Jonathan Andrew Davies

jonathandavies.sportsjournalist@gmail.com

A committed and enthusiastic Sports Journalist with professional experience at Premier League and Championship football levels – as well as major snooker, tennis and darts coverage – building a career utilising comprehensive sports knowledge and skills.

• A quick learner with a strong work ethic dedicated to achieving high standards
• An excellent memory for facts and statistics with keen attention to detail and accuracy
• Multi-skilled with the ability to absorb information quickly and communicate clearly and effectively
• Demonstrating a range of personal qualities including honesty, integrity and reliability has built professional rapport, confidence and strong working relationships with fellow journalists, managers, coaching staff, professional players and others
• Significant knowledge and experience covering a range of sports including football, tennis, snooker, darts and rugby union
• Published across a wide range of media including specialist websites, social media, broadcast media, newspapers, magazines, tournament and matchday programmes

Recent Employment

UEFA Content Editor for InCrowd: September 2023 – Present

• Producing minute-by-minute coverage of Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Women’s Champions League and Nations League matches
• Assisted the team’s coverage of the 2024 European Championship
• Providing live commentary and editing comments from stadium match reporters
• Writing punchy copy for match reports and round-ups
• Sourcing statistics and inserting images, video, social media and sponsored content

Digital Writer for Warner Bros. Discovery: October 2023 – Present

• Provide live text commentary for domestic, European and international football matches – including the 2024 Champions League final – domestic and international rugby matches, and major snooker tournaments
• Contextualise fixture pre-game, five-minute updates throughout the game, plus brief post-match round up

Editorial Writer and Live Text Commentator for Stats Perform: September 2014 – Present

• Undertake editorial desk shifts covering the latest sports news including football, rugby, tennis, golf, cricket, F1 and NBA
• Assisted the team’s coverage of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games and 2022 FIFA World Cup
• Writing 250-word on-the-whistle football match reports on domestic, European and international matches, including the Premier League, Champions League and World Cup
• Writing reaction pieces, event reviews and general sports news articles
• Subediting articles submitted by colleagues and editing live text commentary produced
• Provide live text commentary for domestic, European and international football matches, including Premier League and Champions League
• Contextualise fixture pre-game, two-minute updates throughout the game as well as a brief half-time and post-match round-up
• Provided live blog during the Rio 2016 Olympics streamed through MSN.com

Consultant Writer for OneTwenty Group: November 2015 – Present (Full-Time July 2016 – September 2017)

• Provide tournament coverage on the main snooker, tennis and darts events published on livesnooker.com, livetennis.com and live-darts.com
• Perform social media coverage including build-up, previews, real-time coverage, fan engagement and reviews
• Conduct player interviews and produce exclusive features for publication on the Live Snooker and Live Darts websites and YouTube channels
• Write previews and match reports
• Regularly attend tournaments to produce live coverage and gather exclusive material
• Produce betting articles and landing pages published on Squawka.com
• Research and write topical articles and features, including team and stadium profiles for the 2022 FIFA World Cup
• Provided recommendations and advice regarding betting tips for bettingpro.com and footballtips.com

Freelance Writer for Snooker Scene: June 2023 – Present

• Provide tournament coverage on the main snooker events
• Conduct player interviews and produce exclusive features

Publicity Officer for Swansea City AFC Community Trust (included multimedia coverage for Swansea City AFC): September 2020 – May 2021

• Coverage of all Community Trust events including; writing stories, social media coverage, conducting interviews, producing video packages and photography
• Managing and arranging all player appearances at Trust-based events or activities
• Liaising with project coordinators to create news stories and explore all opportunities to promote the Trust’s work within the community
• Responsible for the management of all social media accounts; including Twitter and Facebook
• Write news stories for publication on the club website and in the matchday programme
• Support with the preparation of case studies in conjunction with project coordinators
• Produce video packages for events, case studies and campaigns for use on social media and submission to the Premier League
• Host virtual events on Zoom; recording and producing content for social media channels
• Receiving creative briefs to proof and validate before liaising with the marketing team to design
• Matchday coverage of all first-team fixtures including; production and distribution of team sheets to visiting journalists, live match centre coverage, match reports, photo galleries and transcribing post-match player/manager interviews
• Coverage of the under-23s and under-18s teams; writing previews, match reports, reaction articles and post-match player/manager interviews
• Contribute to first-team matchday programme content as writer and editor including; the Community Trust section, coverage of the under-23s and under-18s teams, opposition analysis and player features
• Writing unique content for the club website
• Publication of club notifications including team news to all subscribing mobile devices
• Extensive research to inform interviews, social media, feature writing and commentary
• Continued relationship management with colleagues, manager and players to ensure their co-operation and availability as and when required
• Regularly delivering to tight deadlines
• Substituting for colleagues in their absence

Social Media Manager for Swansea City AFC: July 2019 – September 2020 (Full-Time)

