Oatley initially studied print journalism and radio production at evening classes while broadcasting on
hospital radio. She then gave up her intellectual property management job as well as her flat, spent a summer sleeping on friends' floors whilst doing journalism work experience full-time. She undertook a Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) in Broadcast Journalism at
Sheffield Hallam University. While studying she joined
BBC Radio Leeds as a sports reporter, continuing to work there after graduation. Her first commentary was on a match between
Wakefield & Emley and
Worksop Town in the
Unibond League. Oatley also worked as a news reporter in her native
West Midlands with
BBC Radio WM, before moving back to London to work as a sports reporter for
BBC London 94.9. Her subsequent interview with
UEFA President
Lennart Johansson became an international news story due to his controversial comments on women's football. Oatley became the first female football commentator in the history of
BBC football programme
Match of the Day, with her debut broadcast on 21 April 2007 for the
Premier League match between
Fulham and
Blackburn Rovers. She has since commentated on several further games for
Match of the Day. In September 2009, she commentated on the
UEFA Women's Euro 2009 final between Germany and England. She provided live commentary on
BBC Radio 5 Live for matches of the
2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. She was one of BBC Television's reporters with the
Great Britain women's Olympic football team for the
2012 Summer Olympics. Oatley resumed her association football play-by-play commentary career in 2019 when she commentated seven
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup matches for the Host Broadcast Services (HBS) "world feed" on-site from
Roazhon Park in
Rennes, France. Oatley became the lead play-by-play commentator for
FA Women's Super League (WSL) matches on
Sky Sports in the UK in September 2021. She stepped down from that role at the end of the 2022-2023 WSL season in May 2023 after she was hired by
CBS Sports (USA) as the lead television main commentator (play-by-play) for the
NWSL in March 2023. In 2022,
Fox Sports hired Oatley as a main play-by-play commentator for United States broadcasts of the
2022 FIFA World Cup, becoming the first woman to serve in that role for the tournament's U.S. broadcast. In March 2023, Oatley joined the play-by-play commentary team for the
National Women's Soccer League on television in the United States, commuting for the role from Surrey. In May 2024,
Fox Sports hired Oatley as one of four lead commentators for the
UEFA Euro 2024 tournament.
Presenting and reporting Oatley has presented sports news on
BBC Radio 1,
BBC Radio 2 and
BBC Radio 4, as well as more frequently on
BBC Radio 5 Live. She has covered the
World Snooker Championship, British
Moto GP,
Open Championship golf, and various other sports such as tennis and
rugby league. Oatley presented and commentated for the children's television show
Level Up during the
2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and reported for BBC Television at the
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China. She commentated on live football matches for BBC Television during the
2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She was a regular sports presenter on the
BBC News Channel between 2011 and 2013, fronted
The FA WSL Show in 2012 for
ESPN (UK), and anchored the BBC's live women's football coverage, including the
UEFA Women's Euro 2013,
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and ''Women's Football Show
on BBC in 2015. and was a reporter on Football Focus and Final Score'' on
BBC One and a
Premier League presenter on their worldwide television channel, produced by
IMG. She has also fronted
The Football League Show, completing the set of five broadcast roles on the show, and World
Football Focus. She has been the darts anchor for
ITV Sport since 2015, hosting their live international PDC events. She had previously presented ITV's 2015
Africa Cup of Nations coverage and in 2014 anchored their
FA Cup highlights programmes. She has been a studio guest pundit on
TV2 in Norway and
The Guardian's
Football Weekly podcast. Oatley hosted coverage of matches and highlights for
UEFA Euro 2016 and the
2018 FIFA World Cup for
ITV Sport as a main studio presenter and pitchside reporter, and was a live match commentator for the host broadcaster's world TV feed on-site at the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. and
Sunday Supplement, where she took over from
Neil Ashton on 14 January 2020 until the show was cancelled following the COVID-19 lockdown. In the summer of 2021, she co-hosted the
BBC Radio 5 Live 5 Live Drive news show with
Tony Livesey.
Honours She was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the
2016 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and diversity in sport. The award was recognition of her work behind the scenes championing the role of women working in football as well as women's football. In September 2016, Oatley was made an Honorary
Doctor of Letters at the
University of Wolverhampton for her contribution to sports broadcasting. ==Personal life==