| Jacqui Oatley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jacqueline Anne Oatley 1975 (age 36–37) Wolverhampton |
| Residence | London |
| Nationality | England |
| Education | St Dominic's, Brewood Wolverhampton Grammar School |
| Alma mater | University of Leeds Sheffield Hallam University |
| Occupation | Football commentator |
| Employer | BBC |
| Known for | First female football commentator on Match of the Day |
| Home town | Codsall, South Staffordshire, England |
| Parents | Gerald Sonja |
Jacqueline Anne "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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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] On 26 April 2011 she announced, via Twitter, that she had given birth to a baby girl called Phoebe Rae.
A normal girl's childhood, she developed a love of watching and playing football.[1] She attended the all-girls junior school, St Dominic's in Brewood, Staffordshire. 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.
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 Postgraduate Diploma (PgD) 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 BBC Radio One, BBC Radio Two and BBC Radio Four, as well as more frequently on Radio Five Live. She has reported from the World Snooker Championship, British Moto GP 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.