-TV in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

as a news presenter. He later joined the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in 1973 as a general announcer and presenter. In 1980, Roberts was asked to be one of the commentators for the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

telecast after which Roberts moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

to work for the

. In his time with the

, Roberts commentated over 700

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...

(AFL) games. Roberts also commentated on NBL games, the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...

, the

Spring Racing Carnival The Spring Racing Carnival is the name of an Australian Thoroughbred horse racing series held annually in Melbourne during October and November. The Carnival and its status in the wider community Although racing in Australia is held every day exce ...

and many major golf tournaments. He has also been involved in the coverage of every

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

from Moscow 1980 to

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, including

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, as well as many

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 ...

. Roberts hosted the Seven Network's

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

coverage four times: in 1991, 1993, 1994 and the 1997 Super Touring 1000. Alongside

Dennis Cometti Dennis John Cometti (born 26 March 1949) is an Australian retired sports commentator, player and coach of Australian rules football. In a career spanning 51 years, his smooth voice, dry humour and quick wit became his trademark. Until his reti ...

, Roberts was a commentator during the famous AFL match between Sydney and St Kilda in 1993 in which a pig was released onto the ground by a Sydney member with a number 4 and the nickname "Pluga" spray-painted onto it (in reference to then St Kilda player Tony Lockett). Roberts became famous for his call of the incident, exclaiming: ''"There's a pig at full-forward!"''. In January 2005, Roberts joined ''

Seven News Melbourne ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are p ...

'' after Beverley O'Connor resigned. Outside of sports broadcasting, Roberts was an annual contributor to Seven's telecast of the ''

Good Friday Appeal The Good Friday Appeal is an annual fundraising activity on behalf of the Royal Children's Hospital, in Melbourne, Australia. The event occurs on Good Friday every year. In 2022, the appeal raised over $22 million, setting a new record. M ...

'' and also hosted the game shows ''

It's Academic ''It's Academic'' is the name for a number of televised academic student quiz shows for high school students through the United States and internationally. ''It's Academic'' programs have notably aired on NBC-owned WMAQ-TV Chicago, WRC-TV ( ...

'' and '' The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime''. Despite this impressive résumé, Roberts is often remembered for his gaffe in introducing the 1981

Miss Australia Miss Australia was the title for the winner of the Miss Australia Quest or the Miss Australia Awards, which ran from 1954 until 2000, when the last Miss Australia was named. From 2002, the Miss World Australia contest has been held, and the Miss ...

, Leanne Dick as "Leanne Cock" during a Mount Gambier Cup meeting. (Ironically, Dick's surname after marriage is Cockerill). In early February 2013, Roberts was the subject of media speculation that he was leaving the Seven Network to work at another channel,

Fox Footy Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Pty Limited, operated out of their Me ...

. In November 2013, Roberts confirmed that he would be leaving the Seven Network after 40 years with Seven in Melbourne and Adelaide to work at Fox Footy as a host-commentator.

Tim Watson Timothy Michael Watson (born 13 July 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). After retiring from the game, he has continued working in the Australian footb ...

took Roberts' place as the weekday sports newsreader. Roberts last day reading sport news was Friday 29 November 2013, and he finished his hosting duties for Seven at the Australian Open golf tournament on Sunday 1 December 2013. Roberts retired from television in 2018.

Community work

Since July 2013, Roberts has been an ambassador for the non-profit organisation The Beehive Foundation, a charity that runs free programs to develop resilience and coping mechanisms for youth via junior sporting organisations.

Personal life

Roberts grew up on a sheep farm in Lucindale,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

. Roberts is married and has a son to his current wife. A previous marriage broke down following the death of a 15-year-old son from that marriage. He also has another son from his first marriage.Sandy ends silence on son

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

, 16 Jan 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Sandy Australian television journalists Seven News presenters 1950 births Australian game show hosts Australian tennis commentators Golf writers and broadcasters Living people People from Lucindale, South Australia Journalists from South Australia