Football Weekly is a podcast about

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 Premier League and English football more broadly, the show pays significant attention to football across Europe, paying particular attention to La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga. Originally provided weekly—as its name suggests—Football Weekly, as of 2021, broadcasts three times a week during the European football season. The original episode release day was Monday, after the weekend's fixtures, and since 2007 a second weekly podcast, ''Football Weekly Extra'', has aired on Thursdays to review midweek action and preview the next weekend's matches. A third weekly episode published on Tuesdays or Wednesdays has been produced since June 2020, typically either focusing on news from non-British European leagues, or providing space for extended discussions of particular topics.

History

The podcast began on 11 May 2006 as ''The World Cup Show'', produced daily throughout the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, 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 ...

, and returned during the season under its new name on 29 August 2006, due to popular demand. During

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

and World Cups, the podcast has aired daily. The show was originally presented by James Richardson, with contributions by various ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

'' journalists and freelance correspondents, most regularly

Barry Glendenning Barry Glendenning (born 12 March 1973) is an Irish sports journalist who holds the position of deputy sports editor on the ''guardian.co.uk'' website run by UK newspaper ''The Guardian''. Glendenning was born in Birr, County Offaly and atten ...

. Richardson and journalist Iain Macintosh left in July 2017 for a new rival podcast, '' The Totally Football Show''. Richardson was replaced by Max Rushden. Rushden explains that the show "ranges from proper analysis of what has happened on the pitch in the UK and around Europe, to commentary about serious issues off it, balanced with some complete nonsense." Speaking in the wake of the 2018 World Cup, the ''Guardian's'' head of sport called the podcast "a brand leader despite plenty of opposition including from the '' BBC''. It is one of our greatest multimedia successes." Since the late 2010s, the programme has paid greater attention to women's football, giving more frequent segments and occasional dedicated episodes to the women's game.

Awards

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. In 2018 the Football Supporters' Federation awarded ''Football Weekly'' the ''Podcast of the Year'' for the second year running and the fifth time in the last six years. ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' called the show "one of the big beasts of football podcasting".Nicholson, Tom
"The Best Football Podcasts For The New Season"
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'', 13 August 2019. Retrieved on 14 August 2019.

Regular panellists

Other occasional contributors include Jim Burke, Andy Hunter, Gregg Bakowski, Sean Ingle, Louise Taylor, Anne-Marie Batson, Elis James, Jacqui Oatley, Paul Doyle, Rory Smith, Paul MacInnes and Troy Townsend. James, Oatley and Carruthers are occasional guest hosts in the absence of Rushden, while MacInnes is a previous guest host of the show. Lowe, Rhind-Tutt and Wrack will typically only appear to discuss matters pertaining to, respectively, Spanish, German and women's football. While also appearing on regular shows, in podcasts specifically themed around European football, Auclair and Bandini are the respective regular experts on the French and Italian game.

Former panellists

Former guest hosts

References

External links

* {{Podcast platform links Audio podcasts Football mass media in the United Kingdom 2006 podcast debuts Sports podcasts The Guardian