Jacqui Oatley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jacqui Oatley | |
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| Born | Jacqui Oatley 1975 (age 32–33) Codsall, South Staffordshire |
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| Residence | West London |
| Nationality |  England |
| Education | St Dominic's, Brewood Wolverhampton Grammar School |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds Sheffield Hallam University |
| Occupation | Football commentator |
| Employers | BBC |
| Home town | Codsall, South Staffordshire, England |
| Known for | First female football commentator on Match of the Day |
| Parents | Gerald Sonja |
Jacqui Oatley (born 1975 in Codsall, South Staffordshire),[1] is an English football commentator, notable for being the first female football commentator on the BBC One programme Match of the Day.[2]
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[edit] Biography
Born in 1975, Oatley's father Gerald was the managing director of an imaging and information technology company, her mother Sonja was a nurse who grew up in South Africa, where her parents were Dutch missionaries.[3] She has an older brother Jeremy, while one cousin in South Africa was a Springboks cricket selector, while his brother is a rally driver who once won the Roof of Africa.[4]
[edit] Education
A normal girls's childhood - she was a fan of Bros - she developed a self-confessed obsessional love of football.[3] She attended the all-girls junior school, St Dominic's in Brewood, where classmates could not understand her obsession of both playing football and watching her team Wolverhampton Wanderers, whom she would follow all over the country every weekend with her mother. Naturally athletic, Oatley passed three A-Levels at Wolverhampton Grammar School,[3]and wanting to play football professionally, Oatley studied at University of Leeds, graduating with a degree in German in 1996.
Oakley spent a year travelling the world, and then moved to London to work in intellectual property as a Sales and Marketing Manager at Netsearchers International Ltd.[5] 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.
[edit] Journalism career
Oatley decided to retrain as a journalist, studying print journalism at evening classes while broadcasting on hospital radio. She then gave up her job and flat, and undertook a post graduate course in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University.[6] While studying she joined BBC Radio Leeds as a sports reporter, and after graduation joined them full time, making her first commentary on a match between Wakefield & Emley versus Worksop Town in the Unibond League.
Oatley returned to the West Midlands to report and commentate for BBC WM, and then transferred to BBC London 94.9.[5][7] She joined BBC Radio Five Live in 2003, and made her debut as a commentator and 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.[8]
Oatley became the first female football commentator in the history of BBC football programme Match of the Day,[2] with her debut broadcast on 21 April 2007 for the Premier League match between Fulham F.C. and Blackburn Rovers F.C.[9] Her performance on the programme was criticised by viewers, several of which wrote letters to the BBC requesting her dismissal.[10] Some rival commentators have complained that Oatley had "leapfrogged" them because the BBC wanted a female commentator for "novelty value."[11]
A lifelong Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter,[12] Oatley lives in West London.
[edit] References
- ^ She talks a good game, but the verdict is split on the first lady
- ^ a b http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6570563,00.html
- ^ a b c Match of the Day gets first female presenter. This is London (2007-04-21). Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
- ^ Euro 2008 - About Jacqui Oatley. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
- ^ a b Blackburn Sachs Associates - Client profile
- ^ Notable alumni. Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
- ^ Riverside FM - Summer 2002
- ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Women | Backlash over Johansson's remarks
- ^ The Sun Online | The Best for News, Sport and Showbiz | The Sun
- ^ MOTD Jac hits sack of the net mirror.co.uk - 30 April 2007
- ^ She talks a good game, but the verdict is split on the first lady dailymail.co.uk - 18th April 2007
- ^ Mum’s proud of her debut girl. Express & Star. www.expressandstar.co.uk (2007-04-27). Retrieved on 2007-05-04.
