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Charles Runcie, Head of Sport for English Regions, goes behind the scenes with the sports teams of 麻豆约拍 Local Radio, to explain more about the 2,500 plus football commentaries they bring to their listeners each season.

With TV and radio sports channels, texting and social media, is there still a place for local radio football commentary?  This season 麻豆约拍 Local Radio will be the only regional radio stations in major cities, including Liverpool and Birmingham, providing commentary on the latest matches that matter in their area each week. This development has brought into sharp focus the coverage our 麻豆约拍 Local Radio stations provide for fans of around 90 clubs each week and emphasises why the 麻豆约拍 must remain committed to promoting regional football at all levels of the game.

From Manchester City - all glitz, galacticos and Champions League glamour - to homely Harrogate Town in National League North, sports coverage is woven into the fabric of our 38 stations. The behemoths of the Premier League may command most attention, and we do commentary on 17 of those 20 teams, but it's further down the footballing food chain where 麻豆约拍 Local Radio comes into its own. While their results get mentions on national 5 Live Sport or Final Score, we’re able to expand and concentrate on our local sides, with informed passion being the normal house style.

Some go to huge lengths to satisfy their demanding fans.  Such are the county rivalries that Radio Devon splits in three on Saturdays, for separate commentaries on Exeter City, Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United.  Meanwhile Radio Shropshire’s Nick Southall and James Bond (yes, it really is his name) went to Hungary to cover The New Saints in … a Champions League qualifier.  Although TNS are Welsh Premier League champions they’re actually based at Oswestry, so off went Nick and James on the team bus. They shared the commentary with Radio Wales, a dramatic game which went to extra time before TNS went out, and I’m told returned home neither shaken nor stirred.

Radio Guernsey also clock up plenty of air miles following their team in the Isthmian League Division 1 South. Flight times to the UK are as much a part of their sports teams’ preparation as the team line-ups.

It’s not just the tens of thousands of miles covered or resources devoted to those 2,500 or so commentaries.  Even getting on air can be an adventure. 麻豆约拍 Hereford + Worcester’s coverage of the FA Cup’s longest-ever penalty shoot-out, when Scunthorpe United eventually beat Worcester City 14-13 in a 2nd round replay, was all the more remarkable as the station’s broadcast lines failed that night. The match was done via sports editor Trevor Owens’ iPad, with him sitting between the commentators holding the microphone between them while monitoring the strength of the signal. Radio on a wing and a prayer, and without doubt the longest night of Trevor’s life.

The relationship extends off the field too. 麻豆约拍 Coventry + Warwickshire marked 10 years since Coventry City left their 106-year-old former ground with stories, conversations, experts and memories with fans in a week of broadcasting called . They also . 

Jamie Hoyland, former Burnley midfielder and ex-Preston coach, is a popular, funny Radio Lancashire match summariser. He says what he sees with enormous passion and knowledge of local football, and even wins over fans from clubs he never played for. On Olympic Way at Wembley prior to May’s League One play-off final between Preston and Swindon, the 100th game he’d watched that season, he encouraged supporters of both sides to take part in #Hoyland100 on social media.  Fans came up to take selfies, with a huge amount of positive reaction following. One group of fans even recognised him, and invited him to a forthcoming wedding.

Sport never stops for busy Radio Manchester, with both codes of rugby, boxing and cricket having to jostle with coverage of their seven clubs.  Presenter Jimmy Wagg has seen it all.  Starting on sport in 1989 he’s been to Wembley 18 times, 6 trips to Cardiff, and in 1995 won a Sony Radio Award for a live programme done a couple of hours after the death of the legendary Sir Matt Busby.  On Saturday 5 September Jimmy presents his 1000th sports show – and he’s never missed one.  As he told me, “Working in Manchester, the epicentre of English football, has given me the chance to pursue my passion for football and pretend it's a real job.  Any wonder my friends call me lucky?”

Covering our local football teams is part of the DNA of any 麻豆约拍 Local Radio station, and something we’re expected by listeners to do and do properly. Our local radio coverage is a unique part of the sporting landscape which provides a much needed lifeline to die-hard fans following the Premiership to the National Leagues up and down the country.

Charles Runcie is Head of Sport, 麻豆约拍 English Regions

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