Max Paul Rushden (born 18 April 1979) is an English radio and television presenter and the current host of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''s '' Football Weekly'' podcast.

Career

Rushden's first presenting role was BBC London 94.9's breakfast show from December 2006 to March 2008. He turned down an offer to become a ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

'' presenter to instead present the Saturday morning

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

show '' Soccer AM'' alongside Helen Chamberlain from August 2008 until 2015. After leaving Soccer AM, he hosted a weekly Sunday show with

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 atte ...

Talksport Talksport (styled as talkSPORT) is a sports radio station in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned by News Broadcasting. Its content includes live coverage of sporting events, interviews with the leading names in sport and entertai ...

, before adding a Saturday morning show alongside comedian Charlie Baker. He has also occasionally worked for

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

. He was a regular substitute presenter for James Richardson on ''Football Weekly'', before becoming its main host in 2017 after Richardson quit to launch rival '' The Totally Football Show''. 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." In 2021, Rushden signed with Australian UEFA competitions broadcaster Stan Sport to host their football coverage. In October 2024, Rushden began hosting a new weekly show covering the

A-League Men A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as ...

called ''The A-Leagues Download''. He is also a regular panellist on

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...

's '' The Project'' as of 2024. In August 2024 Rushden launched the podcast 'What Did You Do Yesterday?' with Irish comedian and broadcaster David O'Doherty.

Personal life

His paternal grandfather was actor and satirist Willie Rushton. Rushden and the rest of his family changed their surname from Rubenstein when Rushden was six years old, due to antisemitic threats. Rushden is a lifelong fan of

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

. He once had his Renault Clio car repaired by

darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

player James Wade. In January 2023, Rushden's home was broken into. His

Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...

car was stolen, and his company credit card was used to spend $84 at a

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

. His car was located by the police and returned to him in March 2023.

References

1979 births Living people English sports broadcasters English association football commentators English television presenters English people of Jewish descent English podcasters {{England-sport-bio-stub