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TV sports presenter and reporter Steve Lee dies suddenly at the age of 68

By ANTON RIPPON

Former television sports presenter Steve Lee has died suddenly at the age of 68.

For a generation of viewers in the Midlands, Lee was the face of sport in the region before he went on to cover football and county cricket for Sky Sports. He worked on the 1998 World Cup for BBC TV Sport and was a regular on Match of the Day and Football Focus.

Steve Scott, head of the Sky Sports News TV channel, said: “Steve was a really good friend of Sky Sports News and was a big part of the channel’s early success, building our credibility in the Midlands due to his long-standing reputation in the area.

“He was on our screens regularly, covering football and county cricket with distinction. Steve will be greatly missed.”

Former BRMB football host Tom Ross tweeted: “Devastated to hear that former BBC and Sky TV presenter and reporter Steve Lee has suddenly passed away. A warm genuine guy who I enjoyed much banter with. Thoughts with his family at this time. RIP pal.”


 His daughter Rebecca said on social media: “It is with the heaviest heart that I share that we lost our lovely Dad, Steve Lee, very suddenly on Sunday.

“We are coming to terms with the news and will share details of the funeral when we are able to. Love you Dad.”

In 2017, Lee graduated from the Open University –  47 years after he first started a degree at Reading University in 1970. At the time he told the Kidderminster-based The Shuttle newspaper: “We lived on a council estate and I was the first child from my family to go to university and my mother, Olive, was so proud.  She was a tough Londoner, who always had a bee in her bonnet about education after not being allowed to go to art school.


“When I left university after two terms on a teenage whim, it broke her heart. But she never told me that ­­­– she merely encouraged me in a career in journalism which has led to a newspaper career and one in radio and television. Sadly, she died in 1986, before my career had really taken off but she was always the inspiration for everything I did.

“To be honest, this degree has been one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it has been truly life changing. I’ve spent six years doing part-time study, as well as following a broadcasting career.

“I guess I am like a lot of old journalists – once it is in your blood, it stays there. My mother always used to say that once you had an education no one could take it from you and she has been my inspiration through my down moments.”

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