I began writing for BirminghamLive back in 2015 and was offered my first full-time role as an Advanced Content Writer (Sport) upon my graduation in 2016.

Initially I was tasked with covering all four of the West Midlands’ leading clubs but I’ve primarily had a Wolves brief since summer 2018. 

My work covering Wolves led to me being nominated for Sports Journalist of the Year at the Midlands Media Awards in 2019. 

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Online

Here are samples of my work for BirminghamLive:

Exclusive: Birmingham City boss Zola has made this change at the request of his players

Administration, player sales and Tony Xia’s plan – Aston Villa crisis questions answered

Saido Berahino exclusive: West Brom striker plotting shock exit strategy 

Shamed FIFA boss’s ‘adopted son’ handed job at Aston Villa during World Cup bid

Jason Lowe exclusive: Blues man reveals his perfect scenario after a season of struggle

Tough love and pure speed – the making of Birmingham City hero Isaac Vassell

Zaha & Yeung’s ‘fantasy football’ – Inside the Blues deals you’ve never heard of

James Chester makes heartbreaking revelation after Aston Villa win promotion

You can find more of my work via my author page here.

And my Wolves portfolio can be found here.

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Youth football

I’ve enjoyed lots of success writing around young footballers on my patch. I’ve found that supporters are extremely keen to know all about the kids impressing in the academy and, in some cases, youngsters who’ve arrived from overseas.

Over the last few years I’ve owned BirminghamLive’s coverage of under-23 football in terms of news stories, backgrounders, interviews and opinion pieces.

I have also tried to profile starlets in all of the region’s academies.

As a result of building contacts within the academies and tracking down other useful sources, I have been able to write the following stories:

Aston Villa release popular youngster Mitch Clark

Aston Villa extend Callum O’Hare’s contract

Youth chief Sean Kimberley has left Aston Villa

Mitch Clark: ‘I don’t want to be here, I just want to play with my mates’

Callum O’Hare reveals first team ‘frustration’ and his Aston Villa dream

Aston Villa’s French ‘match killer’ is ‘incomparable to another player’

Aston Villa are very excited about Jacob Ramsey – and fans should be too

Exclusive: Inside Birmingham City’s FA Youth Cup dreamers

The X Factor, driving tests and Gold – Two proud dads on Wolves new boys

‘This boy was different’ – The Braga backstory behind Wolves star Pedro Neto

Elliot Watt opens up on Wolves ‘dream’, loan wait and Neves lessons

‘A great appetite for goals’ – The wonderkid Wolves fans are desperate to see

The inside story of Jorge Mendes’ latest Wolves prodigy Leo Campana

Dion Sanderson explains Wolves contract stance and responds to Cardiff interest

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Live breaking news

Reacting quickly to breaking news situations is something I pride myself on.

During my time working for BirminghamLive I’ve often owned a breaking news story by going live instantly.

Not only do live blogs have fantastic google ranking, they also allow you to recirculate other content.

Managerial departures are (very!) common on our patch and they represent a great opportunity to go live. I reacted to the news Alan Pardew had left West Brom rapidly and captured a big audience by running a blog.

Pulling in expert views, engaging supporters with polls and taking a look at who could replace Pardew made for a really great user experience and kept people interested throughout the day.

Another example of a well-received live blog was this one myself and colleague Brian Dick ran as Garry Monk was unveiled as Birmingham City manager.

I was charged with quickly transcribing Monk’s thoughts and publishing them in the live blog for fans to read.

Once the press conference is over, it doesn’t mean the live blog has to end. There are dozens of ways to keep readers engaged and ensure your audience doesn’t leave despite no further input from the manager himself.

In addition to the polls, fan comments and expert opinions listed above, analysis from writers works extremely well and adds another dimension to the blog.

It gives supporters a feel of the emotions displayed inside the room as the press conference took place.