Second Captains is an Irish media company established in March 2013 by Eoin McDevitt,
Ken Early
Kenneth Early (born 4 February 1979) is an Irish journalist and broadcaster. As of 2013, he was a director of Second Captains and a host of both Second Captains @ The Irish Times and the television show Second Captains Live on RTÉ 2. He is al ...
, Mark Horgan, Ciarán Murphy and Simon Hick. Best-known for their podcast ''The Second Captains World Service'', the company specialises in television, radio and online production and currently broadcasts from their Dublin studios.
Second Captains was the first major radio show to move from traditional programming to podcasting in Ireland and remains the most popular podcast ever produced in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
The company has produced five series of the IFTA-nominated ''Second Captains Live'' for
RTÉ 2
(RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...
television and produces and presents radio shows for
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926.
The total budget for th ...
. It has hosted TV shows and live events in the UK, San Francisco, New York, and all over Ireland.
The five-man team previously produced and presented the ''
Off The Ball
Off the ball (or OTB) is a term used in football (soccer), football in the United Kingdom, usually associated with a player's action when not in possession of the ball, such as a fight or a late challenge.
If a referee does not see an OTB incide ...
'' show on
Newstalk
Newstalk (formerly NewsTalk 106) is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Autho ...
national radio station for nine years, garnering numerous PPI radio awards.
/sup> They left their Newstalk jobs in early March 2013. Their departure caused major ripples in the Irish media industry 5] 7] and they had to see out a period of gardening leave (contractually prevented from working for another station due to the nature of their departure from Newstalk), /sup> during which there was great speculation about what their next move would be. 10]
Podcasts
The Second Captains Podcast began on 14 May 2013 in conjunction with The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
. The show quickly became the most popular podcast in Ireland, winning the iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
podcast of the year in 2014. In 2015, the podcast was chosen as one of the top ten British and Irish podcasts of all time as part of the iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
Essentials list and it was selected as one of The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
’
50 best podcasts of 2016
It remains Ireland’s most-listened-to podcast.
Second Captains expanded its online shows in February 2017 and launched The Second Captains World Service podcast feed available only to Second Captains' members. The Player's Chair Podcast hosted Richie Sadlier and Ken Early's Political Podcast were added to the roster of programming. The commercial-free, subscriber-based model had over 10,000 members after 12 months.
Regular guests include Shane Horgan
Shane Patrick Horgan (born 18 July 1978) is an Irish former rugby union player who played wing or centre for Leinster and Ireland.
Early life
He was born on 18 July 1978 in Bellewstown, County Meath, to an Irish mother, Ursula (née Campbell) ...
, Richie Sadlier
Richard Sadlier (born 14 January 1979, in Dublin) is an Irish former professional footballer and former CEO of St Patrick's Athletic. Since retirement from the professional game he has worked as a pundit with RTÉ Sport.
Club career
He began h ...
, Oisín McConville
Oisín McConville ( ga, Oisín Mac Conmhaoil; born 13 October 1975) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He has been manager of the Wicklow county team since 2022. McCoville played at senior level for the Armagh county team ...
and Brian Murphy from San Francisco's KNBR KNBR may refer to:
* KNBR (AM), a radio station (680 AM) licensed to serve San Francisco, California, United States
* KNBR-FM
KNBR-FM (104.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, serving the greater San ...
radio station, who speaks weekly on US sports.
In March 2018, Second Captains celebrated their fifth birthday with interviews with Ken Loach
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...
, Vincent Browne
Vincent Browne (born 17 July 1944) is an Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with ''The Irish Times'' and ''The Sunday Business Post'' and a non-practising barrister. From 1996 until 2007, he presented a nightly talk-show ...
, Lynne Cox
Lynne Cox (born 2 January 1957) is an American long-distance open-water swimmer, writer and speaker. She is best known for being the first person to swim between the United States and the Soviet Union, in the Bering Strait, a feat which has been ...
, Michael Chieka and Paul Kimmage
Paul Kimmage (born 7 May 1962 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish sports journalist and former amateur and professional road bicycle racer, who was road race champion of Ireland in 1981, and competed in the 1984 Olympic Games. He wrote for ''The ...
