Jeff Stelling has been passionate about football and sports broadcasting for his entire career. He began reporting on Middlesbrough FC for Radio Tees, before moving to BBC Radio’s Sport, reporting on the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics. He has also worked for TV-am, Channel 4 and EuroSport, before moving to Sky to front their darts, snooker and horse racing coverage.
Jeff has made Sky Sports football viewing an unmissable fixture for fans everywhere. Soccer Saturday requires Jeff to present for up to six hours at a time, including live reports on that day’s games, as well as managing a panel of pundits, including players such as Chris Kamara and George Best. Whilst best known for Soccer Saturday, Jeff has also hosted Sky’s coverage of the Champions League between 2011 and 2015.
After announcing he would step down from Soccer Saturday in 2021 after 30 years at Sky, he decided to stay on as host for at least the 2022/23 season.
JEFF STELLING – TV AWAY FROM SPORT
In 2008/9, Jeff took over from Des O’Connor as the main presenter of Countdown, hosting until 2011. He has also appeared on The Weakest Link (2003), where he won the sports presenter special edition. In 2016, he became the presenter of a new daytime game show for ITV called Alphabetical, which ran for two series.
Jeff has also appeared as himself in several programmes including Ted Lasso (2020), The IT Crowd (2010), Dream Team (2003-2005) and Mike Bassett: Manager (2005).
JEFF STELLING – CHARITY WORK
Jeff is a firm supporter of a number of charities. In 2013 he, along with former footballers Colin Cooper and Craig Hignett, and 12 others, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, raising money for the children’s charity The Finlay Cooper fund, raising £100,000 between them. Then in 2016, he walked 262 miles from Hartlepool United to Wembley Stadium over 10 days, raising over £420,000 for Prostate Cancer UK. The following year, he walked from St James’ Park in Exeter to St James’ Park in Newcastle, covering the length of 15 marathons in as many days, again for Prostate Cancer UK. He has also completed the London Marathon on an impressive eight occasions.
