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Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys hasn’t disappeared from the limelight
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Keys and his long-time colleague Andy Gray run their own podcast
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Read below for more on Richard Keys’ turbulent career to date
Richard Keys, once the face of Sky Sports’ football coverage, has been at the centre of scandal, yet since leaving Sky, has continued to pop up in sporting debate.
Keys has opted to maintain a high profile – those interested in sports betting are bound to have seen a clip or snippet from Keys over the last few years.
There was a time when Keys and Andy Gray were a fixture for football fans in the UK.
Tracking your latest live betting exploits invariably involved Keys and Gray, with Keys running the show from the studio and Gray’s familiar tones providing the analysis in-game.
Some look back on Gray as one of the best football commentators. Nostalgia might make others miss the era of Keys and Gray, despite what was a well-deserved ending to their time on Sky Sports.
Let’s take a look at Richard Keys’ career so far and what he’s up to at the moment.
Blog
Richard Keys’ website – which can be found at http://www.richardajkeys.com/ -- is described as a place that Keys ‘shares his personal views on current sports news’.
This also includes embedded players to listen to the Keys & Gray Podcast, along with a ‘gallery’ and videos section.
Website visitors are first greeted by an image of Keys with Pele. There’s a contact page if anyone fancies getting in touch, and links to an array of social media channels.
His ‘bio’ features a rundown of his career so far, including sections on his charity work and awards won.
Active and always outspoken on Twitter, Richard Keys’ social media accounts are a place to catch his latest ‘insights’ on the world of sport.
It’s also a fun way to keep up to date with his most recent blog output without actually having to read it all.
Remarkably getting near to a quarter of a million followers, Keys’ posts can be found at the handle @RichardAJKeys.
Followers can expect a lot of angry tweets from Keys and the occasional shots fired at fellow celebrities. The replies and quote tweets often make for a fun read.
Career
Born in Coventry, Richard Keys travelled the country on his way to the very top of British sports media. Initially in London, Keys worked for Hayter’s in the late-1970s before a stint with Radio City in Liverpool.
He remained in the northwest, albeit relocating in 1982, when he signed up with Piccadilly Radio as sports editor and football commentator.
After a couple of years in Manchester, Keys returned to London for a high-profile gig with ITV. One of the main anchors of the show TV-am, Keys received opportunities on the sports side of things, too.
The prospect of Keys commentating on two Tours de France might seem alien to many now. He was also still in the football sphere at ITV, often appearing as a commentator for the network.
By spring 1990, British Satellite Broadcasting had employed Keys. The company merged with Sky just a few months later, and he left TV-am by the end of 1990.
The Premier League began in 1992, and Keys was given presenting responsibilities for Super Sunday and Monday Night Football. Once Sky had rights to the Champions League, the Coventry native took a front seat in the coverage.
He picked the brains of former players, nudging them to make a football prediction, and maintained the role as Sky’s lead football presenter until 2011.
While at Sky, Keys had worked with Al Jazeera Sports on the 2008 European Championships, a relationship that was rekindled a few years’ later.
After departing Sky, he worked with TalkSport for a period and had a brief foray back into British television as he launched Boxnation with Frank Warren.
In 2013, Keys returned to Al Jazeera with Andy Gray. The pair present from Doha, covering the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
Just as they were synonymous with Sky Sports through the 1990s and 2000s, Keys and Gray are the stalwarts of BeIN Sports’ European football coverage – clips from their shows often surface on social media.
Sacked by Sky
Richard Keys and Andy Gray were sacked by Sky Sports following comments about Sian Massey in 2011. They were critical of women officiating football matches, and questioned Massey’s understanding of the rules in a leaked recording.
Keys said, “Somebody better get down there and explain offside to her Massey.”
Gray replied, “Yeah, I know. Can you believe that? Female linesman. Forget what I said - they probably don’t know the offside rule.”
Keys agreed with Gray, and further comments surfaced of Keys talking about Karren Brady.
He said, "The game's gone mad. See charming Karren Brady this morning complaining about sexism? Yeah. Do me a favour, love."
There was widespread condemnation of the comments, and Keys issued an ‘apology’.
"Prehistoric banter isn't acceptable in the modern world. I accept that. We failed to change when the world has changed.
"We wholeheartedly apologise for our behaviour. It was wrong. I deserve to be battered. I can stand up and take a beating. I'm not sorry for me, I'm sorry for Sian Massey."
Keys left Sky, but he’s been happy to talk about the incident in the following years, even claiming it was a stitch up.
Speaking to The Athletic in 2021, he said, “The incident, we should have seen coming. It was a set-up, of course it was. But they made capital out of it…
“That anger that I carry in my back pocket, I will never, ever put away.”
This is an incident that might have removed Keys from the football betting landscape in the UK, but his career has barely faltered despite patchy remorse.
FIRST PUBLISHED: 22nd March 2022
