James Oliver Richardson (born 29 May 1966), also known as AC Jimbo, is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a former presenter of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's ''

Football Italia ''Football Italia'' was a television programme in the United Kingdom, showing Italian football, that ran from 1992 to 2002 on Channel 4, and continued until 2007–08 Serie A, 2008 on other channels. It was known as ''Football Italiano'' in its ...

'' programme and former host of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' ''

Football Weekly Football Weekly is a podcast about football produced by ''The Guardian'' newspaper in the United Kingdom. It was first broadcast in 2006. It reviews the latest football results and news, and previews forthcoming matches. While focused on the Pr ...

'' podcast. He currently hosts

BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...

's ''The UEFA Champions League Goals Show'', ''World's Strongest Man'' for Channel 5 and ''

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 features ...

'' podcast. The Totally Football Sho

accessed 3 December 2017 He is also employed by the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, featuring in content related to Fantasy Premier League and for overseas-rights holders. sportsvibeTV, James Richardson Talks Italian Football, 20 Sep 2013

accessed 3 December 2017 He is an

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

fan and multilingual, speaking his native English,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Portuguese and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Jane Morgan Management, James Richardson

accessed 3 December 2017

''Football Italia''

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

-born Richardson was the

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

of ''

'' on Channel 4 from 1992 until 2002. Ingle, Sean, ''The Guardian'', "Arrivederci, James, and thanks for the memories", 20 Dec 2006

accessed 3 December 2017 ''Football Italia'' saw Richardson become well known and the show was cult viewing for football fans in the UK. ''Football Italia'' consisted of two weekend shows. On a Saturday morning, Richardson presented ''Gazzetta Football Italia'', a magazine show which reviewed the previous weekend's games, as well as keeping viewers up to date with the latest Italian football news. It would feature Richardson sitting in a café in a picturesque setting, usually with a

cappuccino Cappuccino (, ; from German ) is an espresso-based coffee drink traditionally prepared with steamed milk, including a layer of milk foam. Variations of the drink involve the use of cream instead of milk, using non-dairy milk substitutes ...

, a pastry or

gelato Gelato (; ; ) refers to a specific type of ice cream of Italian origin. In Italian, ''Gelato'' is the common word for all types of ice cream. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of ...

, and a pile of Italian sports newspapers which he would use to show viewers the latest football stories and headlines. ''

Football365 Football365.com is a website operated by Planet Sport Publishing's Planet Sport Network that also includes TEAMtalk, Planet Football, Planet F1 Planet Rugby, Tennis365 and LoveRugbyLeague from its base in Leeds. The website primarily covers th ...

'', "A Football365 love letter to… Gazzetta Football Italia", 9 Jul 201

accessed 3 December 2017 He would interview players and managers on a regular basis for the show, since he was able to speak Italian. ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', "Arriverderci Roma, buongiorno Reading", 12 August 2007

accessed 3 December 2017 Meanwhile, on a Sunday he hosted live coverage from the stadium of one of the top Italian games that particular day. He also presented ''La Partita'' and ''Mezzanotte'', a Sunday-night and midweek show, respectively, with highlights of one of the top matches of the weekend.

Later broadcasting career

From 2002 until 2005, Richardson moved with the Serie A rights first to British

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

live coverage, then to Bravo TV's ''Football Italia Live'' and the return of ''Gazzetta Football Italia''. Between 2007 and 2009, he co-presented

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports Media is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland and in Tbilisi, Georgia, broadcasting throughout select Eurasian countries, and the Philippines. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Iris ...

' ''The Friday Football Show'' and ''Football Matters ''shows with

Rebecca Lowe Rebecca Lowe (born 11 November 1980) is a British and American television presenter and anchor who works for NBC and NBC Sports. She previously worked at the BBC, Setanta Sports UK and ESPN UK. Early life and education The daughter of BBC News ...

. In 2011, Richardson also had a short stint on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

regional football programme ''

Late Kick Off ''Late Kick Off'' is a BBC One regional television football programme which was broadcast between 2010 and 2015. Launched on 18 January 2010, it covered Football League teams on a regional or pan-regional basis in a magazine-style format. The sh ...

'', for the South, West and South-West region. Prior to his move to BT Sport in August 2013, he presented

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's coverage of live Italian football. At BT Sport he hosted live Serie A matches and the Sunday night round-up show, ''

European Football Show ''European Football Show'' (also referred to on occasion as ''Sunday Night European Football'' ) was a football TV programme on BT Sport presented by James Richardson. Overview The show was originally split into three segments. It began with a ...

'', until its cancellation in 2017. He fronts their ''The UEFA Champions League Goals Show'' since BT Sport won the rights to the competition. Since 2016 to 2021, together with

Jules Breach Jules Breach (née Sowa) (born 7 November 1986) is a British sports broadcaster for TNT Sports, Fox Sports, Viaplay, and Channel 4. Early life Breach was born in Brighton, Sussex, to Filipino parents. When she was six months old, her family ...

