Ross Fletcher is an English sports presenter and commentator known for his work with

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

and

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

. From 2021 to 2024, he hosted

Root Sports Northwest Root Sports Northwest, sometimes branded simply as Root Sports, is an American regional sports network owned by the Seattle Mariners. Headquartered near Seattle in the city of Bellevue, Washington, the channel broadcasts regional coverage of sp ...

's coverage of

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The t ...

ice hockey games.

Career

BBC

Fletcher had a passion for radio at a young age and at 14 years old, he was the runner-up in a competition for aspiring broadcasters hosted by

Garth Crooks Garth Anthony Crooks, (born 10 March 1958) is an English football pundit and former professional player. He played from 1976 to 1990, for Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and Charlton Athletic. Club ca ...

's ''Go'' program on the original Radio 5. He gained experience at

BBC Radio Derby BBC Radio Derby is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Derbyshire and East Staffordshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, AM broadcasting, AM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from s ...

between the ages of 16 and 18 on an unpaid basis. Fletcher began reading sports bulletins for the station while attending the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. He eventually earned his own program doing sports and music on Saturdays. At the age of 22, Fletcher became the voice of

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

for BBC Radio Derby. He also spent 5 years reporting for

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

and

BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra (formerly BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra) is a British digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, and specialising in extended live sports coverage. It is a sister station ...

Major League Soccer

Beginning in 2012, Fletcher replaced

Arlo White Arlo James White (born 2 June 1973) is an English sports presenter and commentator, originally from Leicester. He is the play-by-play commentator for the LIV Golf league. White previously worked for NBC Sports' live coverage of the Premier Leagu ...

as the play-by-play voice of

for local English radio and television broadcasts. He worked alongside former Seattle goalkeeper and

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, and was the starting Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for the United State ...

on the broadcasts. On 22 October 2015, it was announced that he and the club would part ways at the end of the 2015 season. He called his last match for the club, a

playoff series The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

that ended in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, on 8 November 2015.

Seattle Kraken

Fletcher joined

in 2021 to host pre-game and post-game coverage of

broadcasts for the team's inaugural

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

season. Fletcher left Root Sports in 2024, after it lost the rights to Kraken games. He joined Herd Freed Hartz, a Seattle-based recruiting firm, as an executive recruiter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Ross Seattle Sounders FC English association football commentators English sports broadcasters Alumni of the University of Sheffield People from Loughborough Living people Major League Soccer broadcasters Year of birth missing (living people)