What goes in a football commentary research pack

Short answer: A football commentary research pack is everything a commentator needs to know about one match, organised so it can be used live. A good one includes both squads with numbers, positions and pronunciations; the match context (competition, stakes, form and head-to-head); short notes on the key players and managers; the officials; and a set of ready-to-say storylines and fill material for quiet moments.

Whether you build your own or use a ready-made one, here's what should be in it, why each part matters, and what to leave out.

Why a research pack, not just notes?

Notes are what you collect; a pack is what you use. The difference is organisation. Live, you have about two seconds to find a fact before the moment has gone. A research pack puts information where your eye expects it: names by shirt number, storylines by player, fill material in its own section. It also gives you a record you can reuse the next time either team comes up.

1. Fixture essentials

The top of the pack should answer the basic questions at a glance:

• Teams, competition and round
• Date, kick-off time and venue (with capacity if relevant)
• Competition rules: extra time, penalties, aggregate scores, away goals where they still apply
• Kits, so you can tell the teams apart on a monitor or from the gantry

2. Both squads

This is the heart of the pack. For each player:

• Shirt number and position
• Pronunciation, written phonetically
• Age and, where useful, nationality
• One-line context: new signing, on loan from, academy graduate, returning from injury, former player of the opponent

Plus both managers (and time in the job) and notable coaching staff. A squad list can be built days ahead; the confirmed line-up only arrives about an hour before kick-off, so the pack should make it easy to mark starters and substitutes quickly.

3. Match context

This is where you find the story of the day:

• League position and stakes: what a win, draw or defeat means for each side
• Recent form: the last five or six results, with scorers where helpful
• Head-to-head: the last meeting and anything notable about the fixture's history
• Team news: injuries, suspensions and players one booking away from a ban

4. Key player notes

Pick out five to eight main characters across both teams and give each one or two lines. Focus on context you can't read off a live stats feed: why they matter today, a recent run of form, a milestone, a personal connection to this fixture. Season numbers are useful, but put them in context ("his sixth of the season, more than all of last year") rather than listing them.

5. Officials

Referee, assistants, fourth official and VAR where used. A line on each referee's recent games in the competition can help if a big decision comes, but only include facts you've checked.

6. Storylines and talking points

The best packs don't just list facts; they turn them into lines you can say in one breath. Aim for two or three per main character and five or six about the match itself. Mark any time-sensitive claims ("top scorer", "unbeaten in...") so you re-check them on the day, and treat negative claims ("has never...", "first time since...") with extra care.

7. Fill material

Five to ten items for stoppages: the ground's history, the fixture's history, a rule viewers often misunderstand, a club or community story. These carry you through an injury break or a long VAR check without reaching for weaker material.

8. Sources

Every fact should be traceable: club website, league site, club media officer, or a named data source. When two sources disagree, especially on statistics like possession or assists, the pack should note it, so you can say whose figure it is or leave it out.

What to leave out

A research pack is not an encyclopaedia. Leave out:

• Long statistical tables you can't use in a two-second glance
• Unverified rumours or transfer gossip
• Anything you couldn't comfortably say on air
• Facts with no source

If a section won't help you live, it belongs in your background reading, not your pack.

Building your own vs using a ready-made pack

Building your own gives you full control and is how most commentators learn. The downside is time: researching two full squads, form, head-to-head and storylines properly can take hours, and in lower-league, women's or youth football the online information is often thin, so you'll need to contact clubs directly.

A ready-made pack saves that groundwork so you can spend your time on storylines and voice. CoComms Packs are built for one fixture at a time, from £5, and your first pack is free. Many commentators use a pack as the base and add their own notes on top.

Using the pack on matchday

When the line-ups arrive, mark starters and substitutes, check the formation, and re-check your time-sensitive lines. Then transfer the essentials to a one-page match sheet or keep them in a digital desk. CoComms Match Desk, for example, keeps your match notes for each game in one place. Our commentary notes template guide shows how to boil a full pack down to one page.

Frequently asked questions

What is a football commentary research pack? It's a structured set of match research covering squads, pronunciations, context, key players, officials, storylines and fill material, organised for use during a live broadcast.

How long should a research pack be? Long enough to cover both squads and the main storylines, but organised so any fact can be found in a glance. Many commentators then reduce it to a one-page match sheet.

What's the most important section? The squad lists with shirt numbers and pronunciations. Everything else builds on getting names right.

Should a research pack include statistics? Yes, but selectively and with context. A few meaningful numbers beat a wall of figures, and every number should have a source.

When should I get my research pack ready? Ideally two to three days before the match, with a final check of the line-ups about an hour before kick-off.

Are research packs useful for volunteer and grassroots commentators? Very. Data is often harder to find at lower levels, so a well-organised pack saves the most time there.

CoComms is a Ronnie Dog Media company.