.
''PBESO'', pronounced "pee-bezzo" and short for "Pierce Brosnan's Emigrant Shout-Outs", is a regular slot on the show. During the slot, input from listeners around the globe is sought and broadcast, with emigrants contacting the program with stories of their travels and missing home.
Second Captains Live
In August 2013, three months after the podcasts began, ''Second Captains'' made a not-for-broadcast pilot for RTÉ television
RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...
. Soon after, they were commissioned for a four-show run on RTÉ2
RTÉ2 is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched in 1978 as the Republic of Ireland's second television channel.
History
In the 1970s, the Iri ...
in September/October 2013. The first broadcast was scheduled on 10
September 2013, to coincide with a vital World Cup qualifying match in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
between Ireland and Austria, going on immediately after the live coverage of the game. Thereafter the show reverted to Wednesday nights. ''Second Captains Live'' was enthusiastically received by audiences, the ''Irish Independent'' calling it "sports broadcasting of the highest quality" 1/sup> and the ''Irish Times'' describing it as "ridiculously fabulous". 2/sup>
Format
''Second Captains Live'' is hosted by Eoin McDevitt, with Ken Early and Ciarán Murphy sharing co-hosting duties. Mark Horgan is the series producer, with Simon Hick acting as producer and making some on-screen appearances. The show is divided into three parts: the first part is a panel discussion between three current or former sports stars on a particular topic broadly analogous to the big news of that week and touching on their own experiences; the second part is an interview with a main guest (e.g. Ronan O'Gara
Ronan John Ross O'Gara ( ga, Rónán Ó Gadhra; born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland's second most-capped player and highest ever points scorer. He is currently ...
on episode 1); and the third part is a quiz between one of the guests and Murphy, called ''Challenge Second Captains'', playing on Ciaran's previous experiences of competing on old RTÉ school quiz-shows Blackboard Jungle
''Blackboard Jungle'' is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel ''The Blackboard Jungle'' by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. I ...
and Gridlock
Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where "continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill". The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...
. The show is influenced by Fantasy Football League
''Fantasy Football League'' is a British television comedy programme hosted by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner. It was inspired by the Fantasy Football phenomenon which started in the early 1990s and followed on from a BBC Radio 5 programme hos ...
, TFI Friday
''TFI Friday'' is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 television in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker, and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five series. The sixth series ...
and Nighthawks. 3/sup> The show is shot completely live in front of a studio audience, and in between the interviews, RTÉ archive is used extensively, often for comedic purposes. It is described on the RTÉ website as "the place in Irish television where sport meets entertainment". 4/sup> Second Captains Live
Second Captains Live is an Irish live topical sports and entertainment show produced and presented by Second Captains that first aired on RTÉ Two television in Ireland on 10 September 2013 at 10.30pm.
Each week Irish sports stars join the prese ...
is directed by Maurice Linnane, whose work also includes the popular music program Other Voices.
Guests
Guests on series one included O'Gara, Sonia O'Sullivan
Sonia O'Sullivan (born 28 November 1969) is an Irish people, Irish former track and field athlete. She won a gold medal in the 5000 metres at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, 1995 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 5000 met ...
, Colm Cooper
Colm "the Gooch" Cooper (born 3 June 1983) is an Irish Gaelic footballer whose league and championship career at senior level with the Kerry county team spanned fifteen years from 2002 to 2017.
Born in Killarney, County Kerry, Cooper was born ...
, Mark Rohan, Derval O'Rourke
Derval O'Rourke (born 28 May 1981) is an Irish former sprint hurdles athlete. She competed internationally in the 60 and 100 metres hurdles, and is the Irish national record holder in both events. She participated in two Ind ...
, Jerry Flannery
Jeremiah Paul Flannery (born 17 October 1978) is a former Irish rugby union player and current coach.
During his playing career, Flannery, a hooker, played for Munster and Ireland, before being forced to retire in March 2012 due to injury prob ...
