Rebecca Lowe
For anyone who’s into their football, Rebecca Lowe is probably a name you recognise instantly, but if not, then she’s one to watch out for.
The 31 year old is the only female presenter of live televised football in the UK and is currently presenting/reporting for ESPN, where she has been since 2009.
“I left behind my acting career and I tell you what, it was not a mistake..."
She has presented on countless programmes across a number of TV channels, including Final Score, Match of the Day 2, News 24 and the Breakfast show on the BBC, as well as ‘Football Matters’, on Setanta. She has also been a radio football broadcaster on BBC Radio Five Live, Radio 2 and 4.
Lowe has also reported on a number of World championships as well, such as the 2004 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia and the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
Being a football presenter wasn’t always on the cards for Lowe. “I actually grew up with the intention of being an actress. My mum was one and I went to University to drama and fully intended to leave with a major then hit the agencies,” she said. It was only when she applied for and won the BBC Talent Search (she beat 650 other candidates) and got a contract there, that she realised it was the right path to go down. “I left behind my acting career and I tell you what, it was not a mistake because I realise now that I don’t think I could’ve lasted very long in that world of acting.”
Lowe worked at the BBC from 2002 until 2007 which is when she went to Setanta. “The BBC’s a fantastic corporation to work for, with incredible facilities and exposure, but it’s also a very large and I felt like I was getting lost a bit amongst the lots of reporters that they had,” she explained. “I think to an extent, everyone knew me as ‘the girl that won the talent competition when she was 21’, so I was always sort of seen as that,” she added.
Standing out to employers isn’t the only challenge Lowe’s faced whilst being in the football industry, there’s also the fact that it’s very male dominated- something which was highlighted by the sexism scandal earlier this year. “It takes a lot of energy because sometimes that [being outnumbered by males] is an issue and you get tired of being sort of different,” she explains. “I have days when it’s tough and that’s often a result of interviewing somebody who is quite clearly slightly traditional in their views, so that makes it difficult.”
Lowe says though that it’s never put her off her career and it’s become less of a problem for her personally. “On the whole I can let it brush off me.” She also made that “Footballers get a bad press but I’ve never had bad experiences with them in terms of them treating me as a woman.”
Football and presenting are things Lowe has always loved and had a passion for, regardless of the challenges, however she says that she is open to other things and would maybe like to broaden her horizons in the future though. “I quite like the idea of doing more mainstream daytime TV; something completely different.” “I’m a big fan of This Morning and Kirsty’s Homemade Britain and I love cooking, making things, home programmes,” she confesses.
Even though it’d be a far cry from football, she would still like to stay on our screens and present. “I would absolutely love to do a chat show of some description!” she says. “So often in football you get a few minutes to interview somebody after or before a game, but when you get the opportunity to sit down with say Sir Alex Ferguson, like I did a few months ago, and do a half an hour interview, it’s fascinating.” She added: “It just gives you a chance to really know them as a human being.”
Rebecca Lowe is a presenter and reporter for sports broadcaster ESPN’s UK coverage of the Barclays Premier League, FA Cup, Clydesdale Bank Premier League and the FA Women’s Super League. Visit espn.co.uk/tv for details.
Sophie Burluraux