Former Hermitage Academy pupil and BBC sports broadcaster Hazel Irvine is to receive a Bafta Scotland award.

The Cardross native will be recognised with for her Outstanding Contribution to Broadcasting at the awards ceremony in Glasgow on November 17.

Speaking to the Advertiser in 2019, Hazel said the 1972 Munich Olympics were formative and she was "obsessed".

She said: "I remember going to the Brownies one night in the Geilston Hall and explaining to people that I really wanted to be an athlete.

"I was told, ‘You can’t be an athlete, there’s no money in it, it’s not a career...’ “Look at it now. Who’d have thought we’d have been so excited about the women’s World Cup when we were fighting for exposure and airtime for women’s sport for so long?

“We’re getting towards a more level playing field – or a more equal opportunity for women and boys to be involved in sport, to take part and to be inspired, not just by male role models but by female role models as well.


READ MORE: TV's Hazel Irvine hails rising profile of women's sport


“And that’s surely as it should be. We are by our very nature an equal society. There are as many women as men. And surely there should be as many opportunities for us all.”

Bafta Scotland said that Ms Irvine, who started her career with STV’s Scotsport in 1987, has been a leading figure in broadcasting and a trailblazer for women in sports journalism for more than 30 years.

Ms Irvine said: “I feel overwhelmed and honoured to join the list of Scottish actors, presenters, writers, directors, producers and ‘Doctor Who’s’ who have received this award over the last two decades.

“I have admired and looked up to these individuals for much of my life. Thank you to Bafta Scotland for such an amazing and unexpected honour.”

During her career so far, Ms Irvine has presented and reported from 18 Winter and Summer Olympics, fronted golf coverage for 25 years and snooker for 23 years.

She also anchored coverage of athletics and ski racing programme, Ski Sunday, for more than a decade.

Her many other varied credits include four World Cup Finals, the London Marathon, Grandstand, the Boat Race, Wimbledon, Final Score and Channel 4’s pioneering women’s football programmes in the late 1980s.

Casting director Des Hamilton will also be presented with the Bafta Scotland Award for Outstanding Contribution to Craft (in memory of Robert McCann).

The award is presented to a Scottish individual who has made significant contributions to the film, games and television industries through expertise in their craft.