, Dónal Óg Cusack
Dónal Óg Cusack (born 16 March 1977) is an Irish hurling coach and hurler who plays for Cork Premier Championship club Cloyne. He played for the Cork senior hurling team for 16 seasons, during which time he usually lined out as a goalkeeper ...
and staples from the podcasts such as Horgan, Sadlier and McConville. Series two of the show began on 12 March 2014 and guests included Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player.
During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...
and Six Nations winners Joe Schmidt and Gordon D'Arcy
Gordon William D'Arcy (born 10 February 1980, in Ferns, County Wexford) is a retired Irish rugby player who played most of his career at inside centre. He played for Irish provincial side Leinster for his entire professional career and is secon ...
, as well as Pádraig Harrington
Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Champ ...
, Niall Quinn
Niall John Quinn (honorary MBE; born 6 October 1966) is an Irish former professional footballer, manager, businessman and sports television pundit.
As a player he was a striker who played top flight football for Arsenal, Manchester City and ...
and Peter Canavan
Peter Canavan (born 9 April 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer, manager and pundit.
He played inter-county football for Tyrone, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history, winning two All-Ireland Senior Football Ch ...
. Series three featured Henry_Shefflin,_Graeme_Souness,_ Henry_Shefflin,_Graeme_Souness,_Paul_McGrath_(footballer)">Paul_McGrath,_ Henry_Shefflin,_Graeme_Souness,_Paul_McGrath_(footballer)">Paul_McGrath,_Anthony_Daly_(hurler)">Anthony_Daly,_Paul_Galvin_(Gaelic_footballer).html" ;"title="Anthony_Daly_(hurler).html" ;"title="Paul_McGrath_(footballer).html" ;"title="Graeme_Souness.html" ;"title="Henry Shefflin, Graeme Souness">Henry Shefflin, Graeme Souness, Paul McGrath (footballer)">Paul McGrath, Anthony Daly (hurler)">Anthony Daly, Paul Galvin (Gaelic footballer)">Paul Galvin, Kieran Donaghy, Anthony Tohill amongst others. Brian O'Driscoll, Ciarán McDonald (Tipperary Gaelic footballer), Ciarán McDonald, Johnny Sexton, Luke Fitzgerald, Andy Lee (boxer), Andy Lee and Liam Brady
William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for the Irelan ...
were the main guests on series four. Series five featured, among others, Jim McGuinness
Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is an association football coach and former Gaelic footballer, coach and Manager (Gaelic games), manager, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as both player and manager with the Donegal ...
, Barry McGuigan
Finbar Patrick McGuigan MBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, Ireland, McGuigan was nicknamed ''The Clones Cyclone'' and held the WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 1985 ...
, Noel McGrath, Richie Hogan
Richard Hogan (born 8 August 1988) is an Irish hurler who plays as a midfielder at senior level for the Kilkenny county team.
Born in Waterford in 1988, Hogan is a native of Danesfort, County Kilkenny. Hogan first played competitive hurlin ...
, Tony Cascarino
Anthony Guy Cascarino (born 1 September 1962) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker for various British and French clubs and internationally for the Republic of Ireland ...
and Kevin Moran.
The Good Wall
''The Good Wall'' is a feature on the show where the top ten Irish sportspeople of all-time are chosen by ''Second Captains'' contributors. Each week, the program's major guests can make one change to the existing wall and introduce a new sportsperson to the top ten. O'Gara made a stir when he removed former teammate O'Driscoll from the top spot in show one. O'Sullivan subsequently removed Irish golfer Pádraig Harrington
Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Champ ...
from the wall entirely. 5/sup>
Name
The name Second Captains comes from a press conference exchange Ken Early once had with then-Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
football manager Steve Staunton
Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969) is an Irish football manager, scout and former professional footballer.
He played as a defender (association football), defender with two separate spells each with Premier League sides Aston Villa F.C., A ...
. Commenting on the return of experienced goalkeeper Shay Given
Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player.
Given started his career at Celtic, however he neve ...
to the starting team, Early asked Staunton if it was "almost like having a second captain on the team." Staunton paused for a moment and then said - "Pffft... second captain, first captain, whatever." /sup>
References
{{reflist
Mass media companies of Ireland
Irish podcasters
Irish YouTubers