Renowned sports journalist and broadcaster Phil Gifford has had an astonishing career spanning more than 50 years.
The former NewstalkZB host started writing newspaper columns under the name of his satirical rugby character, Loosehead Len in 1973. In the 1980’s he wrote for the Billy T James show, and fronted the iconic tv show, “Thats Fairly Interesting”. He has reported on every Rugby World Cup since 1987, and is now sports columnist for the New Zealand Herald.
He has written 27 books, including Dame Valerie Adams’ biography and ‘Grizz The Legend’, the biggest-selling New Zealand sports book of the 1990s. With 14 radio awards, twice New Zealand sports journalist of the year and awarded the 2010 SPARC lifetime achievement award for services to sports journalism, Phil is a media savant.
Phil was the best opening speaker that we'd had! Excellent, catered perfectly for the audience and very well received. ... keep reading New Zealand Heavy Haulage
Phil Gifford was a pleasure to deal with, professional and delivered on the day - looking forward to using him again sometime soon.
Phil was a perfect blend of humour and sincerity. He had the audience with him all the way. He facilitated, tied various presentations together and made the morning a seamless exercise.
Phil fills the MC role very well. Phil assisted in the entire presentation, flowing smoothly with appropriate links where required.
Phil was a fantastic speaker for us to have at our annual conference. He took the time to understand our organisation and tailored his address accordingly. His rugby tales were enjoyed by all. Phil's diversity and willingness to go the extra mile also shone when he interviewed the Prime Minister on stage in a Q&A style following his own address.
Phil is obviously very passionate about what he has done and is doing, so comes across as very entertaining and therefore was extremely well received. Delegates loved to hear the little anecdotes that he had to tell. He was more than happy to take questions afterwards which meant he was speaking for over an hour much to everyone’s delight. Comments were “He was the best speaker we’ve had.” “A very genuine speaker”
Phil was just PERFECT! Phil came in on the right level for our group and very entertaining.
Phil was fantastic the audience loved him!
Phil prepared an extremely interesting speech. He was well prepared and well organised with a keen sense of humour! Most importantly Phil was happy to spend time with members of the audience after the completion of the formalities, which added a personal touch that many other speakers don't embrace. I would be happy to recommend Phil for any speaking engagements.
Phil Gifford was a pleasure to work with! Communication with him before the event was incredibly straightforward and we found him to be both reliable and flexible. His talk was very well received and he tailored his content perfectly for the age of the audience that he was presenting to. He had the residents engaged in his talk, had them laughing in their seats and stuck around for a very healthy Q&A and meet & greet afterwards. We wouldn’t hesitate to invite him back again.
Phil provided a great presentation to our group and took the time to stay on with us for lunch. He has a huge knowledge of Rugby with stories galore.
