So, something new for 2025 - sort of...
My sports broadcasting career started by writing a blog for the University of Warwick Matchday Society in 2014.
Now, 11 years down the line, I've decided to return to blogging.
I'll be writing monthly on my website about what I've been up to and what I've seen in the sporting world. Of course, I'm open to suggestions - if there's something you'd like me to write about, say!
I also hope this blog will hold me to account.
Coming into 2025, I decided that I want to make it to the top of the sports commentary industry and be recognised among the best.
At the time of writing, I have been at BBC Essex Sport for nearly four months. I have loved covering Southend United regularly in the National League.
I have been commentating for nine years on football, rugby, rowing and a smattering of other sports.
Anything worth having does not come easy, so I will use this blog to journal the steps I am taking towards my goal.
Follow my progress as I look to develop my distinctive, different and quirky commentary style across different sports.
January 2025 was a brilliant month for commentary.
I covered four football games - two at home, two away - involving Southend United for BBC Essex Sport.
The highlight was this moment as Macauley Bonne scored his first goal for the Blues since his arrival in September as a free agent to give them a 1-0 lead over Dagenham & Redbridge in the National League on Saturday 25th January 2025.
With my identification on point, I was able to anticipate Bonne taking the shot. I could then allow the Blues fans' celebrations to take over.
It was a spine-tingling moment to hear that roar.
Vitally, it gave me time to follow Bonne as he celebrated and let the emotions pout of out him. The ex-Charlton Athletic & Leyton Orient man had not scored in nine months before this moment, so it was important to get that detail across with the description of his celebration.
I recently had some commentary training (tune in next month to hear about that!) and when the trainer heard this piece of commentary they were delighted and told me 'Your reels have to start with this'.
If you head to my Reels now, you'll see that they do!
I've been told several times how important it is to listen to other commentaries and my own if I want to improve.
To be honest, it's only been in January where I've really started to take this on board.
Listening to John Murray on 5 Live on the way back from matches or the BBC's FA Cup coverage has been valuable to honing my own skills.
I will pick out a moment of commentary each month that I enjoy (any you have, send them my way!) but to start with, a model that I aspire to.
It's well documented that Peter Drury is 'The Football Poet' but Roma vs Barcelona in the 2017/18 Champions League quarter-final second leg may well go down as his magnum opus.
The references to ancient history in Rome, the economy of language, the timing - everything about this is perfect! The hairs on my arms still stand whenever I listen back to it.
Lines of this are in the inner leaf of the book I'm reading - 'The Beautiful Poetry of Football Commentary' by Charlie Eccleshare - and Drury's commentary is 'top shelf' when it comes to historic commentary moments.
That's what I think it comes down to - all sports commentators want their voice attached to a piece of history.
You can't think of the 1966 World Cup without Kenneth Wolstenholme saying 'they think it's all over... it is now!' or Manchester United's 1999 treble win without Clive Tyldesley's ringing epitaph 'AND SOLSKJAER HAS WON IT'.
This is what I want to do.
It's time to take the next step up in my commentary career - join me as I take it.
Last updated: 12th February 2025
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