Football Weekly is a podcast about football produced by The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom. Originally provided weekly--as its name suggests--its popularity led to a mid-weekly spinoff, Football Weekly Extra. Football Weekly airs on Mondays during the European football season, after the weekend's fixtures, while Football Weekly Extra airs on Thursdays. Despite being an English production, the show takes a notably Eurocentric view of world football matters. Particular emphasis is placed on the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga.
History
The podcast began on 11 May 2006 as The World Cup Show, produced daily throughout the 2006 World Cup, and returned during the season under its new name on 29 August 2006, due to popular demand. Although broadcast twice weekly, during the Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, Euro 2012, World Cup 2014, Euro 2016 and World Cup 2018 tournaments the podcast aired daily. It was originally presented by James Richardson, with contributions by various Guardian journalists and freelance correspondents, most regularly Barry Glendenning. 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 inthe 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."
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 called the show "one of the big beasts of football podcasting".
