Skylet Andrew (born 31 March 1962), often known as Sky Andrew, is an English former Olympian who won three gold medals at the 1989 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships and was the first

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76– ...

sports agent.

Biography

Andrew was born in Upton Park,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, to a London Transport bus driver father, and a mother who worked in an

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

pie factory.

Table tennis

He represented Great Britain at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the doubles event with Des Douglas and won 3 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship gold medals in 1989 . Andrew retired from competitive table tennis after the 1994 European Championships.

Sports agent

While training at

Lilleshall Hall Lilleshall Hall is a large former country house and estate in the fields of Lilleshall, Shropshire, England. It is run by Serco Leisure Operating Ltd on behalf of Sport England as one of three National Sports Centres, alongside Bisham Abb ...

in his youth, Andrew met young footballer

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August 2 ...

, with whom he struck up a friendship. After retiring from

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

, Andrew wanted to get into

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

, but ended up becoming an agent, representing acting clients including

Martine McCutcheon Martine Kimberley Sherrie McCutcheon (formerly Ponting, born 14 May 1976) is an English actress and singer. She began appearing in television commercials at an early age and made her television debut in the children's television drama ''Bluebird ...

. In the mid-1990s at Campbell's suggestion, he became the first licensed

football agent, engineering Campbell's move from

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Andrew has since represented

Jermaine Pennant Jermaine Lloyd Pennant (born 15 January 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. Pennant made over 350 league appearances for 15 clubs, and scored 25 league goals. Born in Nottingham, Pennant played for his lo ...

David Ginola David Ginola-Ceze (born 25 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer who has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit. A former forward, Ginola played football for ten seasons in France before moving from Paris Saint-Ge ...

Frank Bruno Franklin Roy Bruno, (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He had a highly publicised and eventful career, both in and out of the ring. The pinnacle of Bruno's boxing career was winning ...

Jay Bothroyd Jay Bothroyd (born 7 May 1982) is a former English professional footballer who last played as a striker for J1 League club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. A product of the Arsenal Academy, he left in 2000 and signed with Coventry City, spending th ...

and

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He also played for the England national team. Defoe began his career with Charlton Athletic, joining their youth team aged 14, be ...

. His TV and film clients include

Nathalie Emmanuel Nathalie Joanne Emmanuel (born 2 March 1989) is an English actress. Emmanuel began her acting career appearing in theatre in the late 1990s, acquiring roles in various West End productions such as the musical ''The Lion King''. In 2006, she beg ...

, Sarah-Jane Mee, and

Natalie Sawyer Natalie Lorraine Sawyer (born 23 October 1979) is an English television and podcast presenter and Talksport radio presenter. Sawyer parted company with Sky Sports News in March 2018, after eighteen years of service having initially joined t ...

. In September 2016, in a deal with football agency Platinum One Group, Sky Andrew moved his football business across. Currently he is also a
Soccer Agent
instructor for the online sports-career training school

Sports Management Worldwide Sports Management Worldwide (SMWW) is an international sports agency and private for-profit sports management training institution based in Portland, Oregon. It is an accredited online Sports Management school and is certified by the Oregon Depa ...

, founded and run by Dr. Lynn Lashbrook.

Honors

Andrew won a

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

"Man of Merit Award" in 2002, and was named the BEA Entrepreneur of The Year in 2003.

References

External links

Personal websiteSkylet Andrew
at the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...