February 2025 - Five Commentaries in Two Weeks!
- Warren Muggleton
- Feb 26
- 3 min read
So, the headline says it all this month!
After a week off at the end of January, it was straight back into the mix with five Southend United games to cover for BBC Essex Sport across 15 days.
Before this, though, I had some brilliant commentary training with Rob Nothman.
Funnily enough, I have had feedback from Rob before when I started pursuing commentary around my full-time job in 2019.
Rob gave me some great feedback - so naturally I was keen to put his advice into practice across fixtures in such a tight timeframe.
It started with a trip to Maidenhead United. Packed into York Road with Blues fans around us, it ended up being a difficult game to cover. Few close chances and when the Magpies scored their eventual winner, Southend melted out of the game. This was where my prep came into hand, bringing out some interesting facts and stats during quiet moments.
Then it was three home games in eight days at Roots Hall. Plenty of excitement, with a 3-1 win over Halifax Town, 1-1 draw against Rochdale and 2-1 victory over Aldershot Town.
All finished with a first trip to Tamworth. Very different to the previous away game, with much more attacking intent from the Blues. A good blend of stats and close chances to bring listeners on this one.
450 minutes(-ish) of football - so much fun and plenty taken from it!
With so much action, I had to pick two moments.
The first one comes from the 1-1 draw against Rochdale.
Going into the break 1-0 down, Southend came out firing for the second half. They eventually got the equaliser thanks to an own goal but this double-attempt summarised the battle they had to endure to get it.
One of the pieces of advice I received in training was to focus on 'economy of words' - quite simply, more is less.
It allowed me to identify players more quickly, focus on ensuring listeners know who is in possession and heighten the moment.
The slight pause got the crowd's reaction at Roots Hall into the mix before hinting at the fact Rochdale had - at this point - only conceded 22 games in 26 games.
This clip is now on my Reels, which you can see in the link.
The second moment came four days earlier - and after the full-time whistle had been blown.
I'm not afraid to say that I'm a fan of a poetic sign-off on commentary, attempting to tie in something cultural to the match.
On this occasion, it came from a running joke between me and my summariser Paul Clark about his reference to children's TV character Twizzle.
If you don't know, 'The Adventures of Twizzle' was the first TV series to use marionette puppetry, aired in Britain during the late 1950s. The gimmick was the Twizzle could stretch his body.
As soon as Paul Clark used it to describe Southend defender Harry Taylor's flexible defensive style, I knew I could maximise it in commentary and, following such a big win, 'pulling the strings' had to be used!
I was also pleased to get in a headline fact.
Rob said a question I should be looking to answer in each commentary is 'why is today different'.
My extra research helped me see how long it has been since the Blues have done a double over the Shaymen, presenting me with a strong line from a victory.
Throwing in economy of words to the mix and I was very happy with this sign-off.
WHAT DID YOU THINK TO THESE CLIPS? GIVE ME YOUR FEEDBACK IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
I mentioned in my last blog that I had started listening back to my commentaries - and this is now a habit I am enjoying getting into.
Listening back to commentary of Southend United 0-3 Barnet from mid-January, I could tell that I needed to slow down, complete my words and speak with more authority.
I believe I have been able to address this and hope that it comes across in my commentary.
Now, my aim is to become more descriptive in my commentary, painting a picture which can touch all the senses of the listeners, as well as adding more fun references alongside my research and identification of the action.
Who knows, maybe I can get something in from my Classics BA?! Keep an ear out for amo, amas, amat in March!
A bonus came at the start of February as I made my first appearance on BBC Look East!
There is something brewing at Maldon & Tiptree FC following the takeover by Barrie & Scott Drewitt-Barlow, so I put together a multi-platform piece on why they chose the Jammers and what they want to do.
Maybe they are Essex's answer to AFC Wrexham...
Last updated: 26th February 2025
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