Sally Jones

Sally Jones (born 1955) is a British journalist and television presenter for sports and news. In 1986, she became the BBC's first woman sports presenter on BBC Breakfast News.

She is also a three-time world champion in real tennis, winning the singles title once and the doubles title twice. the daughter of a bank manager in Coleshill. and at St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she read English and won five blues and half blues for different sports including tennis, squash, netball, cricket and modern pentathlon. and a finalist in the British Under 21 doubles championship (LTA). She played county tennis, squash (Warwickshire, Devon and South Wales squash associations), and netball (Birmingham Schools and Midlands First teams), captaining the Warwickshire senior tennis team for ten years, leading them to the County Championship in July 1997. She won the Sunday Telegraph Travel Writing Prize for an account of a tennis tour of Ireland and two Catherine Pakenham awards for women journalists.

Broadcasting and writing career During her career, Jones has been a BBC news trainee, She has also reported for ITN and Channel 4 News and has written columns for the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mirror and Today. In 1986, she became the BBC's first woman sports presenter on BBC Breakfast News:

Jones has also presented several series of On the Line; the daytime show The Garden Party; real tennis documentaries on Channel 4; coverage of women's British Open golf, international tennis, women's rugby, and NBA basketball on the BBC; Transworld Sport on Channel 4; and international gymnastics on ITV. She presented Woman's Hour from Birmingham (BBC Radio 4) and was a member of the BBC Radio 5 Live Wimbledon tennis commentary team during the 1990s. In 2010, she set up Sally Jones Features Ltd, a media consultancy.

She has also written several books on West English folklore, including Legends of Cornwall (1980), Legends of Devon (1981), Legends of Somerset (1983), and the Ladybird Book of Riding. In 2006, she co-wrote and edited a prize-winning local history book on Georgian Warwickshire.

She also works for several charities including Birmingham Children's Hospital and Twycross Zoo She is a board member of Modern Pentathlon GB and a trustee of the Oxford and Cambridge Rowing Foundation.

Real tennis In 1986, Jones took up real tennis and won the 1993 World Championship at Bordeaux, as well as two British Open and two US Open championships. with Alex Garside in 1989 and 1991 Grant (1940-2026) who was 14 years her senior. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2021. They had two children: management consultant Roland Grant and journalist Madeline Grant.

Her daughter Madeline attended the same school as her mother, and is now Assistant Editor of The Spectator. Madeline is married to the clergyman Fergus Butler-Gallie, and previously dated the actor Laurence Fox.

Selected works Legends of Cornwall (1980) Legends of Devon (1981) Legends of Somerset (1983) The Ladybird Book of Riding