An Interview with…Dave Roberts
I understand that you started your career in football freelancing for ITV Sport and Capital Radio. How did that come about?
By being a typical cheeky Boro lad! I started working at Radio Tees setting up football reporters on the phone for sports presenter Tony Lockwood to broadcast match updates.
This progressed to me reporting on football for the radio station. Then I got to meet fellow reporters and cheekily I started phoning Capital and ITV asking to do their football reports from the North East.
Ahead of the first home game of the then new Premiership season, I heard John Motson was coming up to Middlesbrough to do after match interviews for the Manchester City game. Again I picked up the phone and called the BBC, asking for Brian Barwick the then Editor of Match of the Day. I asked why he was sending Motty all the way from London when I could do the interviews. To be fair to him, he said ‘okay, let’s give you a try’. The rest is history.
You worked in local radio as a commentator for Middlesbrough games in the early 90’s. What was it like working at the club when they moved from Ayresome Park to the Riverside?
It was great. I loved Ayresome and I was one of those saying we should not leave the old place – but Steve Gibson was dead right. The moment I walked into the new stadium I could not believe that what I was seeing was Boro’s new home. Modern facilities, no obstructed views and at the time I was fortunate enough to be the Boro commentator so was given access to many areas fans would not see.
It was THE biggest step forward for the club in the changes that were to come, Bryan Robson, Juninho, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Wembley, Steve McClaren and the UEFA Cup Final.
You worked alongside Malcolm Allison, co-presenting the ‘Big Mal Football Phone-In’ and later Malcolm McDonald on ‘Supermac at 6’. Were they like the characters that everyone saw in the 70s as player and manager?
They were HUGE characters and guys that turned out to be very good friends, in fact I still trip up to see Supermac every once in a while.
Big Mal was awesome, larger than life in every way. I can dine out free of charge for months on the stories I have about my time with Malcolm. One of the most well known is him getting sacked by Century for swearing on-air. The simple fact was Big Mal used to forget he was on the radio and would simply speak his mind, fantastic!
Supermac was completely different, a legend on Tyneside so he tested my Boro allegiances in every way. He was worshiped by the Geordies and despite my best efforts to annoy the Mags with my many pro-Boro references, because I was with Supermac I seemed to be accepted somehow. Both had similarities, and not just their first names.
Both liked a drink, both didn’t care who they upset and both were great company in private but retained the superstar persona in public.
You worked at France ’98 (my favourite World Cup!) for Talk Radio. What did that entail?
My cheeky Boro lad skills were needed. I had resigned on-air from Century Radio several months earlier. The boss there moved onto Talk Radio, however Talk had no rights to cover the World Cup but wanted to try to do it.
So I got a call from my old boss, who told me how he was still annoyed with me for what I had done at Century, but he could not think of anyone else who may be cheeky enough to defeat the FIFA accreditation system.
Let’s just say I did a good job as we went on to cover every game and were only caught at the semi-final stage. To be fair to FIFA, despite other UK radio stations complaining about us being there, they let us finish the competition. I was sat ten feet from Didier Deschamps when he lifted the trophy – not a bad seat when you consider I should not have been there. Other than defeating the FIFA system my role was to be touchline reporter along with Alan Parry and Andy Gray. The stories from that trip are for another time, let’s just say Gray mentions me on that trip in his book.
What was it like making the transition from radio to television? What are the main differences between the two?
I love radio, I always say ‘TV pays the bills but radio is my true love’. As a commentator, TV is easier as viewers see the pictures where as as a radio commentator you must paint the pictures for listeners.
The key for TV is to leave out most stuff and let the pictures breathe, it’s not necessary to fill it with commentary as you simply need to add to the pictures.
For radio, the key is to paint pictures, give colour, feel, sound… basically provide everything as the listener cannot see anything. Much trickier.
Who were the best managers to interview when you did after-match interviews over your career?
Sir Alex Ferguson walked off a live interview I did with him. He did not like a question I asked – he claimed it was a trick question that he could not answer without looking bad.
Always a tricky guy to interview but a great challenge as were Ruud Gullit and Kenny Dalglish at Newcastle. In fact I was banned from Newcastle for a while for giving Kenny a grilling over two of his players fighting in public. Robbo and Steve McClaren were great as I built up a great rapport with both, as I did with Peter Reid at Sunderland. All three knew I would ask them anything, but I would do it with respect, and I did, many many times.
When you moved to Sky Sports News, you worked as a reporter from training grounds and from news conferences. Did you prefer this to being a presenter?
Looking back, I did as I found being a reporter more of a natural fit and helped me form many close friendships with players and managers.
Saying that, at the time I had ambition to be a sports TV presenter so when that opportunity came I loved it. There was no better feeling than coming out of the TV studio having presented a great TV show and knowing that a hundred million viewers around the world would have been watching.
After Sky Sports, you moved to Singapore to work as a presenter and commentator. How did the opportunity come up to work there?
That’s where the hundred million viewers came in. The TV station there (ESPN Star Sports) covered in excess of 210 million homes, amazing numbers. The opportunity came from a guy who I knew from him working at Tyne Tees when I was at SKY Sports. He moved out there to help set up the then new TV network. A couple of years later a chance conversation had him saying there was a job going for a presenter, I went over to Singapore for an interview and the rest was history – thanks Andy!
You’ve worked as a presenter, reporter and commentator. Which of the three jobs did you enjoy the most?
I loved them all, I am very lucky to have been able to have done them. I have to say that commentary was the most enjoyable. Along with Ali, being the voice of Boro on Century Radio during the Robbo era was truly amazing and I think highs that will not be repeated. We had Alen Boksic, Juninho, Emerson, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Branco, 3 cup finals in 11 months… let me just pinch myself again. I was like a kid at Christmas, commentating on my beloved team that was filled with world superstars. I was in charge of the radio coverage of this, it was unreal.
As well as broadcasting, you have refereed at various levels. These must both be pressurised jobs! What got you interested in refereeing?
Yeah, this is where my evil masochistic side comes out, only joking! I loved refereeing. It wasn’t the power trip, I loved playing a part in good game of football. There was nothing better than at the end of the game players coming up and shaking hands saying ‘good game ref’. I liked to talk, to build relationships with players on the field, hey I’d send players off if I needed to. I would not shirk my duties, but the psychology of managing a game, the players and managers was huge to me.
It was never pressure for me, even the game I refereed in Asia in front of 110,000 supporters, it was truly enjoyable – mind you that was noisy.
I tried to start refereeing 10 years before I actually did. I wrote to North Riding County FA asking for details of refereeing courses, but I never got a reply.
But I tried again a decade later, did the course and started with a grassroots game in July at Skippers Lane in Middlesbrough, a far cry from 110,000 screaming fans in Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta, India!
I ended up refereeing in the professional game and also international matches. In Asia I also refereed a game that I later found out was ‘fixed’. Huge money was laid on the game for 9 goals to be scored, it ended 7-2. I had no idea.
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