Face of Midland sport recognised with MBE
ONE of Birmingham’s most recognisable faces in sports broadcasting has received an MBE in the New Year’s Honours for services to media, sport and charity.
Gary Newbon has been the face and voice of sport in the West Midlands for half a century, having enjoyed a lengthy career with ITV Sport and ITV Central.
During his career, the 73-year-old has covered sports as diverse as football, darts and horse racing and rose to the role of head of ITV Sport.
His citation described him as “a champion of women working in sport” who had nurtured a number of women, and men, who had gone on to have careers in sport broadcasting.
In 1981, Newbon took on the executive post of controller of West Midlands sport alongside his roles on the nightly Central Sport bulletins and weekend Star Soccer shows.
He also worked on seven World Cups, three Olympic Games, international and club football and at ringside for major boxing events for ITV Sport.
After retiring from Central, he stepped into a new role with Sky Sports football, boxing, greyhound racing and sporting nostalgia shows. He also set up his own television production company and recently started training would-be television reporters and presenters.
Away from the microphone, Newbon is Midlands President of the Lord’s Taverners and hosts an annual Christmas fundraising lunch.
Newbon is also patron of Deafblind UK, an honorary barker of the Variety Club of Great Britain and a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats.
He said: “It’s a fantastic honour, a great honour for me and my family who have had to make sacrifices while I pursued the life of a journalist and broadcaster.
“I’m pleased for the Midlands. I’ve done 50 years in TV this year and the bulk has been in the Midlands. I owe the Midlands a lot. It is a fantastic honour to be recognised by your country.”
Newbon helped shape the televised sports coverage we enjoy today. He is best known for his football coverage, but also pioneered darts on TV and covered numerous big fights.
His live nostalgia show – a series of interviews with former greats – has proved particularly popular, and his name was placed on Birmingham’s Broad Street Walk of Stars six years ago.
Since receiving news of the MBE last month, Newbon stuck to the rules of silence that surround the honours list.
“I hadn’t even told my kids,” he admits.
“A letter came from the Cabinet Office,” he says. “I thought ‘I’m not in trouble’. Then I thought ‘It can’t be, can it?’. It said the Prime Minister had requested to the Queen that I receive the MBE.
“They gave you a form which asked if you wanted to accept it. I ticked that one straight away!”
He is proud the award recognises three things, including his charity work.
“The charity element is very important,” he added.
“The charity element, and supporting good causes, is very important for people in the public eye.”
Newbon took his first steps in journalism with a news agency in 1964, earning £5 a week.
By the age of 23, he was in front of the cameras with Plymouth’s Westward TV.
He became an ATV sports reporter in the early 1970s and rose to the top.
He has launched the media career of myriad football stars including Jimmy Greaves, Andy Gray and Andy Townsend and championed the role of women in sports media.