Wasps are set to become the first top-flight English rugby club to have a female matchday announcer.
Long-serving matchday announcer Pete Nuttall will be temporarily handing over the microphone to Wasps employee Verity Brown for the club’s Premiership Rugby Cup clash against Worcester Warriors at Ricoh Arena on Saturday 12 October.
The idea was initially mooted during the summer by Pete, who is sitting out Wasps’ clash with Warriors as he will be announcing his 20th consecutive Rugby League Grand Final on the same day.
Verity’s moment of fame comes in what will be her fourth season with Wasps after she initially joined the club as a volunteer in December 2014 for eight months, before working her way up to become community manager and then matchday marketing manager.
Verity said: “Working for Wasps is not a job for me, it’s a passion and lifestyle, so I was absolutely honoured to be asked to do the matchday announcing.
“I get a real buzz from working the matchdays and co-ordinating a lot of the pre-match activities, but it will be great to view the Worcester game from a different perspective.
“I shadowed Pete at the last home game and there’s an awful lot that goes into matchday announcing – the preparation in terms of writing the script, the running order and liaising with the matchday operations team – to the actual game itself where you’re having to pay great attention to what’s going on throughout the match!
“Hopefully hearing my voice over the microphone will inspire other females out there to pursue roles that have traditionally been dominated by men.”
Pete – who has been the voice of Wasps since 1997 – will return to matchday duty for the club’s opening Gallagher Premiership clash with London Irish at Ricoh Arena on Sunday 20 October.
