November 2025 - Making a Splash
- Warren Muggleton
- Dec 12, 2025
- 3 min read
So, only a few days left of 2025 - it's Christmas, that wonderful time of year with cheer, presents, good food... and lots of football!
I thought I'd squeeze in my November blog before Southend United start their run of festive fixtures...
I commentated three Blues games for BBC Essex Sport in November (for reasons which will become clear soon!).
2025 has been a big year for me developing my commentary style and I think it comes to the fore in these two clips...
The first clip is the second goal in Southend's 3-0 win over Altincham.
Now that my geography is stronger, I have been adding more variety in tone and emotion to my goal moments. But I have also tried to take the time to identify the headline and make the most of the celebrations. I hope this comes across!
There's always room to add more detail. I could have called the shot a 'left-footed drill' and the footage shows this went under the keeper as opposed to the bottom-right corner.
It does go both ways, though. The Blues had some tough fixtures in November, especially the trip to high-flying Forest Green Rovers.
The scene of an amazing play-off semi-final in May, that was not quite the case at The New Lawn at the end of November thanks to a brilliant 2-1 winner.
I keep my commentaries impartial but also understand that an Essex audience will want to hear more about Southend than the opposition, so when the opponents score a goal I keep my volume lower while still portraying equal levels of details. I think this is achieved with Kyle McAllister's winner.
The next thing to work on now is 'commentating for the edit'. It's all very well giving lots of detail after a goal but I need to make the moment succinct enough for an editor to clip it out without any work needed to adjust it.
I mention missing a couple of Southend United games - this is because I took on another new challenge in November!
I commentated on my first water polo events for Swim England's U15 Girls and Open tournaments in Coventry and Manchester.
The commentary went out over a tannoy at the venue to spectators, covering 16 teams as they vied for the title across two days.
Here's some of the best moments...
At the Girls U15s, I was working with a commentator who has covered events for Swim England before and was able to show me the ropes.
We had to commentate on two matches simultaneously - I can categorically say I've never done that before!
At the Open U15s, which took place at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, I was on my own, juggling two pitches, music and requests from the spectators.
I have certainly not been put off, though!
As mentioned in my last blog, I am expanding the sports in my commentary umbrella, targeting commentary at the Olympic Games.
I was able to pick up the water polo rules really quickly and identify the big moments to highlight to the crowd.
WHAT DID YOU THINK TO THESE CLIPS? GIVE ME YOUR FEEDBACK IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
Amid the water polo and Southend games, I was able to make time to count up my commentaries to date.
This is something I've been meaning to do for a long time. Since my first commentary at BUCS Rowing Regatta in 2018, I have kept my notes from every event and archived them.
I took some time to go through the notes and write into a spreadsheet chronologically what I have done.
So here are they key numbers:
Since May 2018, I have commentated 245 matches / tournaments / regattas / events across all formats.
Since May 2018, I have commentated 871 individual contests. This accounts for matches within tournaments (eg 40 water polo matches at the Swim England Water Polo Open U15 tournament in November)
Since October 2020, I have completed 83 radio football commentaries. I have commentated 51 games since I joined BBC Essex in October 2024.
Since January 2019, I have commentated 120 rugby matches across radio, TV-style & tannoy. I commentated 44 games for National League Rugby when I hosted the Review Show.
Since October 2022, I have completed 118 commentaries for BBC. Across BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio Surrey, BBC Channel Islands & BBC Essex, 76 have been football, 21 in rugby and 21 in other sports.
Since January 2019, I have completed 134 radio commentaries across all sports.
Since May 2018, I have completed 112 TV-style commentaries.
It makes me feel very proud that I have covered so many commentaries in 7 1/2 years - but there's still plenty more to do.
Onwards and upwards - still a lot more that can happen in the few remaining days of 2025!
Last updated: 12th December 2025 (Image Credit: Will Johnstone Photography)
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