Meet Jonathon Acres Part 1
Stoke´s man at the BBC (Part 1)
Jonathon Acres arbetar på Radio Stoke och kommenterar/reporterar allt om Stoke City. Redaktionen har varit i kontakt med honom för att ta reda på hur är det att jobba på lokalradio och följer Stoke City.
Del 1
1. Could you tell us something about your background, where you grew up, education etc.?
I grew up in a small village by the sea in Devon called Wembury. It's about 6 miles from Plymouth, and is very picturesque with a beach, and a church set into the cliff. It had a couple of pubs, and cricket club and a football club. I went to a Comprehensive school nearby where I did my GCSEs and A-Levels, unfortunately I failed my A-Levels despite the fact that my Dad has written a book called 'How to pass exams'!!!! You can google it if you don't believe me!!
2. Was working at Radio Stoke your first job in radio?
My first job was as a Basketball Table official for Plymouth Raiders. I then started volunteering at Radio Devon, and that's where I got my big break. I started presenting an early breakfast show at Weekends, and bugged the sports editor into letting me do some reporting on football matches. The first of which was Barnet v Torquay at Underhill in 1997. I then left there and worked for the now defunct ITV Digital, and later did a Post Graduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism, despite the fact I only had GCSEs. I was on the course for 12 weeks when I got a job at a commercial station called Kick FM in Newbury, from there I became News Editor, and Mid Morning presenter at Kestrel FM, and then landed my dream job as Sports Presenter here in Stoke.
3. We hear you on match days of course but can you go through your "normal" working week for us?
I get Sundays and Mondays off which is nice. On Tuesdays I will read the breakfast sport and then head down to Stoke's training ground to do some interviews. Wednesdays It's the same, but all the players are off, so you might interview people on the phone, listen back to what you did at the weekend, have production meetings, edit interviews, write the Local Sports stories for BBC Online.
4. Radio Stoke is connected to the BBC of course, are there strict guidelines to be followed, or do you have free hands to do what you want?
There are fairly strict guidelines, but we are free to be creative (Budget allowing). We only have the budget to do a certain amount of games in a season. But the BBC are excellent employers.
5. Not coming from the area, what did you know about Stoke/Stoke City beforehand and did you have a problem with the dialect?
I knew Stoke before I came here, my uncle and Auntie lived in Betley, and I'd been to all three of our local football teams, as well as Hanley, Crewe, Fezzy Park, Alton Towers etc. It was one of the reasons I applied, I stayed with them when I first moved up... Roland and Gill, lovely people, they helped me settle in. I knew very little about Stoke City, compared to now anyway, I knew about Banksy, Sir Stan, the Brit, The Icelanders, 1972, but that was about it really!! No problems with the dialect, I've got a pretty good ear for accents (you need one coming from Devon!). I love all the duck and sug stuff. At least once a season though I will start laughing on air at something a Stokie says to me on Praise and Grumble, but it's because I love it, not because I'm taking the Mickey!
6. Did you have to study a lot of old Stoke City teams and players, did you have a mentor who could fill you in with all the facts?
My Mentor was Nigel Johnson, but you just have to pick it up as you go along. I would bend his ear on long away trips, as well as Dennis Smith and Mick Cullerton.
7. Your shows are live of course, which in itself must cause extra stress, are you particularly nervous before the show?
Never Nervous before a Sports Show, although I do get nervous before presenting breakfast or Mid-Morning here at Radio Stoke. I'm just excited on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon!
8. You have no idea of who will phone into the show, is your heart in your mouth before every call?
Sometimes it is after the first sentence, but not generally before that. I can normally sense trouble pretty early, but I love that first 10 seconds of a caller, It's usually the best bit.
9. I suppose you have your regular callers?
You have regular callers because not as many people ring as you might think, sometimes on a Friday night we are scratching around a bit (Not often). Some of the regulars are excellent too, and become real characters.
10. Have there been any ugly or embarrassing moments?
The ones that swear or are personally abusive, or say something libellous can be pretty ugly.
11. The town is not so large; do you get hassled in your private life, fans coming up to you, blaming you for things that are said on the shows?
That's one of the best things about being on the Radio, not many people recognise you. 99.9 percent of the Stokies I meet are fantastic, they're really complimentary about me and the show, and I love that. It's not often people hand out praise, as you know from listening to the show!!! We do get the odd letter or text or e-mail having a go at me about something I've said, but that's all part and parcel of football.
12. Do you know if the players/manager listen to the show?
Players do, on the way home after the game, I know because they text me! Managers I'm not sure. I think they'd all say no, even if they did!
13. Working for a local radio station must have its difficulties as you see the same managers/players week in/week out, whereas a supporter can easily say Kitson was the biggest waste of money in Stokes history and Cresswell is never going to be a PL player, you must be diplomatic. What are your comments on this?
What I say about any manager or player is my genuinely held belief, and I hope people recognise this. I do say when I don't agree with a tactic, or that a players not played well. It's just how you say it is the important thing, because you do have to maintain these relationships. I have had run in's with people before.
14. I’ve always wanted to ask this; does it happen that nobody phones in?
Yep, I said that earlier on, especially midweek or after an away game. It would never happen after a Stoke home game, or Vale for that matter.
15. It isn’t just Stoke City of course, there are the other teams in the area Port Vale and Crewe Alex. Do their supporters think that Stoke City get too much publicity? Is it a fine balancing act to keep everybody happy?
Generally they think we are too Stoke Heavy, but I think we do pretty well compared to other stations. For example EVERY Vale away game last season was live on this Radio station, not many other League two clubs got that sort of coverage.
Del 2 kommer imorgon