, he has hosted the Fantasy Premier League Show by Premier League Productions. Starting from 2021, Kelly Somers has partnered with Richardson for the Fantasy Premier League Show. It is available for viewing on the Premier League website and also the Premier League Facebook Page. Richardson has also presented non-football related content and presented Bravo TV's first live PDC darts coverage alongside

Dave Gorman David James Gorman (born 2 March 1971) is an English comedian, presenter, and writer. Gorman began his career writing for comedy series such as '' The Mrs Merton Show'' (1993–1998) and ''The Fast Show'' (1994–1997), and later garnered a ...

during the 2010 European Darts Championship. He has also presented

British Eurosport Eurosport 1 is a television sports network channel which is a division of Eurosport and a subsidiary of EMEA version of Warner Bros. Discovery. Discovery took a 20% minority interest share in December 2012, and became majority shareholder in the ...

's live

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

cycling coverage between 2005 RCUK, Tour de France 2005 on TV, 1 Jul 2005

accessed 3 December 2017 and 2013. Sport On The Box, "Tour de France 2013 live on ITV4 & Eurosport", 23 Jun 2013

accessed 3 December 2017 Since 2011, Richardson has hosted the

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...

television coverage.

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, James Richardso

accessed 3 December 2017 In 2018, he started co-presenting ''The Great Model Railway Challenge'' on Channel 5 with Tim Shaw (presenter), Tim Shaw, a show that sees teams of railway model enthusiasts compete against each other in a series of tasks with the aim of winning a prize in the grand finale. Curtis Brown, James Richardson presents The Great Model Railway Challenge for Channel 5, 4 Oct 201

accessed 26 April 2020 In 2025, it was announced that Richardson would be a member of the joint

DAZN DAZN (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...

/ 5 presentation team for the first 32 team

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

Other media

Richardson also contributes articles to the football magazine, ''

FourFourTwo ''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...

'', as their Italian football correspondent. He has contributed articles to ''

''. He hosted ''The Guardians '' The World Cup Show'' for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup 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 the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

. ''The Guardian'', World Cup Show, June/July 200

accessed 3 December 2017 This turned into ''The Guardian'' ''Football Weekly'' podcast series featuring Monday and Thursday shows with Richardson as host and a panel of football journalists discussing the footballing week's events, both in England and across Europe. It was here he consolidated his reputation as a broadcaster who used puns and humour. Richardson also hosted a number of Football Weekly Live Shows which played to sold-out venues around the UK. In summer 2017, after spending just over a decade with them, Richardson left ''The Guardian'' and ''Football Weekly'', to join the brand new podcast ''

''. This podcast is produced by Muddy Knees Media, of which Richardson is a shareholder, along with other former Football Weekly alumni: Iain Macintosh, and producer Ben Green. Williams-Grut, Oscar, ''

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

'', "Football journalist Iain Macintosh wants to build a podcast empire — the Totally Football Show is just the start", 30 Sept 2017

accessed 3 December 2017 In November 2017, they staged their first live show in

The Glee Club The Glee Club is a chain of independent live stand-up comedy and live music venues in the UK. The first Glee Club was opened by Mark Tughan in Birmingham's Chinese Quarter in 1994,

, in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. Richardson also hosts another Muddy Knees Media podcast, ''Golazzo: The Totally Italian Football Show'' a show featuring James Horncastle and

Gabriele Marcotti Gabriele Marcotti (born 28 July 1973) is an Italian sports journalist, sports author, and radio-television presenter. Born in Italy and now based in London, he was raised in the United States (Chicago and New York), Poland, Germany and Japan. E ...

, which in its initial run featured a weekly round up of Italian football, along with an historical look at Italian football of the past. Its second run now exclusively looks at historical stories and personalities of Italian football. Golazzo

accessed 26 April 2020 Providing Internet content, Richardson hosted the online coverage of England national football team, England's

World Cup 2010 The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualifying game with

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

on 10 October 2009 alongside former England coach

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...

.Gibson, Owen, ''The Guardian'', "Online broadcaster defends decision only to show England match on web", 5 Oct 2009

accessed 3 December 2017 Outside of football, in late 2015, Richardson became an online movie critic, creating his own

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel ''JimboVision''. Butler, Mark, ''Wow24/7'', "James Richardson: from cult football presenter to YouTube movie critic", 22 Mar 2016

accessed 3 December 2017 In 2017, he started hosting a movie podcast ''Truth & Movies'', Truth & Movies

accessed 3 December 2017 which he left in 2018.

References

External links

*
''Football Weekly'' archive
''The Guardian''
''European football papers review column''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, James 1966 births English television presenters English television journalists BT Sport presenters and reporters Football people in Italy Living people The Guardian journalists Television personalities from Bristol English expatriates in Italy Association football journalists