Saturday in the Steel City

Last weekend took us to Bramall Lane, the home of Sheffield United. I must confess that this is one of my favourite grounds to visit as a reporter and that is not only because there is a really good fish and chip shop outside the ground!

It wasn't an overly early start to the day, although having to drag myself away from the Ryder Cup on television was tough! My pre-match planning worked well as having met up with former Hornet Craig ramage in Derby mid-morning, we arrived in Sheffield at around 12.30 which meant there was time to pay a visit to the Bramall Lane chippy!

Now I am always getting stick for being boring and only ever choosing plain old cod and chips, but I like it and that is what I went for again. Craig did remark that my small portion of fish looked more like the size of a goldfish but it tasted good and set me up for the afternoon's action. Mushy peas and gravy on top of his fish and chips were the order of the day for our former midfielder by the way!

I like getting to grounds early, sometimes ridiculously early but apart from Hull this season, traffic problems have prevented me from being as early and as organised as I like to be. However, Saturday was perfect timing and I made the climb up to the gantry which sits under the roof of the main stand at Bramall Lane at around one o'clock to set up my equipment and talk to the studio to get any instructions for the afternoon ahead. The view is excellent, albeit we were positioned just level with the penalty area towards the home fans which actually turned out to be perfect for seeing Danny Graham's run which led to Marvin Sordell's winning goal. However, to get an even better view Craig & I decided to stand up throughout the game.

It was then back downstairs to the press room to talk to various people where possible and get some early team news. I try and get hold of team news before our sports programme starts at two o'clock as then I can get all my notes arranged in good time before kick-off. That often means a chat with the opposition's reporter or commentator to get confirmation of formations and I reciprocate accordingly. I think Craig was looking a little nervous pre-match so it also gave me, and others, chance to talk to him and outline what he should focus on during the game.

Just before kick-off at Bramall Lane, the home fans blast out their Greasy Chip Butty anthem which is a great tradition and one I hope continues for a long time yet. They used to print the words on the team sheets but not this season however it is basically a Sheffield United version of John Denver's "You Fill Up My Senses". I recall a few seasons back, towards the end of the Premier League season, former Blade Bob Booker led the singing and was actually still on the pitch as the teams kicked off singing into the microphone!

For the first half at least, I had internet access which meant I could get goal news from elsewhere around the country and keep up to date with the Ryder Cup, which seemed to be going USA's way midway through the afternoon. The wireless connection packed up during the half-time break which meant the guys back at the studio were feeding score updates in my headphones during the second-half.

As with all our summarisers, Craig demonstrated how much he wanted Watford to win with a clenched fist and punch of the air at full-time. He had revealed earlier how he had coached Jordon Mutch when the on-loan midfielder was at Derby before moving to Birmingham. Mutch was coached at Derby by Terry Westley when Craig first got involved with coaching. When Westley moved to St Andrews he persuaded Mutch to join him. Craig is of course taking all the credit for Mutch's development however!

Craig was suitably impressed with what he had seen, both from Mutch and the rest of the team, and was also mightily relieved to have seen Watford win at last! He came to Derby and Sheffield Wednesday with me last season which both ended in defeat and also was at Vicarage Road earlier this season when Leeds won 1-0. He is allowed back again now and we'll hopefully see him at the Derby game in a couple of weeks time.

Post-match interviews were my next job after the full-time whistle and at Bramall Lane broadcasters head for the players tunnel and loiter with intent outside the dressing rooms, trying either to avoid club press officers so they can grab players for interviews, or speak very nicely to them with our requests for interviews!

Scott Loach was, as always, one of the first to emerge and I was able to get an interview with him in which he praised his team-mates for battling for the whole 94 minutes and also mentioned how pleased he was to get a win and clean sheet at this ground in particular as it didn't hold great memories for him as he suffered a nasty injury a couple of seasons ago here.

The Watford team coach was, by this time, parked at the entrance to the stand and tunnel ready for the players to board for the journey back south. There were family and friends of players from both sides waiting there too along with a small group of very excited and jubilant Watford supporters who greeted every single player with their own song, some of which could be heard towards the end of my interview with Scott!  Myself and a colleague even tried our luck at getting a song sung for us as we walked out but alas it wasn't to be! Were you one of those fans, would be great to hear from you?!

