My Favorite Football Podcasts

A couple of months ago in the midst of a conversation with my friend Bill Turianski he mentioned a radio show he listened to and a reference to the competitiveness (or not) of Major League Soccer. I followed up asking what podcasts he listened to and he gave me a couple of suggestions to get me started. I duly followed and have been truly blown away. I had no idea what I'd been missing. It's somewhat nebulous I guess but just listening to footy-focused talk shows on a regular basis has made me feel so much more connected to this great big game of ours. You might think that someone who does a soccer website would be really connected to the game but sadly I'm not at all as much as I'd like to be. So much of my time with Albion Road involves fixing idiotic website code problems or deleting comments like "I would like to play for your team Manchester United". And forget about sitting down for hours on a Saturday and just watching matches.

The sacrifices I make for you dear reader!

But the podcast - now this is a great invention. I can pop on my headphones, take my seat on the bus on the way to work (when I get a seat) and get my half-hour update on what is happening. What a concept. Here are four that I've been checking out over the last month or two.

World Football Phone-In

This is the one that got me started. World Football Phone-In is part of an overnight talk/music show on the BBC every Friday night/Saturday morning and is usually available by podcast sometime over the weekend. It's UK-based but it's very much a globally-focused show. It's mainly a Q&A session with a rotating trio of guests, a host and various callers, many of whom call in on an almost weekly basis and are very much a part of the fabric of the show.

The #1 draw for the show for me is the regular appearance of Tim Vickery, aka Legendinho, the South American football correspondent for the BBC among others. The man is incredible, he seems to know every last detail about every player, coach, league and club in South America as well as every South American playing in Europe. If you think I'm exaggerating you clearly have not listened to the show. Callers repeatedly call in to ask about a random Brazilian or Argentine player their local club has been linked to or ask about an obscure match they might have seen recently at 3 in the morning on Sky Sports 15 and he always knows an answer without missing a beat. And not in a know-it-all manner at all, just a guy with a tremendous passion for and encyclopedic knowledge of the game in Latin America.

Another regular is Andy Brassell who has written a book about the Champions League and contributed to a gazillion newspapers, magazines and websites. He's the resident European football expert and certainly knows his stuff. It's really difficult and unfair comparing him to Vickery, it's just apples and oranges really, but Brassell knows his stuff and also has interesting and good banter with the rest of the team. The third member of the team is Sean Wheelock, aka The Big Wheel. Sean is from the States and may be familiar to American readers as he's done quite a bit of TV commentary. Sean...let's just say that Sean never saw a 10-second answer that he couldn't spin into a 5-minute monologue.

In many ways the host Dotun Adebayo is the best part, keeping the show running seamlessly with witty banter and style, joking with the regular callers and putting the guests in hilariously difficult spots as much as possible. He's really an ideal host, never trying to talk over the guests or the callers and keeps things moving right along.

I'd give it a 7 out of 10 and they'd be pushing an 8 or a 9 if they got rid of the Big Wheel.

Football Weekly

This is a twice-weekly podcast by the Guardian/Observer team hosted by James Richardson. This show is growing into my favorite as it's the best all-around view of the game (from a UK perspective at least) and the banter between Richardson and the various guests is consistently hilarious. All the guests have a love of puns that I quite enjoy, the kind that make virtually any normal person groan. They also bring the consistent wit and deadpan humor that I always enjoy and think I share.

Well either I've got deadpan humor or I'm just not that funny. Don't answer that.

The Guardian has an outstanding stable of columnists and many of them make regular appearances on the show - Spanish expert Sid Lowe, German football brain Raphael Honigstein, French commentator Paul Doyle, Italian man Paolo Bandini and many others. Not to mention tactical guru Jonathan Wilson. Is there a better football writer in the game today than Jonathan Wilson? Answers c/o This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Seriously I don't know who. His tactical examinations in the Guardian are consistently intelligent and thought-provoking and he brings the same kind of erudition to the podcast.

Another character that must be mentioned is Barry Glendening who in his own way is the star of the show. He's not the subject expert that some of the others are but he brings life and humor to the show, endlessly taking the piss out of everyone (including himself) and referencing random off-show in-jokes that seem funny even if I have no idea what he's talking about.

I look forward to Football Extra more and more each week. 8 out of 10 and growing.

ESPN Soccernet Podcast

This podcast, by the Soccernet website team, is unfortunately rather on the dull side. While I guess in a way it does an able job of running through all the latest events in the Premiership, Champions League and internationally it does so without the wit and insight of any of the other podcasts I've been checking out. And their predictions of what's to come always seem to be consistently and wildly wrong. The one redeeming quality of the podcast is that Phil Ball, Spanish futbol savant, is occasionally on the show. Though I have to say if you only heard him here you'd probably not be inspired to check out his columns. While not great in the podcast he's a consistently excellent writer.

The Soccernet podcast also has a weekly show focused on the sport in the States. Similar to the main podcast they ably plod through the main events but it just never quite catches fire. It also always sounds poor, like they're putting it together in someone's basement. Which, for all I know, they are.

4 out of 10, struggling to stay in the rotation.

The Football Ramble

Unlike the others I've been following the Football Ramble is an independent podcast unattached to any big media outlet and is (or at least seems to be) just four friends sitting around talking about football. They talk about the latest events but often not before a ten minute detour into poorly-dressed managers or personal encounters with footballers or god knows what. I wasn't too impressed the first couple of listens but it came recommended by Bill and I've stuck with it and it gets better each time. It can be quite funny, it's just such a different approach than the other podcasts I listen to. It really has the feel of a few guys down at the local pub having a couple of beers and talking about the football.

6 out of 10 and growing.

Anyway, that's my take on a batch of podcasts that I've found. If anyone else has podcasts you think are worth listening to let us know. I'd be happy to do another review if I get enough suggestions.