BBC 5 Live at 30: an enduring institution in sports coverage

The station’s birthday, celebrated just days ago, brings into clear focus its richly deserved reputation for sustained excellence

Radio 5 Live celebrated its 30th anniversary recently: giving sports fans three decades of sustained excellence. News fans, too I guess, but we will stay in our lane here.
What have been its strengths as a sporting station? For this listener, they are as follows: there is a deep bench of presenters, the journalism is quality and balanced, it is a broad sporting church, and there is a pervading sense of security and reliability.
Firstly, the on-air talent. Jane Garvey’s was the first voice heard on March 28th 1994; Adrian Chiles was among the other launch presenters, and John Inverdale transferred over from Radio 5. It became fashionable to decry Inverdale in the last few years but he was a superb radio presence and while Chiles was only a qualified success presenting the football on TV, he was great company on the wireless. Two of 5 Live’s current top, top players – Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates – arguably fall into similar a category as the nation’s favourite West Brom fan (sorry Frank Skinner): they are really good on the TV and they are even better on the radio. The same might be said about another absolute gold standard contributor, Colin Murray. Departures and personnel changes seem to be absorbed like Liverpool in the Seventies and Eighties rather than the Manchester United of today.
The Saturday morning show, once occupied by radio legend Danny Baker, for instance, is currently hosted by Patrick Kielty. He seems, like Murray, to have an effortless fluency at any topic he turns his hand too. Some of the less starry names like Jacqui Oatley, Eleanor Oldroyd or Alistair Bruce-Ball are also able to slot in anywhere and everywhere. It is a squad of quality and depth and any number of these people come across as good eggs, people you are happy to spend your time with. This feels important on the radio in a way that does not really factor with sport on TV: the personal connection and sense of closeness or intimacy with these regular companions is arguably parasocial but, for many of us, real nevertheless. You might take a Chappers or a Kielty into the bathroom or bedroom, if you’ll forgive the nightmarish image, in a way that you probably would not with a Gary Neville. Well, certainly not with a Gary Neville.
Some of the long-term correspondents and reporters are rightly approaching national treasure status, for instance John Murray, and the people that are running things have clearly got a knack for spotting promising up-and-comers as well. I’ve come to really enjoy the football work of, for instance, Aaron Paul, who made his debut in the 2018-2019 season and has been illuminating the coverage of the Championship ever since. I am certain there will continue to be a conveyor belt of talent. The depth of expertise, passion and rigour in their sport experts over the years has been constant: almost too many to name but, for me, Mike Costello, Steve Bunce, Cornelius Lysaght, Andrew Cotter, Conor McNamara and Gigi Salmon have been companions for some of the very best sporting moments of the last 30 years. Many feature in this excellent clip-show, which is only available for a couple more days.
Much was made of the axing of the full classified football check, which had been done by Charlotte Green since the departure of James Alexander Gordon, and you can see why some people took it hard, this loss of a cherished ritual. But, in truth, it has not diminished Sports Report and it is not like they do not tell you the football scores.
Maybe that one was a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” but there has been some necessary restructuring of 6-0-6. Now that we can all get shouted at by idiots 24/7 on the internet about football or indeed anything else, it seems surprising in a way that it still endures. You cannot help but have a grudging admiration for Chris Sutton and Robbie Savage, their willingness to tee up an irate Derek from Nantwich and sit through his views about Erik ten Hag is, if nothing else, a model of forbearance. Savage, once ubiquitous, seems to be deployed more sparingly these days across the BBC in general, which is a mercy.
If that was the last 30 years, what about the next 30? The station continues to seek out younger listeners with varying degrees of success. Hopefully it can solve that puzzle and keep the show on the road for a long time yet.