Whilst waiting for Malky Mackay I was also able to grab interviews with Troy Deeney and Adrian Mariappa, both of which were filmed and can now be seen via the club website! In the meantime, the manager had been escorted pitch-side for the obligatory tv interviews so I then made my way back upstairs to intercept him before he went into the press room to address the written press. We conducted our interview on the stairs, stepping aside at one point mid-interview to allow Gary Speed to pass on his way back downstairs!

It was then a sprint (well, for me it was a sprint!) back to the gantry to tell the studio what interviews I had and for them to tell me what they wanted. We always play the manager interview and that is done by me pressing play on my recorder as if it is live, so it is always unedited. Time had run out for any of the player interviews to be aired on the show before six so I sent those down the studio after the programme and they record them for use later in the week and online.

So another three points in the bag as we headed back south and sent Craig back off to Derby. I will spare his blushes about getting back to his car in the Sheffield car park! Just before we left the tv in the press room gave us even more good news as it showed an all blue scoreboard from Celtic Manor as Europe battled back in the Ryder Cup.

Back home in time for Match of the Day and the Football League show, but with two weeks to fill before the next game. Not having a day job at the moment means plenty of time for prep before the games start coming thick and fast before Christmas!

I hope this gives a little insight into what goes on during matchdays and in future weeks, I plan to continue to tell you about my experiences from the games I cover but also will grab some views of other reporters and former players to get their opinions on their trips to Vicarage Road, and their views on the games they have seen.

Thanks for reading!

An introduction

Hi there,

Thanks for coming to have a look at my new blog! I hope I can encourage you to come back again by what you read below.

I currently commentate on Watford for BBC Three Counties Radio and Hornets Player via http://www.watfordfc.com/ and I will be sharing what life is like in the press box and on the motorways on a Saturday and Tuesday following the Hornets around the country!

As this is my first post then I'll tell you a little bit about me and how I got to be commentating in the first place. I guess deep down this is always what I wanted to do but its only in the last few years that I have been able to realise my 'dream'. I still have plenty of work to do however as I don't do this full-time yet so until I make that happen I won't have fulfilled my goal.

I got my break in 2005 when, thanks to a good friend putting me forward, I began providing some telephone score updates for Mercury FM in Watford from matches at Vicarage Road. That season ended in promotion to the Premier League of course and a chance meeting with another reporter in the players tunnel gave me a new break. I was contacted by BBC London 94.9 and for the next couple of seasons I travelled the country to most matches to provide match updates and goal news. It also was my first exposure to post-match interviews!

Going to every game meant I began to meet more people and that helped in my next move. I had become a member of the regular travelling party to away games that consisted of the Three Counties commentary team of Simon Oxley and Neil Price so I was in the right place at the right time when the opportunity arose to become the Watford commentator. It didn't take me long to think about my answer when I was asked if I was interested!

My first commentary game was broadcast on the Internet at home to Preston on Saturday, October 4th 2008. My first radio commentary was a memorable one as Watford won 3-0 at Southampton in a game that saw Hornets keeper Richard Lee save two first-half penalties!

So I have just completed two years as a commentator and it goes without saying that I absolutely love it. I still have lots to learn and I try to take something from every commentary that I do and improve on it next time.

The regular co-commentator of six years, Neil Price, had to stand aside earlier this year so I have had to get used to working with a variety of new co-commentators since. However, this has also meant that I have got to meet a number of former players that I used to watch from the stands which makes me incredibly lucky.

It's very important for me not to become complacent or take this role for granted. I look forward to every game that I do, whether it's at Vicarage Road or a wet Tuesday night 200 miles away! Long may it continue and in future posts I hope to bring our matchdays to life with an insight into what actually goes on in the press box to bring the matches onto the airwaves.

I'd be delighted to answer any questions you may have and don't forget, you can follow me on Twitter at jonmwfc.