Rob Palmer is a football commentator and sports broadcaster on Sky Sports, ESPN and other outlets around the world. He has appeared on Sky Sports since 1995, originally joining from

Granada Television 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 it ...

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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and take a BSc in Mass Media Communication. He broke several NCAA 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 football teams and

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

.
He was given his break in television whilst playing for Bridlington Town
John Motson 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 BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of 203,000 ...

, commentating on Liverpool FC 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 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, 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 association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

for the ITV network. His subsequent credits include: weekly appearances on ''

Gillette Soccer Saturday ''Gillette Labs Soccer Saturday'' is a weekly television programme broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the football season. The programme updates viewers on the progress of association football games in the United ...

'', presenting stints on '' Soccer AM'', Copa America, Football First, England Under 21s and Fishomania. Rob is known for voice-overs for many Premier League football clubs including

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Liverpool FC, Everton, and Hull City. 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 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 who won the award in 2009. He hosts an annual golf tournament which is supported by many football legends including

Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player, who most recently managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League. As a player, he was a striker, and is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history ...

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 and Derek Mountfield. 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)