Jacqui Oatley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jacqui Oatley | |
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| Born | Jacqui Oatley 1975 (age 33–34) Wolverhampton |
| Residence | West London |
| Nationality |  England |
| Education | St Dominic's, Brewood Wolverhampton Grammar School |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds Sheffield Hallam University |
| Occupation | Football commentator |
| Employer | BBC |
| Home town | Codsall, South Staffordshire, England |
| Known for | First female football commentator on Match of the Day |
| Parents | Gerald Sonja |
Jacqui Oatley is a British sports broadcaster for BBC Sport, reporting and commentating mostly on football. She is best known for being the first female commentator on Match of the Day. She is an FA qualified football coach.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, her late father Gerald was the managing director of a large gas appliance company, her mother Sonja is a retired nurse who was born and brought up in South Africa, where her parents were Norwegian missionaries.[1] She has an older brother Jeremy. Her cousin in South Africa was a Springboks cricket selector, while his brother was a rally driver who twice won the Roof of Africa.[2]
[edit] Education
A normal girl's childhood - she was a fan of Bros - she developed a self-confessed obsessional love of watching and playing football, following her team all over the country every weekend.[1] She attended the all-girls junior school, St Dominic's in Brewood. Oatley passed three A-Levels at Wolverhampton Grammar School,[1] and studied at University of Leeds, graduating with a degree in German in 1996.
Oatley spent a year travelling the world, and then moved to London to work in intellectual property as a Sales and Marketing Manager, then Key Account Manager. While playing amateur football for Chiswick Ladies Football Club, Oatley sustained a dislocated knee cap and ruptured ligaments, which resulted in a reconstruction operation and ten months recovering on crutches. With further operations to follow, she was told she would no longer be able to play sport.
[edit] Journalism career
Oatley decided to retrain as a journalist, studying print journalism and radio production at evening classes while broadcasting on hospital radio. She then gave up her job and flat, spent a summer sleeping on friends' floors whilst doing work experience full time. She undertook a Post Graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University.[3] While studying she joined BBC Radio Leeds as a sports reporter, continuing to work there after graduation. Her first commentary was on a match between Wakefield & Emley versus Worksop Town in the Unibond League.
Oatley also worked as a news reporter in her native West Midlands with BBC WM, before moving back to London to work as a sports reporter for BBC London 94.9. She joined BBC Radio Five Live in 2003 and became the first woman to commentate on a football match on British network radio in 2005, covering the England women’s internationals at the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship. Her subsequent interview with UEFA President Lennart Johansson became an international news story due to his controversial comments on women’s football.[4]
Oatley became the first female football commentator in the history of BBC football programme Match of the Day,[5] with her debut broadcast on 21 April 2007 for the Premier League match between Fulham F.C. and Blackburn Rovers F.C.[6] She has since commentated on several further games for Match of the Day.
Oatley was the Austria-based reporter for BBC Television at Euro 2008, reported and commentated at the Women's World Cup in China in 2007 and presented and commentated on a television show Level Up during the World Cup in Germany in 2006. She commentated on live football matches for BBC Television during the Beijing Olympics. In September 2009, she commentated on the Euro 2009 final between Germany and England.
Oatley is a reporter on Football Focus, the Football League Show and Score on BBC One.
She has presented the sports news on Radio One, Radio Two and Radio Four, as well as more frequently on Radio Five Live. She has reported from the World Snooker Championship and Open Championship golf and has also covered sports such as tennis and rugby league.
Oatley has presented sports news on the BBC News Channel.
Outside of sport, she is a fan of live comedy.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Match of the Day gets first female presenter". This is London. 2007-04-21. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23393422-details/Match+of+the+Day+gets+first+female+presenter/article.do. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
- ^ "Euro 2008 - About Jacqui Oatley". BBC Sport. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/euro2008/2008/03/about_jacqui_oatley. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
- ^ "Notable alumni". Sheffield Hallam University. http://arum.lits.shu.ac.uk/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=309&srcid=202. Retrieved 2008-06-08.
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Women | Backlash over Johansson's remarks
- ^ http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6570563,00.html
- ^ The Sun Online | The Best for News, Sport and Showbiz | The Sun
