“And that’s actually true. Back then, nobody thought I’d continue past 40. I was written off in the early 2000s. The whole time, people were saying, ‘Who’s going to replace Sue?’ I wasn’t ready to go then. But things have changed. I don’t know where or when it changed, but I never thought I’d be doing this job for 30 years.”
Didn’t she have to deal with everyday sexism in such a notoriously male-dominated workplace? “No, almost the opposite. In fact, they gave me everything. I think they broke down the barriers rather than put them up for me.”
“When I started, I went to Des [Lynam] and said, “Should I do this as a woman?” And he was really supportive and helpful. He said, “Look, you have to do it. You know sports and you understand what everyone is going through.”
“While so many other people said, ‘Oh, you don’t have any experience with the broadcast side.’ OK, I didn’t. [Instead, she had learnt on the job, first as a commentator for Channel 7 in Australia, and then as the anchor for BSkyB’s tennis coverage]But professional commentators don’t know what it’s like to step onto Centre Court at Wimbledon.
“I did Sports Personality of the Year the next year after I joined the BBC. I made Grandstand and I was at the Olympics. I never expected to be at those shows, but it was a privilege. And then David Coleman A question of sport‘We’ll have a quiz leader’ – is that the right word? That was also unthinkable.”
“Cliff Richard kept talking about me”
The Grandstand A particular highlight was the appointment. It was the show that Barker had watched as a child with her parents Betty, a housewife, and Bob, who worked in Plymouth as an area representative for the Bass Charrington brewery. Her older sister Jane was a tennis enthusiast who set her on this long journey by letting her collect balls, and her brother Neil had a career in telecommunications.
“I once made the terrible mistake of loading the Grandstand music onto my phone,” Barker explained. “And of course it’s so iconic that every time it rang, people would turn around and say, ‘That’s her!’ So I had to change it quickly because I suddenly thought, ‘I want to remain anonymous, thank you very much.'”
Once Barker leaves the field or the studio, she always prefers anonymity. At first glance, her warm and talkative personality would make her a natural target for Be sure to come and danceUnfortunately for the Scouts, she is averse to the idea, explaining that her husband Lance – a former Metropolitan Police detective and keen amateur tennis player whom she met while coaching at a David Lloyd leisure centre – would divorce her as soon as she danced her first waltz.
She prefers not to talk too much about her private life, except that the couple live in the Cotswolds and have an old dog who could keep Lance at home during Wimbledon. And she certainly doesn’t like to talk about Cliff Richard, the tennis-loving singer who asked her out on a few dates in 1982. Call the shotsshe expressed her annoyance that Richard kept rehashing this brief interlude.
“The only thing we’ve argued about is the fact that he kept talking about me in interviews – ‘I didn’t love her enough to propose’ and so on… I really enjoyed our early friendship, but the pain that all his talk caused, not only to me but also to Lance – who was constantly reminded why someone else wouldn’t marry his wife – just isn’t fair.”
Political discussions are also taboo. When I mention that this year’s Wimbledon broadcast will inevitably coincide with the general election on July 4 – also known as second round day – Barker throws his head back. “Don’t ask me about that. I’m not interested in the election. Between the European Championships and the election, I don’t know where tennis will play a role, but probably not that much. I’m not even interested. Thank you.”
Barker considers herself to be two things: a former sportswoman and a sports reporter. Her tennis career lasted 12 years and was nurtured by the advice of an eccentric coach: Arthur Roberts, who worked at the Palace Hotel in Torquay and had also coached the 1961 Wimbledon champion Angela Mortimer. Although Roberts refused to leave Devon under any circumstances, he insisted that his 17-year-old protégé travel to the United States in 1974 and join the WTA Tour, which had been launched the previous summer.