Voices of Football: Jacqui Oatley, The Trailblazer

Women aren't qualified to talk about football on the television, huh? Well, what are *your* qualifications to do so?

In a sense it’s understandable why, the first time it happens, it should be jarring. I tend to feel it when I hear commentators previously on the radio turning up on Match of the Day. It happened for me with Alan Green and also, going back further, Peter Drury and Jon Champion, both of whom made the switch from BBC Radio. If it’s an unexpected voice, it’s an unexpected voice.

The issue comes with what happens next. It’s pretty easy to retune your ears to get used to a new voice, and if you continue to hold out because “it’s not normal” (there will be plenty who will just dislike that commentator’s style, and that’s fair – there are no universally popular commentators, but we’re not talking about those people here), well, that’s kind of on you. It’s now been seventeen years since Jacqui Oatley stepped into the Match of the Day commentary box, and she isn’t going anywhere from our sceeens soon. Indeed, her career is still on the up.