Ray Stubbs

Raymond J. Stubbs (born 24 May 1956) is an English broadcaster and former footballer. He worked as a presenter for the BBC, ESPN and BT Sport, and now works for Talksport radio.

His recent television work includes covering the World Seniors Championships for both Darts (BBC) and Snooker (Channel 5)

Football career Stubbs began his career as a professional footballer, leaving Calday Grange Grammar School to join Tranmere Rovers for five years, although he never made an appearance for the club. He also played for Bangor City between 1978 and 1980. After ending his playing career with Tranmere, he stayed with the club in an administrative capacity although he continued to play part time with Oswestry Town.

As Commercial Director of the club, he agreed a deal with club's first ever shirt sponsor; Storeton Motor Company. The deal was announced in October 1979. Two years he agreed a new shirt sponsorship with Cathedral Tours – a Liverpool-based excursion company.

He later spent three years with BBC Radio Merseyside as a reporter and presenter.

BBC career In 1986, Stubbs moved to BBC Manchester as an assistant producer, working on sports including snooker, darts and bowls, and on the quiz show A Question of Sport. He also worked as a producer, reporter and presenter on BBC Two's investigative sports series On The Line, which took him to Italy in 1990 to report on England football fans at the World Cup. During the game between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day 2009, he was taken ill at half time and taken to hospital as a precaution. He presented ESPN's live coverage of the 2011, 2012, and 2013 FA Cup finals with pitchside build-up and post-match coverage.

After ESPN Following the rebranding of ESPN UK, Stubbs joined newly created BT Sport as its lead reporter. Stubbs left BT in 2016 and joined Talksport, though he is no longer working for the station and instead working for their digital only offshoot Talksport 2.

In February 2023, and again in 2024, Stubbs worked as presenter on the World Seniors Darts Championship.

Charity work Stubbs has been a big supporter of Sport Relief and often took part in physical stunts for the project. In 2002, he was dropped 100 feet from the roof of the Millennium Dome (now The O2 Arena) into a pile of boxes; in 2004, he was suspended from a crane, and swung into a giant ball of dung; and, in 2006, he was tied to a post and bombarded by 15,000 bouncy balls.

In 2007, Stubbs took part in Comic Relief does Fame Academy, and made it to the last five, before being struck down by an upper respiratory tract infection. Despite his illness, he still performed twice on the night, before being voted out by three of his fellow students so he could go home and recover. Stubbs also takes part in the Great North Run each year for charity, and is an honorary member of Gateshead Harriers.