Max Rushden and Barry Glendenning discuss the award-winning podcast and their plans for the coming season

During the 2006 World Cup, some journalists convened in what was essentially a cupboard with egg boxes and bits of foam taped to the walls to record the first episode of what would quickly become the Guardian’s successful, multiple award-winning and chart-topping Football Weekly podcast.

One spanking new studio and 11 seasons later, the show’s presenter James Richardson departed for pastures new and was hurriedly replaced by the comparatively unpopular and charmless Max Rushden, who is about to begin his second season as host. Here, along with Barry Glendenning – a guest from the very beginning – Max discusses Football Weekly and their plans for the forthcoming season.

Barry: You’ve had one campaign to get your feet under the table, Max. Can listeners expect you to suffer from second season syndrome?

Max: Let’s be brutally honest: I find it very hard to ever be even remotely serious in your company. It follows that I find it very hard to say how much I genuinely enjoy doing Football Weekly and what a privilege it is, because then I sound like a pious idiot. But I do really like it. It’s fun and I’m so pleased that the other lot left when they did. What about you?

Barry: Well, when “the other lot” announced they were off to do their own thing just a few days before the start of last season, there were some feelings of betrayal, rancour and mild panic …

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Max: Most of them from you …

Barry: Well, let’s not point fingers. What I’m trying to say is that you were only appointed out of desperation and many of our listeners were unhappy. Quite a few greeted the news with outright hostility.

Max: Well, we did have a relationship before that.

Barry: Not necessarily a good one.

Max: Or a carnal one.

Barry: No.

Max: But we’d worked together before when I sat in for James, when he went off skiing or to present The World’s Strongest Man, and then we got a radio show on TalkSport.

Barry: The jingle and promotional material for which I’m still not mentioned on after four years.

Max: Anyway, I didn’t expect Football Weekly to die when I arrived. But I also didn’t expect it to carry on being as successful as it was. I thought there might be a dip. I really love doing it and it’s gone surprisingly well.

I loved hearing from that linebacker from the Cleveland Browns who listens to us on his way to training Max Rushden

Barry: Did you know that during the World Cup we beat Love Island: The Morning After podcast to top spot on the iTunes charts on a few occasions? I’m not sure I’ve ever been more proud.

Max: Look, it’s hard to talk about being high in the charts without sounding like a blowhard, but we should stress that we’re very grateful to everyone who listens to and contributes to Football Weekly.

Barry: Of course. What exactly do you think it is that you bring to the party?

Max: Well, arguably I don’t know as much as the other guests on the panel ...

Barry: Arguably?

Max: Eff off!

Barry: So, ignorance. Anything else?

Max: I think my job is to get the best out of the panel and we have an amazing set of people who do the podcast. They’re incredibly knowledgeable and incredibly funny, and I like that we don’t take football too seriously.

Barry: We do get criticised for not taking it seriously enough, but I just can’t because it’s often ridiculous.

Max: We would probably have more successful careers if we took it more seriously but I can’t either. There are certain parts of it I take seriously but others I don’t, like José Mourinho being in a permanent strop and possibly getting sacked.

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Barry: There are going to be people reading this who haven’t ever heard of Football Weekly. Sell it to them. Why should they download it twice a week?

Max: I used to listen to this podcast before I started presenting it. I wanted and needed to know what was going on in the world of football, but I didn’t want to hear from people who were angry, shouting at me. I didn’t want it to be sensationalist. I just want Football Weekly to be a nice thing to listen to, with brilliant people on it, who have insight and are funny. It’s just a really nice way to be across all aspects of football.

Barry: We are a very broad football church.

Max: We centre on the Premier League, because it’s what most people care about, but we also do enough on Germany, Italy, Spain and France for people who aren’t completely obsessed with those leagues, but are interested. We also do football from around the world – China, MLS, South America – and any appeal we have is as much down to the personalities and wit of the various panellists as anything else, I think. And you choose when and where you listen to it, don’t you? That’s why podcasts of all kinds are so popular – I loved hearing from that linebacker from the Cleveland Browns who listens to us on his way to training.

Barry: Of course not everyone likes us. We get accused of having a lot of agendas against assorted managers, players and teams. Which agenda that we peddle is your favourite and who are we going to be biased against this season?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest L-R: Jonathan Fisher, Max Rushden, Jonathan Wilson, Barney Roney, Barry Glendenning during Football Weekly Live at the Emmanuel Centre, London. Photograph: James Drew Turner/The Guardian

Max: My favourite accusations are the ones from people who message us to complain that we never talk about, let’s say, Bradford City.

Barry: Well, that’s because we hate them.

Max: Well you might, but I don’t. The fact of the matter is that there are 92 teams in the league and if Bradford City haven’t done anything interesting for six months then they’re not going to crop up in conversation.

Barry: Cambridge United haven’t done anything interesting in two seasons and you mention them in every show.

Max: Well I support them, so that’s different. But yes, I do mention them far too much. But this season I think the anti-Manchester United, anti-José agenda is strong. We were at the Big Journalist Meeting we’re not supposed to talk about earlier this week, where all the agendas for the season are laid out, and that was the top one.

Barry: There will be people, possibly wearing tinfoil hats, reading this who don’t realise you’re joking.

Max: I’m not joking. That agenda has been set and you’ll see it permeate through every TV show, article and podcast about football. Like everybody else, we’re duty-bound to stick to it.



Barry: Will we continue to fawn over Pep Guardiola, as we are regularly accused of doing?

Max: Probably. And we may start a “Jürgen Klopp is a fraud” agenda later in the season if it looks like Liverpool aren’t going to win anything. There’s going to be a lot of air to fill now Arsène Wenger is finally gone. What do you think the podcast needs more of, Barry?

Barry: If I was to nitpick, I’d say we possibly spend too much time talking about mid-ranking Premier League teams who never do anything interesting and that most people don’t really care about.

Max: Like Watford?

Barry: Well, I was going to say Stoke and then I realised they’re no longer in the Premier League. So yes, Watford.

Max: So this season we could just not mention Watford at all. We can see how long we can go without mentioning Watford, which would be quite fun. Let’s do that and see how long it takes our listeners to notice.

For details of live shows go to membership.theguardian.com/events. Barry mentioned Watford in the first podcast of the season, less than one hour after this conversation took place.