Rob Palmer is a football commentator and sports broadcaster on Sky Sports, ESPN and other outlets around the world.
He has appeared on Sky Sports since 1995, originally joining from Granada Television to act as the North West correspondent for the Sports News channel.
His broadcasting career started at BBC Radio Humberside (alongside Sky Sports colleague Rob Hawthorne) and BBC Radio Merseyside.
Rob Palmer is best known for his commentary on Sky Sports (La Liga Coverage) over the years. He has commentated on the Clásico every year since 1996.
He is a former goalkeeper with Derby County F.C.. Originally signed as a schoolboy, he played several seasons professionally in the development team and in the FA Youth Cup.
In 1983, he accepted a scholarship at the University of New Haven, Connecticut in the USA to play football and take a BSc in Mass Media Communication.
He broke several NCAA records as The Chargers progressed to the Regional and National finals in 1984 and 1985. His roommate was Juan Carlos Osorio, who later would be the Mexico national team manager.
After returning to the UK, he played for several non-league football teams and Scunthorpe United.
He was given his break in television whilst playing for Bridlington Town. John Motson pulled out of reporting on "The Road to Wembley" FA Cup feature and Palmer, who was keeping goal for Bridlington was asked to step in as Motson's replacement.
Palmer started his journalism career in newspapers and a Midlands newsgathering agency.
He moved into radio in 1987 to work for BBC Radio Humberside and then BBC Radio Merseyside, commentating on Liverpool FC winning the League in 1990.
He has since established himself as a well-respected TV commentator, reporter and presenter.
He is currently heard as the commentator on La Liga for EPSN+ in the USA as part of their comprehensive coverage of Spanish football. He joined the American network in 2021 when they signed a multi-million dollar eight year deal. He continues to call Premier League matches around the official world-feed and Sky Sports. He also commentates on live EFL matches for Sky, international matches for the UEFA world feed and the Champions League/Europa League for DAZN in Canada.
He is widely regarded as the 'voice of La Liga' in the UK and on TV stations that took the Sky feed of Spanish matches from 1996 to 2018.
Palmer writes a weekly column for the Spanish based, Sur in English, newspaper and regularly appears on SuperSport in South Africa plus Sirus Radio in the States.
During his stint at Granada TV, he covered live Sunday-afternoon matches and was often heard in other regions commentating on highlights, and on the late night Football League Extra programme in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons and he also covered the 1994 World Cup for the ITV network.
His subsequent credits include: weekly appearances on Gillette Soccer Saturday, presenting stints on Soccer AM, Copa America, Football First, England Under 21s and Fishomania.
Rob is known for voice-overs for many Premier League football clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool FC, Everton, and Hull City.
He commentated on the 1994 World Cup for ITV, the Champions League Final 2010 (Sky 3D coverage) and Euro 96 for the host broadcaster. In recent years, he has guest commentated for DAZN in Canada, the Seattle Sounders.
He also presented and commentated on a variety of sports at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. His voice has also appeared in TV shows such as Coronation Street and Cracker. He's anchored the annual Fishomania show on Sky Sports, organised by Matchroom Sports, since replacing Jeff Stelling as host in 2004.
He is also a key fundraiser and ambassador for the children's cerebral palsy charity Stick 'n' Step.[1]
He was voted as the 'Spirit of Merseyside' Celebrity Charity Champion (2010) at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in May 2010 - following Liverpool footballer Jamie Carragher who won the award in 2009. He hosts an annual golf tournament which is supported by many football legends including Robbie Fowler, Jason McAteer, Kevin Ratcliffe and Derek Mountfield.
He is married to Bronach and his son Ellis is a champion of disabled rights and BBC journalist.