Conference League final host Emma Dodds' sports star partner and clash with Steven Gerrard live on air

Wales Online

28-05-2025

Conference League final host Emma Dodds' sports star partner and clash with Steven Gerrard live on air
The presenter is fronting TNT Sports' coverage of the Europa Conference League final in Poland tonight
Dodds is fronting TNT Sports' coverage of the Europa Conference League final
Chelsea have the opportunity to become the first club to win all four major UEFA trophies tonight as they take on Real Betis in the Europa Conference League final in Wroclaw, Poland.
Enzo Maresca's side ensured they will be playing Champions League football next season after securing a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League on Sunday, but could now end their season with silverware. Victory over Betis will see them make history and become the first team ever to win Conference League, Europa League, Champions League and UEFA Super Cup titles.
‌
However, they'll have to overcome a quite remarkable record to emerge victorious, with the last 27 finals across the World Cup, European Championship, Champions League and Europa League/UEFA Cup to feature a Spanish team having had a Spanish winner.
‌
TNT Sports will be broadcasting the final in the UK, with pundits including former Chelsea stars Joe Cole and Steve Sidwell, as well as 2023 Conference League winner Michail Antonio.
However, fronting the coverage is Scottish presenter Emma Dodds, who has worked for TNT Sports and Premier Sports among others over the course of her career. Here's what you need to know about her life away from the studio.
Welsh sports star partner
In 2023, Dodds married her long-term partner, Welsh golfer Becky Morgan.
‌
The pair tied the knot in a stunning ceremony in Loch Lomond, with the TV presenter describing it as the "best day ever".
Dodds and Morgan got engaged in 2020, with the former sharing the happy news on Instagram in September of that year.
"Some personal news," she wrote. "After a few months to enjoy this privately with friends and family, I'm beyond thrilled to say @bjmgolf said yes!"
‌
A former winner on the Ladies European Tour, Abergavenny-born Morgan has also previously finished in the top 10 of the Women's PGA Championship, while she has placed in the top 15 at the Women's British Open.
Dodds revealed she had faced "a lot of challenges" as she opened up about her sexuality in an interview with Sports Media LGBT+ in 2021.
Speaking about the importance of LGBT+ visibility in sport and media, she said: "I think it's really important, I honestly do. Some people feel they have to come out and I probably felt I had to do that more than Becky. It took me a lot longer to say publicly who I was.
‌
"I'd always gone to great lengths to keep my private life private because I wasn't ready. I think part of that was due to the industry I worked in.
"It wasn't a case of making a public announcement, like I know some people do, but if you follow me on social media, you'll know who I am now, and that was after a lot of challenges personally behind the scenes in dealing with my family, and speaking to various people."
Dodds added: "For me growing up, there wasn't that visibility. I didn't see people who were like me and I often wonder if I did, would it have taken me so long to come out publicly? I don't think it would have.
‌
"I grew up in the countryside in Scotland and although I was into sport, I didn't know of any women who were gay, except for Martina Navratilova who I would look up to. While there were others, I don't feel it was that well known.
"I feel now personally that I want to be visible. I'm comfortable with who I am, and I think there's a responsibility for us to the younger generation to show it's OK to be yourself, especially in certain industries."
Social media ban
Dodds has admitted that while her wife can be affected by social media criticism, she has learned to let it go.
‌
However, she has also confessed to enforcing a social media ban in her house.
"I will take critique from people who I value, people I work with, people I work for, my loved ones," she told Mail Sport last year.
"Becky used to put my name into Twitter, and be, like, 'Oh my God, did you see that? 'So, we've now got a ban on it in the house. Who cares?"
‌
But Dodds has also admitted that she finds one particular criticism aimed at her "a little disrespectful".
Having grown up as a Rangers supporter, the presenter - who has worked on countless games involving the Scottish side - says she is accused of bias by opposition fans, which she finds totally unfair.
"They question my neutrality all the time and I find that a little disrespectful," she said. "We all grew up supporting someone, which is why we are in the job.
‌
'(Eilidh) Barbour supports St Johnstone, but it's not questioned. Laura Woods is a massive Arsenal fan. Jake (Humphrey) is a Norwich fan. Lynsey (Hipgrave) is a Newcastle fan, Jules (Breach) is a Brighton fan. It's a West of Scotland thing, for sure.
"I get a bit of stick at the stadiums occasionally, but it doesn't bother me at all," she added. "I'd be the first to ask a difficult question about Rangers. I genuinely don't really care what people say, so long as I feel that I've done a good job."
Clash with football legend
In 2021, Dodds was at the centre of controversy when her line of questioning irked then-Rangers boss Steven Gerrard.
‌
The Liverpool legend had been persistently linked with taking over at Newcastle United, but when he was quizzed on the rumours following his side's Europa League win over Brondby in October of that year, he hit back at Dodds' questions.
'Do I look happy?," he replied." Do I look settled? Don't ask silly questions then.'
Gerrard - who a few weeks later left Rangers to become Aston Villa manager - soon came under fire for his response, leaving Dodds surprised as she insisted there was no hard feelings about the clash.
‌
'I was absolutely amazed by the backlash that it received," she told the Old Firm Facts Podcast "There were so many people saying that he was out of order, it was disrespectful, it was terrible.
'I was actually quite surprised with that because I wasn't offended at the time and the more I was reading people's comments I was thinking, 'gosh, people are really upset by this.'
"Subsequently his departure maybe put a bit of salt into the wounds on that one and maybe made him look a bit foolish in that he could have answered the question without saying 'don't ask silly questions, of course he could of. But there have been things in the past where he had little quips and little answers and it's never felt like I have been disrespected.
Article continues below
'I was more surprised by the backlash afterwards. Him leaving ultimately proved my point."
Dodds added: 'I did find it quite interesting that people were quite defensive of me, almost standing up for me and the outrage. I'm always grateful for it because social media can be a ruthless place at times.
'It was unnecessary, he didn't have to say it like that. He did, and I wasn't offended by it. I think we all saw how the story unfolded and who ended up looking like what so I will just leave it at that.'