Ashley Malcolm Morrison is an Australian/British

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

, broadcaster, writer, and documentary filmmaker.

Early life

Born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, Wiltshire, he grew up in

Purton Purton is a large village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, about northwest of the centre of Swindon. The parish includes the village of Purton Stoke and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll, Purton Common ...

, near

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

. He was educated at

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

, Buckingham and played cricket for Wiltshire.

Career

On moving to Australia, Morrison worked for Impact Publications and was later Cargo Manager Australia & New Zealand for

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier of South Africa. Founded in 1929 as Union Airways it later rebranded to South African Airways in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannes ...

. In 2008 he set up his own media business, Ashley Morrison Media.

Broadcast work

Morrison has appeared on radio in Perth since 1991, first with 6NR covering the

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

games in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

, before moving to 6PR, where he also covered rugby. With the start of the

Hyundai A league A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

in 2004 he moved to 6RPH, which broadcast the A League as well as the first season of the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby, Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competitio ...

in Super Rugby. In September 2006 he launched ''Not The Footy Show'', a two-hour radio show that focussed on all sports except AFL, with co-host Darren Harper. It later became a regular

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

with co-host John Lee. Morrison was part of the

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 ...

A League coverage from 2006 to 2011. He has commentated sport for, among others,

BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...

, Star Sports, Astro Arena,

Neo Sports Nimbus Communications Limited was an Indian media and entertainment company, and sports broadcaster, known for its Neo Prime and Neo Sports channels. It had integrated, end-to-end media services focusing on sports broadcasting, marketing, an ...

, and the FIH. In hockey his coverage includes the

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual invitational international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event from 1998, following its growth and popularity. The t ...

, the Asia Cup, the Junior Asia Cup, Hockey World League,

Australian Hockey League The Australian Hockey League (AHL) was Australia's premier national domestic field hockey competition.AHL Webpage
D ...

finals in 2017, and three editions of the

Hockey India League Hockey India League is a professional field hockey league in India. It is organized by Hockey India, the governing body for the sport in India. It is considered one of the major sports leagues of the country. It was founded in 2013 as a part ...

. He has also commentated at multi-sport events such as the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

and the

Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (abbreviated as AIMAG) is a pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. It is organised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and consists of Indoor and martial ...

, as well as

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

for

One World Sports One World Sports (stylized ONE World Sports) was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television channel. Owned by One Media Corporation, which was led by Seamus O'Brien, the network was primarily devoted to international sports, i ...

and the World Sports Group. Other sports that Morrison has commentated are badminton, boxing, floorball,

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

, gymnastics,

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

Kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...

and rugby union.

Documentaries

''Standing at the Touchlines''

In 2010 Morrison produced and directed his first

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, ''Standing at the Touchlines''. It is a journey through Africa during the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

that shows not only how football has played such a key role in so many African communities, but also to look at whether the World Cup would in fact unite a continent, as then President of South Africa

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

had said it would. The film travels through

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

during the competition, finishing in host nation South Africa. It aired in Africa and Asia and was part of th
World Documentary Film Festival
screening in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and South Africa, where it won an Audience Choice award.

''No Apologies''

In 2012 he produced and directed ''No Apologies'', a film about two young Aboriginal women,

Kyah Simon Kyah Pam Simon (born 25 June 1991) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a striker. She has represented Australia from 2007 to 2023, making 111 caps and scoring 29 goals. In 2011, Simon became the first Indigenous Australian ...

and

Lydia Williams Lydia Grace Yilkari Williams (; born 13 May 1988) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for A-League Women club Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women), Melbourne Victory. She is ...

, representing Australia at the Women's World Cup in Germany in 2011. ''No Apologies'' won the award for Best Editing in a Documentary and Best Documentary at the Southampton International Film Festival. It also won an Award of Excellence and three Honourable Mentions awards at the International Film Festival for Health Environment and Culture and the International Film Festival for Peace Inspiration and Equality. The film was also selected for the Tiger Paw Sports Film Festival in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, and was selected to be screened during NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) week around Australia ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...

'' magazine listed it as one of the one of its "Five Football Documentaries to see Before You Die" in its December 2012 edition.

''Mark Our Place''

In 2019 he produced and directed the documentary ''Mark Our Place'', the story of three rugby players who all played for the same club in Dublin, Wanderers, who went on to represent Ireland, and who were all awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

. Their names were Robert Johnston,

Thomas Crean Major Dr. Thomas Joseph Crean (19 April 1873 – 25 March 1923) was an Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor. During the Second Boer War, while serving with the Imperial Light Horse, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. In 19 ...

and Frederick Harvey. The Film was an official selection at the Richard Harris International Film Festival in 2022. It was voted Best Documentary at the MoviePlay International Film Festival in October 2022, Best Sport Short Film at the Calgary Independent Film Festival in November 2022 Best war Film at the Dublin Movie Awards in February 2023 and Best Documentary at the EdiPlay International Film Festival in October 2023.

''Return To Your Corner''

In February 2023 he produced and directed "Return To Your Corner" a documentary on the life of the first boxing world champion born in Africa, Battling Siki. The Premiere was host by the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

at the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a Gentlemen's club, private social club and athletic club in New York (state), New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Pa ...

. In February 2024 the film was voted Best Documentary at th
BCN Sports Film Festival
The Film also won Best Documentary at the 202
Harlem International Film Festival
and the bronze medal at the Cine Esporte Sports Film Festival in Rio de Janeiro.

Publications

Morrison has written several books: *''Headingley Remembered: A Century of Ashes Cricket'' * ''Please Sir Can I Have My Ball Back'' – about his battle with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

*''The Professor: The Azumah Nelson Story'' –biography of three-time World Champion boxer

Azumah Nelson Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958, affectionately known as the Professor) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC featherweight title from 1984 to 1987 and ...

*''Australia's Hockey Grail'' – about the Australian men's hockey team and their quest for Olympic Gold *''Into The Nest: The Story Behind WASPS Hockey Club'' *
Ladies First - The Story of Australia's First Olympic Hockey Gold Medal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Ashley English documentary filmmakers English non-fiction writers English sports journalists English broadcasters Living people People from Salisbury English male non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) People educated at Stowe School Field hockey commentators