''PressPass'' was a 60-minute show which airs six times a week, Sunday to Friday, and features robust
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
discussion between presenters
Andrew Orsatti,
Adrian Healey
Adrian Healey is an English football commentator, currently working for ESPN and most recently with MLS Season Pass broadcasts on Apple TV. He is a veteran football commentator in the U.S., working for networks such as ESPN; he was part of the ...
, Dan Thomas and analysts including
Robbie Mustoe
Robin "Robbie" Mustoe (born 28 August 1968) is an English former professional footballer who now works as a commentator for NBC Sports.
He made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing primarily as a defensive ...
,
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 ...
,
Tommy Smyth
Thomas Michael Smyth (pronounced Smith) (born 19 December 1946) is an Irish soccer commentator. Since February 1993, he has been employed by ESPN in the United States, where his primary role is as color commentator and in-studio analyst for ...
,
Janusz Michallik,
Shaka Hislop
Neil Shaka Hislop CM (born 22 February 1969) is a football commentator and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Born in England, he played for them at under-21 level before representing Trinidad and Tobago at senior international level. ...
,
Robbie Earle
Robert Fitzgerald Earle MBE (born 27 January 1965) is a former football player and current television commentator. Born in England, he represented Jamaica in international football. An attacking midfielder, he played 578 league games in senio ...
,
Steve Nicol
Stephen Nicol (born 11 December 1961) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who mainly played as a right back and occasionally played in other positions across defence and midfield. He played for the successful Liverpool teams of the 1 ...
,
Stewart Robson
Stewart Ian Robson (born 6 November 1964) is an English former football player and TV and radio football pundit. He played for Arsenal, West Ham United where he was their player of the season in 1988, and Coventry City. After his footballing ...
,
Craig Burley
Craig William Burley (born 24 September 1971) is a Scottish former professional footballer and sports television pundit and co-commentator for ESPN.
As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2004, notably playing in the Premier League for ...
,
Sid Lowe,
Julien Laurens
Julien Laurens (born 4 October 1980) is a French football journalist and broadcaster based in London.
Career
Laurens works for the French newspaper '' Le Parisien'', and has featured regularly on BT Sport Talksport and ESPN as well as contrib ...
,
Raphael Honigstein
Raphael Honigstein (born 1973) is a German journalist and author.
Early life
Honigstein was born in Bavaria to a Jewish family. In 1993, Honigstein moved from Munich to London. He studied law before becoming a journalist.
Journalism career
In the ...
,
Martin Ainstein,
Steve McManaman
Steven McManaman (born 11 February 1972) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He is one of the most decorated English footballers to have played for a club abroad, with the UEFA website stating in 2012 that "of al ...
,
Frank Leboeuf and
Martin Keown
Martin Raymond Keown ( ; born 24 July 1966) is an English football pundit and former professional footballer. A defender, he played from 1984 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal, where he made over 400 appearances for the club an ...
.
Broadcasts
The show aired in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
,
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
Format
Andrew Orsatti,
Adrian Healey
Adrian Healey is an English football commentator, currently working for ESPN and most recently with MLS Season Pass broadcasts on Apple TV. He is a veteran football commentator in the U.S., working for networks such as ESPN; he was part of the ...
and Dan Thomas alternated as the main hosts. A personality-driven show, it often featured outlandish comments involving Smyth, an Irishman fond of using the term "Auld Onion Bag" when referring to goals scored. The hosts' job was to stimulate debate on a variety of global topics.
During the European club season, ESPN FC Press Pass paid particular attention to the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga.
Orsatti, Healey, Mustoe, Smyth, Thomas, Hislop and Michallik often commentated on
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
matches shown on ESPN.
Former presenters of the program include
Derek Rae
Derek Rae (born 9 April 1967) is a Scottish association football commentator and presenter. He currently works for ESPN and ABC in the United States for the English-language coverages of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and La Liga and Deutsche Fußball ...
,
Dave Roberts and Alison Bender.
Press Pass - World Cup Breakdown: USA vs England Preview
ESPN, June 10, 2010
Guest analysts
Former Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
player Steve Nicol
Stephen Nicol (born 11 December 1961) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who mainly played as a right back and occasionally played in other positions across defence and midfield. He played for the successful Liverpool teams of the 1 ...
became a regular contributor after leaving his post as Head Coach of MLS club New England Revolution
The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...
.
1998 World Cup Winner Frank Leboeuf who collected multiple trophies in his time at Chelsea, including two FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
s and a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...
, appeared on an infrequent basis from ESPN's studios in Los Angeles.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Presspass
ESPN.com
Association football television series