The Football Ramble

The Football Ramble
Hosting Marcus Speller
Jim Campbell
Luke Moore
Pete Donaldson
Language English
Length ca. 55min
Debut 2007
Genre Sports/Comedy
Website http://www.thefootballramble.com/

The Football Ramble is a podcast and website about football, produced in London by The Football Ramble Ltd.[1] Originally provided fortnightly, this was increased to a weekly show at the beginning of the 09/10 football season, mainly due to repeated listener requests.

It is presented by Marcus Speller, who is joined by Luke Moore, DJ Pete Donaldson , and comedian Jim Campbell. On the podcast, emphasis is placed upon European (especially the English Premier League), and World Football, providing an irreverent viewpoint on the sporting issues of the day.

Contents

Origin and Listening Figures

The podcast began in April 2007 in Luke Moore's kitchen, featuring original presenter Christopher Apples. 2008 saw Apples leave the show, to be replaced by XFM DJ Pete Donaldson. In June 2009 the podcast reached the number 1 spot in the iTunes sports podcast chart, beating off competition from titles from The Guardian and the BBC.[2] It is currently the largest independent sports podcast.

Podcast

The podcasts begin with the Ramble theme tune playing which is sometimes preceded by famous footballers speaking, for example "I'm Les Ferdinand and you're listening to The Football Ramble". The host Marcus then introduces the panel individually before asking a question based on a recent event which each host answers, before the winner being chosen and allocated that week's points by Marcus.

The podcast then moves on to that weeks Premier League games and news before moving onto information about recent world football news.

The panel - normally Jim and Pete - then read out e-mails which are introduced by a jingle which has been sent in by a listener. Themes include stories of when listeners have met famous footballers and humourous shouts from the terraces. In 2011 a new feature was bought in by Pete Donaldson called Going for Glold where he reads out clues relating to a professional footballer until the other panelists guess which footballer it is.

The podcast finishes with the weekly profile which is of a footballer, football manager, football personality, stadium, team, match or tournament. These profiles are inducted into the Dean Windass Hall of Fame.

Features

One regular feature on the Ramble was a "funny stories" section, originally read by Chris Apples and later by James-or-Jim following Apples' departure. The section focused on bizarre stories from the world of football, almost inevitably originating from South America. A running theme has also been Marcus' recommendations of his "book of the week", usually given to most books referenced on the show. One of the only books to explicitly not get this honour was "Carra" by Jamie Carragher. Prior to this a book written by Tim Lovejoy was similarly snubbed.

The Dean Windass Hall of Fame

The Dean Windass Hall of Fame (or DWHoF) is a regular feature on the Ramble in which figures from the world of football are profiled in extensive detail. However, inductees are not limited to people, as competitions, entire teams, derbies and a stadium have all been inducted. The profile section is named after Dean Windass, who was inducted alongside Dion Dublin, and Windass himself appeared on an edition of the Ramble in which he requested Paul Gascoigne to be inducted, which he was soon after. Kenny Pavey was also interviewed on an episode and he requested Teddy Sheringham be inducted. Luke and/or James-or-Jim often jump in during the start of the profile, noting how many years before or after the Summer of Love the subject was born and stating that the player in question "won the sperm race".

Diego Corner

Established by Luke Moore (who serves as Keeper of the Keys to the Corner) during the 2010 World Cup. Diego Corner is a separate room/dimension from where Moore gives regular updates of the life and crimes of Diego Maradona, who managed the Argentinian national football team during the tournament. At least one of the other Ramblers has visited Diego Corner while Moore was away for a couple of weeks, and Marcus Speller was able to hear a quote from El Diego when Moore had left the window ajar.

Zlatan's Zeppelin

Established by Pete Donaldson (Deputy Waitress of Zlatan's Zeppelin) this new feature highlights the crazy life and antics surrounding Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović

Balotelli Basement

This feature began in 2010 in order to discuss the ridiculous things done by Mario Balotelli. Stories have included Balotelli setting off fireworks in his own home and him visiting a womens prison for no reason.

Going For Glold

Pete Donaldson's latest addition to the show is the critically acclaimed 'Going For Glold'. In it he reels off a list of clues as to the identity of a mystery footballer for the other ramblers to guess; if they know who it is they must say 'stop' and then have a guess. It has become increasingly common practice for a rambler to irreverently shout 'Stop. Paolo Maldini.' before any of the clues have been revealed.

Website

The website contains a blog in which writers from various countries and various websites submit stories on multiple footballing topics, a large forum, the podcast and a shop to buy podcast related items.

Pete FC and Ramble Extra

On the website there is a section known as Pete FC (or Pete's Friday Club). This section is a selection of things created by Pete Donaldson including videos and comic strips he has drawn. It also includes Ramble Extra which is an addition to the regular podcast summing up the rest of the weeks events. It has not been updated since 15 July 2011.

Media appearances

The Podcast can be found in the Championship Manager 2010 video game[3] as one of the 'media outlets' who review manager progress throughout the season.

The Football Ramble has been featured in various Football and non-football publications. Football Punk, Four Four Two and The London Paper[4] have all featured lengthy articles on the podcast. All members - except Pete - have appeared on Sky News, debating various footballing matters.[5]

Regular cast

Ramble Contributors

References

External links