Football Weekly is a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

about football produced by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' newspaper in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It was first broadcast in 2006. It reviews the latest football results and news, and previews forthcoming matches. While focused on the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and English football more broadly, the show pays significant attention to football across Europe, paying particular attention to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

and the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

. Originally provided weekly—as its name suggests—Football Weekly, as of 2021, broadcasts three times a week during the European football season. The original episode release day was Monday, after the weekend's fixtures, and since 2007 a second weekly podcast, ''Football Weekly Extra'', has aired on Thursdays to review midweek action and preview the next weekend's matches. A third weekly episode published on Tuesdays or Wednesdays has been produced since June 2020, typically either focusing on news from non-British European leagues, or providing space for extended discussions of particular topics.

History

The podcast began on 11 May 2006 as ''The World Cup Show'', produced daily throughout the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, and returned during the season under its new name on 29 August 2006, due to popular demand. During

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

and

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, the podcast has aired daily. The show was originally presented by James Richardson, with contributions by various ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' journalists and freelance correspondents, most regularly

Barry Glendenning Barry Glendenning (born 12 March 1973) is an Irish sports journalist who holds the position of deputy sports editor on the ''guardian.co.uk'' website run by UK newspaper ''The Guardian''. Glendenning was born in Birr, County Offaly and atten ...

. Richardson and journalist Iain Macintosh left in July 2017 for a new rival podcast, ''

The Totally Football Show ''The Totally Football Show'' presented by James Richardson is a thrice weekly podcast about association football produced by Muddy Knees Media. From June 15, 2020 it was incorporated into and also available via The Athletic. It regularly feat ...

''. Richardson was replaced by

Max Rushden Max Paul Rushden (born 18 April 1979) is an English radio and television presenter and the current host of ''The Guardian''s ''Football Weekly'' podcast. Rushden's first presenting role was BBC London 94.9's breakfast show from December 2006 to ...

. Rushden explains that the show "ranges from proper analysis of what has happened on the pitch in the UK and around Europe, to commentary about serious issues off it, balanced with some complete nonsense." Speaking in the wake of the 2018 World Cup, the ''Guardian's'' head of sport called the podcast "a brand leader despite plenty of opposition including from the ''

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

''. It is one of our greatest multimedia successes." Since the late 2010s, the programme has paid greater attention to women's football, giving more frequent segments and occasional dedicated episodes to the women's game.

Awards

In April 2008 Football Weekly was nominated for Sports Programme of the Year in the annual

Sony Radio Academy Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academ ...

– the UK's main national radio awards. In 2018 the

Football Supporters' Federation The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) is an organisation representing football fans in England and Wales. It campaigns across a range of issues and supports fan representation on clubs' boards, lower ticket prices, and the introduction of sa ...

awarded ''Football Weekly'' the ''Podcast of the Year'' for the second year running and the fifth time in the last six years. ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' called the show "one of the big beasts of football podcasting".Nicholson, Tom
"The Best Football Podcasts For The New Season"
''

'', 13 August 2019. Retrieved on 14 August 2019.

Regular panellists

Other occasional contributors include Jim Burke, Andy Hunter, Gregg Bakowski,

Sean Ingle Sean Ingle is a British sports journalist. He is currently the chief sports reporter and columnist for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. He was previously the newspaper's athletics correspondent and online sports editor. Early life and edu ...

, Louise Taylor, Anne-Marie Batson,

Elis James Owain Elis James (born 3 November 1980) is a Welsh comedian, broadcaster and actor originally from Haverfordwest. He grew up in Carmarthen and later lived in Cardiff. He is now based in South London. He is bilingual in Welsh and English and has ...

Jacqui Oatley Jacqueline Anne Oatley (born 28 December 1974) is a leading English broadcaster. She is a football commentator for Sky Sports, calling Premier League and FA Women's Super League matches. She is a sports presenter on Quest TV channel, covering ...

, Paul Doyle, Rory Smith, Paul MacInnes and

Troy Townsend Kick It Out was established as a campaign with the brand name 'Let's Kick Racism Out of Football' in 1993 and as an organisation in 1997. The organisation works within the football, educational and community sectors to challenge discrimination, ...

. James, Oatley and Carruthers are occasional guest hosts in the absence of Rushden, while MacInnes is a previous guest host of the show. Lowe, Rhind-Tutt and Wrack will typically only appear to discuss matters pertaining to, respectively, Spanish, German and women's football. While also appearing on regular shows, in podcasts specifically themed around European football, Auclair and Bandini are the respective regular experts on the French and Italian game.

Former panellists

Former guest hosts

References

External links

* {{Podcast platform links Audio podcasts Football mass media in the United Kingdom 2006 podcast debuts Sports podcasts The Guardian