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
Grandstand (TV programme) the end of the Premier League football games played on Saturday afternoon. The original theme was "News Scoop" by Len Stevens, which was used until 6 November 1971. From 13 November 1971 to 11 October 1975, another tune, composed by Barry Stoller who also composed the "Match of the Day" theme, was used. The programme's longest running and best known theme, composed for the programme by Keith Mansfield, was first heard at the end of the 11 October 1975 edition (the 1000th edition of Grandstand) and remained until the end of the programme's existence. Grandstand (TV programme) Grandstand was a