Robyn Cowen is a British journalist and football commentator. Cowen is best known as being the lead play by play commentator on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

during the

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first ...

matches during

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by U ...

, hosted and won by England.

Career

Cowen joined the BBC in 2011 as a sports reporter after a placement at

BBC Radio Oxford BBC Radio Oxford is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Oxfordshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Summertown area of Oxford. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audien ...

, She joined BBC Radio 5 Live in 2014 and began on the commentary team for ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...

'' in 2018. She was a commentator for the BBC at the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Euro ...

. Cowen has had regular appearances on the ''Offside Rule'' podcast alongside Lynsey Hooper and Kait Borsay, as well as guest appearances on '' Guardian Football Weekly'', and

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

’s ''

Football Cliches 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 ...

'' show.

Recognition and reception

As a female commentator in a traditionally male dominated industry, Cowen has remarked that whilst

Jacqui Oatley Jacqueline Anne Oatley (born 28 December 1974) is a leading English broadcaster. She is a football commentator for Sky Sports, calling Premier League and FA Women's Super League matches. She is a sports presenter on Quest TV channel, covering ...

had been a solo female voice as the first female commentator on ''Match of the Day'', the presence of Vicki Sparks at the BBC at the same time as Cowen had made her feel “exceptionally lucky” because they had been able to share the “spotlight”. Former ''Match of the Day'' host

Des Lynam Desmond Michael Lynam, (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born television and radio presenter. In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, presentin ...

described Cowen in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' as having “an understated and light-hearted style

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

is easy on the ear.” At the 2021

Football Supporters' Association The Football Supporters' Association (The FSA) is the national, democratic, representative body for football supporters in England and Wales. They are the leading advocates for supporter ownership, better fan engagement, cheaper ticket prices, t ...

Awards, Cowen was nominated in the ‘Commentator of the Year’ category alongside

Martin Tyler Martin Tyler (born 14 September 1945) is an English football commentator. He has worked as a commentator for Sky Sports since 1990, covering the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, as well as other domestic and international competitions. ...

Peter Drury Peter Drury (born 24 September 1967) is a British sports commentator who currently works for NBC Sports as the lead main (play-by-play) commentator for its Premier League coverage in the United States. Prior to joining NBC Sports, Drury was the ...

, and

Conor McNamara Conor McNamara is an Irish sports commentator. He works for BBC Radio 5 Live, ''Match of the Day'', BBC, Amazon Prime Video and Sky Sports. McNamara was born in Limerick, in the Republic of Ireland, where he attended the Jesuit Rugby School ...

, amongst others. Cowen’s commentary of, “''Dream makers. Record breakers. Game changers''”, as England won Euro 2022 was described by veteran broadcaster

Richard Keys Richard Keys (born 23 April 1957) is an English sports presenter who has worked for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Talksport, Al Jazeera, Fox Sports, ESPN Star Sports , BeIN Sports; and has presented many top-level football matches. Caree ...

as “Brilliant. And perfect for the occasion.” Cowen’s commentary from the winning moment at the 2022 Euros final was used by

during the

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...

celebrations and fireworks after the

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The official ...

strikes at midnight into 1 January, 2023. In February 2023 Cowen was nominated in the Commentator category at the British Sports Journalism Awards.

Personal life

Cowen attended

Wheatley Park School Wheatley Park School (WPS) is a co-educational state secondary school of approximately 1,150 pupils situated in Holton, Oxfordshire, England about east of Oxford. The school has been an academy since May 2014. The school is most notable for pr ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

before graduating in 2011 from

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The university was named ...

with a degree in law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowen, Robyn Living people BBC sports presenters and reporters English association football commentators People from Oxford Alumni of Oxford Brookes University Year of birth missing (living people)