Helen Rollason Helen Rollason Helen Frances Rollason, MBE ("née" Grindley: 11 March 1956 – 9 August 1999) was a British sports journalist and television presenter, who in 1990 became the first female presenter of the BBC's sports programme "Grandstand". She was also a regular presenter of "Sport on Friday", and of the children's programme "Newsround" during the 1980s. Born in London, Rollason studied to become a PE teacher before entering radio broadcasting in 1980. After directing sport related content for Channel 4, where she helped to bring American football to British television, she anchored coverage of the 1987 World Student Games and
ABC Radio Grandstand when there are major football, cricket or tennis matches in progress, or the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, the coverage is often continued for the entirety of the relevant time frame if Grandstand is broadcasting the competition, as opposed to simply reporting the results. This can result in broadcasts in the early hours of the morning if Australia is playing in a cricket Test on another side of the world. Being a national program with significant local content, Grandstand includes live crosses to local ABC radio stations for sporting updates as well as centralised broadcasts of major events. Presenters include: During