• Responsible for the management of all social media accounts including; Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
• Plan, structure and produce social media content to provide continuous interesting and engaging posts and stories across all platforms
• Co-ordinate with colleagues to ensure continuity of information flow and to avoid overlap with other contents sources e.g. website etc
• Verify source information to ensure its accuracy and integrity
• Matchday coverage of all first team fixtures including; gathering team news, social media coverage, post-match player interviews, chaperone player interviews with external media sources and occasional reaction articles
• Responsible for coverage of the under-23s team; writing previews, commentary broadcast via SwansTV Live or matchday social media coverage, match reports, reaction articles and post-match player interviews
• Contribute to first-team Matchday programme content as writer and editor including; the Captain’s column, player features, quizzes and previewing future fixtures
• Writing unique content for the club website
• Publication of club notifications including breaking news, team news, live streams and pre-match press conferences to all subscribing mobile devices
• Extensive research to inform interviews, social media, feature writing and commentary
• Regularly interviewing players and coaches at all levels including, co-ordinating their availability to meet a variety of deadlines to provide content across all platforms
• Creating new and interesting subject matter to celebrate club landmarks and milestones
• Contribute towards development of and provide innovative ideas for material created by the Multimedia office including SwansTV
• Continued relationship management with colleagues, manager and players to ensure their co-operation and availability as and when required
• Regularly delivering to tight deadlines
• Substituting for colleagues in their absence

Multimedia Officer for Swansea City AFC: September 2017 – May 2019 (Full-Time)

• Responsible for coverage of the under-23s team; writing previews, match reports and reaction articles, matchday social media coverage, commentary broadcast via SwansTV Live, news items and attending away fixtures
• Editor and principal contributor to the first-team matchday programmes including producing engaging content, generating angles for stories, interviewing players and the manager. Liaising with opposing teams to generate and organise input, feature writing, sub-editing content and co-ordinating with graphic designers
• Social media coverage of first-team home and occasional away fixtures, production and distribution of team sheets to visiting journalists
• Publication of club notifications including breaking news, team news, live streams and pre-match press conferences to all subscribing mobile devices
• Writing unique content for the club website
• Extensive research to inform interviews, social media, feature writing and commentary
• Regularly interviewing players and coaches at all levels including, co-ordinating their availability to meet a variety of deadlines to provide content across all platforms
• Creating new and interesting subject matter to celebrate club landmarks and milestones
• Contribute towards development of and provide innovative ideas for material created by the Multimedia office including SwansTV
• Continued relationship management with colleagues, manager and players to ensure their co-operation and availability as and when required
• Liaise with external volunteer contributors, organising and co-ordinating their input including allocating subject matter and sub-editing submissions for programme content
• Regularly delivering to tight deadlines
• Substituting for colleagues in their absence

Freelance Writer for GiveMeSport: May – October 2014 (Part-Time)

• Freelance writing on the World Cup and La Liga producing up to 30 stories per month, including match reports, features and previews

 

Work Experience and Placements

• Swansea City AFC: April 4-9, 2016
• Perform Group: December 7-11, 2015
• Matchroom Sport: November 10-15, 2015 covering the Champion of Champions snooker tournament
• Yorkshire Post/ Evening Post: September 28 – October 2, 2015
• Media Volunteer at Accrington Stanley FC: July 2015 – August 2016
• Matchroom Sport: November 3-9, 2014 covering the Champion of Champions snooker tournament
• World Snooker: April 19 – May 5, 2014 covering the World Snooker Championships
• Aston Villa Football Club: September 2-6, 2013

Key Skills and Abilities

• Creativity to develop new ideas for content and broadcast, writing interesting, engaging and original content across a variety of sports
• Demonstrable ability to prepare and deliver focused messages across a wide range of media platforms
• Extensive research capability to support all aspects of work to ensure accurate, appropriate content is produced and to convey professionalism when engaging with sports professionals
• Experience of working with broadcast media and creating both audio and video packages published on sports websites
• Ability to communicate succinctly with sports professionals at all levels, volunteers and members of the public
• Relationship management techniques and practices that foster good rapport and co-operation
• Capacity to absorb and retain significant volumes of factual and statistical information and apply it appropriately
• Capable lone-worker who also thrives in a team environment and can support the duties and responsibilities of colleagues to ensure the efficient operation of the team
• Personal organisation and drive that sustains motivation and ensures targets and goals are identified and achieved
• Planning and scheduling to meet deadlines as well as instant responses required for coverage of live sport and publications, maintaining accuracy and attention to detail throughout
• Thorough preparation and presentation, especially when operating under pressure
• Committed to continuous professional development
• Flexible and adaptable in all professional situations

 

IT Applications

Atex In Copy, Atex In Design, Luma Fusion, iMovie, Premiere Pro (inc. VT editing), Adobe Audition (sound recording/ editing), Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Onesignal.com, CMS, Quark, WordPress, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, social media outlets

Personal Interests

Playing football, snooker, pool, tennis and golf; listening to music, reading sporting autobiographies and travelling around the country attending sporting events as a spectator and a journalist.

 

Education and Qualifications

Staffordshire University 2012 – 2015

First Class BA (Hons) in Sports Journalism

NCTJ Sports Journalism (A grade – 78%)

NCTJ Shorthand (80wpm)

Wolgarston High School, Penkridge, Staffordshire 2007 – 2012

BTEC Extended Diploma in Sport – D1 (equivalent to 3 A* at A Level)

13 GCSEs – BTEC First Certificate in Sport – D* (equivalent to 2 A*), Maths A, 5 grade B – English Language, French, Spanish, IT, Science and 5 grade C

 

Contact Details

Email: jonathandavies.sportsjournalist@gmail.com

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