Matt Clinch is part of the ABC Grandstand team covering a variety of sports on radio including AFL, cricket, horse racing, soccer and special events. He decided at an early age that he wanted to study Sports Journalism after being elected captain of his Grade 6 school footy team, on the condition he compiled weekly reports for the school assembly.

Matt studied at La Trobe University in Melbourne and joined ABC as an intern in 2006 under Gerard Whateley. He commentated his first AFL match on ABC Grandstand radio with the man he would replace in Adelaide, Roger Wills, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the age of 24. The following year Matt started calling games on a more regular basis and received the Clinton Grybas ‘Rising Star’ award from the Australian Football Media Association in 2009, his first year of full-time calling. Matt contributed to ABC Radio Melbourne, ABC News and was also part of the ABC TV Sport commentary team.

In 2011, Matt moved to Adelaide where he was based for 5 years, calling and hosting AFL finals, A-League GF, Cricket and the Tour Down Under. In 2016, Matt moved back home to Melbourne to fulfil his dream of calling AFL on Saturday and Sunday on the radio around Australia. He is the oldest of three boys, who all love their sport and spent many afternoons replicating the feats of Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist with the odd window broken in the family backyard. Matt lost his mum to bowel cancer in 2006, she was 53.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_clinch