From Italian student to BBC sports commentator

We spoke to the Italian and Drama graduate about his journey from the University of Bristol to a national broadcasting career, and how his language studies continue to influence his work today.

One of the voices of BBC Radio 5 Live

I am now a sports commentator at BBC Radio 5 Live, specialising in football and golf, although I have commentated on a wide variety of sports including cricket, rugby union, tennis, track cycling, triathlon, equestrian and slalom canoeing.

All this involves watching lots of live sport and trying to describe it to our listeners. I also host the BBC's Fantasy Football Podcast and occasionally host 5 Live's football phone-in, 606.  

Why I chose Italian at Bristol 

I had studied French and German at A-level and wanted to learn a different modern language. My uncle lived in Rome at the time, I loved visiting him over there, I knew I wanted to explore a lot more of the country and I desperately wanted to be able to speak the language.

I did an intensive three-month language course in Florence straight after I'd left school, which was a pre-requisite of studying Italian at Bristol having never studied the language before, and those three months only confirmed to me that I'd made exactly the right choice.  

I was drawn to the city of Bristol too and the reputation of the University's sports teams because I knew I wanted to carry on playing team sport after school.

I was also able to combine my Italian course with my Drama degree at Bristol and I was impressed with both departments when I came to look round the University. It was always my first choice.  

How languages still help me today 

My Italian continues to be useful in a range of situations; being able to exchange a few words before going on air, for example, often helps build rapport and creates a more relaxed atmosphere when interviewing football managers.

It has also proven invaluable when covering Champions League football in Italy, allowing me to read Italian newspapers, follow television coverage, and gain a deeper understanding of the local perspective. Also, I've occasionally been able to assist colleagues in the office by translating Italian audio content, helping the team make sense of material that would otherwise need specialist language skills.

Building a career in broadcasting

I hadn't given enough thought during my time at Bristol to what I wanted to do after university. As a result, I took a year out to gain work experience in the media industry, which helped me get a place at Cardiff Journalism School to do a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism.

That qualification enabled me to get my first job at BBC Radio Bristol, where I spent an invaluable three years learning the ropes of broadcasting, in particular football commentary, before getting a job at Radio 5 Live in 2001, which is where I still am today.  

It was that year after university, going on various work placements including reporting on Yeovil Town and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club for BBC Radio Bristol, that showed me that this was what I wanted to do for a living.

I drove up and down the country a lot and didn't get paid much money at the time, but I couldn't think of many better things to do than watch live sport and try to describe it for a living.  

Communication, confidence and connection 

My job is all about communication, admittedly in the English language when I'm commentating on football, but it also involves a lot of foreign travel and speaking to people of all different nationalities.  

My Italian, and to a lesser degree my French and German, have been invaluable to me on the road at times to help me navigate certain situations. I also enjoy studying words whatever language they are in and that has never left me.

More than a language degree

Studying modern languages has vastly improved my experiences of visiting foreign countries, nowhere more so than Italy, and I love conversing with the locals in their language.

It has definitely boosted my confidence to express myself, in English as well as Italian, and it has also allowed me to enjoy the beauty and fascination of words and their usage all over the world.  

I constantly try and impress on my boys how useful having another language or two can be and how much it could help them further down the line.  

My advice: make the most of your year abroad

When abroad, try and spend as much time as you can with the locals, not just other foreign students.

My year abroad in Perugia was an adventure, and it was one of the moments during my time at Bristol that shaped me.