The name Jacqui Oatley is now a household name in many a home in the UK for the broadcasting career that she has. Not as well known is the story that took her on a very different path to the one that she set out to achieve.
Born in Wolverhampton, Oatley was an avid Wolverhampton Wanderers fan and grew up aspiring to be like the players she went and watched every week. Unfortunately, a tendon and ligament injury in her knee slashed her chances of playing professionally and had to look for another route through life.
Very early on after this, Oatley knew there was no way her passion for sport could keep her out of this world and decided to pursue a career in journalism. It all started out with the small shows, first broadcasting off of hospital radio to do the sport roundup.
Oatley spoke recently alongside a panel of well known broadcasting names such as Isa Guha, Matt Murray, Mark Cole and Barbara Slater to discuss breaking into the industry and what it is like to do so. During this, speaking of experiences such as “Sleeping on my friends’ floor” and emphasising, “It can be very tough at times, but I am so privileged to work in this industry.”.
After this, Oatley speaks sharply on the need to talk to the right people to get into the right places to become a journalist. Following up with saying how important it is to speak to the right people because if you do so, good opportunities will follow.
Oatley is widely known as the first female commentator on ‘BBC’ show ‘Match of the Day’ and has taken on many more roles and broadcasted on many different platforms ever since further decorating an already inspiring career to many. The story of how Oatley got to where she is, is not as plain sailing as most would imagine showing how you can get to where you want to by not going down one route.
Sports Insider by Gerren Scapens 