| Hosting | James Richardson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Length | ca. 40min |
| Debut | 2006 |
| Genre | Sports |
| Provider | The Guardian |
| Website | http://www.guardian.co.uk/footballweekly |
Football Weekly is a podcast about football, hosted by The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom. Originally provided weekly (as its name suggests), its popularity lead to a mid-weekly spinoff, Football Weekly Extra. Football Weekly airs on Mondays during the European football season, after the weekend's fixtures, while Football Weekly Extra airs most regularly on a Wednesday or a Thursday - the airdate is contingent upon the dates of the midweek European football fixtures.[1] During the Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 tournaments, the podcast was provided daily.
It is presented by James Richardson, who is joined by various Guardian journalists and correspondents, most regularly Barry Glendenning, who is often mistakenly referred to as a co-host. Despite being an English production, the show takes a notably Eurocentric view of world football matters. Particular emphasis is placed on the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga.
The show is noted for its irreverent, often iconoclastic, style and mood. Although it adheres to a traditional sports chat show format, the presenters are encouraged to digress on matters unrelated to football and to divulge marginal information from the industry normally withheld from print. As such, its level of discussion is often anecdotal, fragmentary and partial. This is in stark contrast to the normal procedures of professional sports journalism, and is a rarity among sports chat shows in general. Listener-generated jingles introducing presenters and knowingly bad sound effects were previously used but have been phased out.
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The podcast began on May 11, 2006 as The World Cup Show, produced daily throughout the 2006 World Cup, and returned during the season under its new name on August 29, 2006, due to popular demand.[2]
The highest recorded number of listeners to the pod is 378,000; though the number is often quoted at 150,000 listeners.[3]
In April 2008 Football Weekly was nominated for Sports Programme of the Year in the annual Sony Radio Academy Awards - the UK's main national radio awards.[4] The podcast ran throughout Euro 2008 as Football Daily, with Richardson and Glendenning hosting from Vienna, joined by the usual assortment of guests.