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Richard Keys and Andy Gray 'celebrate' five-year anniversary of Sky Sports sacking, Twitter responds accordingly

The former Sky Sports presenters left in January after sexist comments were revealed about lineswoman Sian Massey as well as their co-presenters

Jack de Menezes
Tuesday 26 January 2016 13:20 GMT
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Richard Keys and Andy Gray 'celebrate' the five-year anniversary of their Sky Sports sacking
Richard Keys and Andy Gray 'celebrate' the five-year anniversary of their Sky Sports sacking (Twitter/@richardajkeys)

Former Sky Sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray enjoyed a glass of champagne together on Monday to celebrate the five-year anniversary of their sacking by the broadcasters after they were overheard making sexist comments about a lineswoman as well as to colleagues, with Keys describing the incident as “one of the biggest carve ups in tv history”.

The pair were the face of Premier League football on Sky Sports until they left in 2011, with Keys resigning after his co-presenter Gray was sacked. Former Aston Villa, Wolves and Everton striker Gray was heard making sexist comments during a live broadcast of a game along with Keys, in which Gray said about lineswoman Sian Massey: "Can you believe that? A female linesman. Women don't know the offside rule."

Keys replied: "Course they don't." Keys was also caught on camera making comments to Jamie Redknapp about an ex-girlfriend, in which he asked “did you smash it?"

Both were given one-match suspensions from the broadcasters, but Gray was sacked a day later after a second incident was revealed from December 2010, when former Sky Sports presenter Charlotte Jackson was attaching a microphone pack leading to Gray lifting his belt and saying: "Charlotte, can you tuck this down here for me?"

Keys apologised after the incident and said the comments were “prehistoric banter”, adding: "Such comments were made off-air to work colleagues, and were, of course, never intended to be broadcast.

“If off-air conversations of television and radio presenters were recorded, there would be no one left working. That is not to defend what happened."

However, British football fans have not forgotten the incident, and it appears that neither have Keys and Gray after the former posted a picture on his Twitter account bringing up the five-year anniversary of their comments.

Keys wrote: “Happy Anniversary Andy - 5 years after one of the biggest carve ups in tv history. I had to have a glass tonight!”

The responses to his tweet were nothing short of brilliant, with many users alluding to Keys’ previous comments to tease the presenter, who knows works for BeIN Sports in the Middle East.

Gray returned to British TV when he was included among the analysts for BT Sport’s live coverage of the FA Cup encounter between Stevenage and Everton on 25 January 2014, exactly three years to the day that he was sacked by Sky.

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