Ian Robertson (born 17 January 1945) ^[1] is a Scottish broadcaster, writer and former international rugby player. He is best known as a rugby union commentator for BBC Radio.

Early life

Robertson was educated at George Watson's College in Edinburgh, Aberdeen University and Christ's College, Cambridge. ^[2] He worked for four years as an English teacher at Fettes College, where his most famous pupil was Tony Blair. ^[3]

Rugby career

Robertson played rugby union for Cambridge University, Watsonians, ^[4] London Scottish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (1968–70) and the Barbarians. ^[5] The most memorable moment of his playing career was Scotland's 1970 Calcutta Cup victory over England. At 25 he suffered a serious knee injury that ended his sporting career. ^[3]

Journalism

Robertson joined the BBC in 1972. ^[6] and since April 1983 he was the Corporation's official rugby union correspondent, ^[6] covering the sport not only on radio but also on television. He regards Scotland's 1984 and 1990 Grand Slams and Jonny Wilkinson's winning drop-kick in the final of the 2003 World Cup as his "best on-air moments". ^[3] Robertson was also a presenter of the English Premiership video review of 1998-99. In February 2018 he announced that he would be retiring at the end of the year and covered his last game, England v Australia, on 24 November 2018. ^[7]

Robertson is a prolific writer; he has written over 30 books and a number of biographies, ^[6] including those of Bill Beaumont, ^[8] Andy Irvine, ^[8] and actor Richard Burton. ^[3] His memoir Rugby: Talking a Good Game was published in November 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton.

References