Dougie Donnelly is one of Britains most popular and respected television sports presenters, with over 25 years experience of live broadcasting from the countrys major sporting occasions.
He was the first Scot to present Grandstand and has also attended no fewer than 7 Olympic Games, during which time he became only the third BBC commentator to have done the double of a British gold medal in both Summer and Winter Games!
Dougies was the voice which described Stephanie Cooks modern pentathlon gold in Sydney in 2000, and perhaps even more memorably, Great Britains womens curling gold medal in 2002.
In addition to his Olympic experiences, Dougie has worked on an impressive list of major sporting events including 2 World Cups, 4 Commonwealth Games, 8 US Masters, 18 Open Championships and no fewer than 30 consecutive Scottish Cup Finals - not one of which has featured Clyde ,the team he has always supported!
Since 2005 Dougie has been establishing a worldwide reputation as a golf commentator on The Golf Channel USA and in South Africa, Australia and the Far East as he travels for up to half the year on the European Tour.
Alongside golf, football remains Dougies other major speciality; he has been the face of BBC Scotland Sport since 1978, although rugby, snooker, darts and even bowls figure on the list of more than 25 different sports he has presented for TV.
It is this wide-ranging knowledge which led in 2005 to Dougies appointment by the Scottish Government as Chairman of the Scottish Institute of Sport, responsible for a 5 million annual budget to support Scotlands elite athletes . This role sits neatly alongside his Chairmanship of the Commonwealth Games Endowment Fund, which funds Scotlands Commonwealth Games team every 4 years.
A former radio deejay and twice Radio Personality of the Year, Dougie is a law graduate and humorous after dinner speaker and awards host who has entertained audiences everywhere from the House of Lords to a North Sea Oil Platform as well as interviewing former US President Bill Clinton onstage at the Royal Albert Hall!
His after dinner performances rely heavily on his broadcasting experiences and the major personalities he has encountered. At corporate golf events his anecdotes include his experiences of working with some of the biggest names in world golf: Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and his long time friends Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood and Sam Torrance, to name just a few.
His well known versatility also brought him 2 chat show series for BBC Scotland, including the one-off special Connolly with Donnelly in which fellow Scot Billy reminisced about the early days of their friendship, when Dougie used to book him for the University Folk Club for the generous fee of 40 !
Dougie has also presented quiz shows for both BBC and ITV and has been a guest on various programmes including The Weakest Link, Ready Steady Cook, The Games and Banzai.
His rapport with major sporting figures led to Dougie being commissioned to write and direct top-selling videos and DVDs including biographies of Ally McCoist, Paul Gascoigne, Gavin Hastings and many others.
Nominated in 2003 for The Royal Television Societys Sports Presenter of the Year award, Dougie is a former TV Personality of the Year in Scotland and was recently the subject of a Variety Club Tribute Dinner, chaired by Ally McCoist, and attended by a large number of sporting stars including Kenny Dalglish, Walter Smith and no fewer than 6 Olympic Gold Medallists!
Married with 3 daughters, Dougie lives in Glasgow and Gleneagles, enjoys food and wine, travelling, and playing and speaking at corporate golf days across Europe.
