| Language: | English |
| Length: | 50 minutes |
| Production: | Stak |
| Audio Format: | MP3 |
The Football Ramble is a podcast, about association football, produced in London by podcast production company Stak.[1] Originally provided fortnightly, this was increased to a weekly show at the beginning of the 09/10 football season, mainly due to repeated listener requests. In October 2015, the podcast became biweekly with a preview show of the weekend's football going out on a Friday followed by a show on Monday reflecting on the weekend's action and previewing any midweek games that may be occurring. Early episodes were recorded in the kitchen of presenter Luke Moore's rented house in Harlesden with a couple of old microphones and a MiniDisc player.
It is currently presented by Marcus Speller, Luke Moore, Pete Donaldson, Jim Campbell, Andy Brassell and Vithushan Ehantharajah. On the podcast, emphasis is placed on the Premier League), world football, and to a lesser extent the Italian, German, Spanish and Scottish leagues, providing an irreverent viewpoint on the sporting issues of the day.
In the 2017–18 season, The Football Ramble began a new podcast called On The Continent, which focused on continental football away from the UK and features journalists Andy Brassell and James Horncastle.For the 2019–20 season The Football Ramble went daily, and in the summer of 2020 the Ramble team was expanded to include Kate Mason, Jules Breach and Vithushan Ehantharajah on the regular shows, with Dotun Adebayo being the new host of the revived On The Continent show. In 2023–24, Jules Breach and Kate Mason left the show.
The podcast began in April 2007, in Luke Moore's kitchen, featuring original presenters Christopher Apples and Chimmers "Chimmers" Chimmers. Apples left the show in 2008, to be replaced by XFM DJ Pete Donaldson. In June 2009, the podcast reached the number 1 spot in the iTunes sports podcast chart, beating off competition from titles from The Guardian and the BBC.[2]
During the 2015–16 season, The Football Ramble began producing a weekly preview show, initially sponsored by Bet365 for the 2016–17 season and currently sponsored by Betfair.
For the 2017–18 season, The Football Ramble launched the On The Continent podcast dealing exclusively with European football. A twice weekly show, with one combining a round-up of events with previews of upcoming European football matches, and the other responses to listeners questions. For the shows, Marcus and Luke were joined regularly by James Horncastle and Andy Brassell with occasional appearances by Jonathan Wilson.[3]
After a hiatus, On The Continent returned in September 2020 on the new Football Ramble Presents feed, with new host Dotun Adebayo accompanying Andy Brassell and a rotating third guest, typically one of Nicky Bandini, Lars Sivertsen, Miguel Delaney and David Cartlidge.[4]
On The Continent was moved to its own podcast feed for the 2023–24 season.
In Tuesday 6 October 2015, The Football Ramble became available twice a week on SiriusXM FC.[5] Every Tuesday, from 1pmET, the regular Football Ramble show is syndicated nationally for Sirius subscribers in the United States. There was also a phone-in show aired on Thursdays but this stopped for the 2016–17 season.
The Football Ramble has also evolved into a live theatre show. These events have been in locations in the UK, including London, Manchester and Edinburgh. Shows outside the UK have included Dublin, Ireland, the US, Canada, and Oslo, Norway.
In 2016, The Football Ramble toured the UK in spring and autumn, the latter tour culminating in a sold-out show to a capacity crowd at the 1,200 Hackney Empire in east London. Support for these shows was provided by Doc Brown.
In 2019, the Football Ramble toured the UK and the USA across 19 shows in 17 different cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, New York, Toronto and Chicago. The tour was met with critical acclaim. Support for this tour was provided by comedians Maisie Adam and Chloe Petts.
These live events are usually less structured than the regular shows, including interaction with the audience and questions, and have more of a comedy focus.
The Football Ramble - By Four Men Who Love The Game They Hate is a book written by the presenters and published in October 2016 by Penguin Random House through their Century imprint.
A non-fiction work around various different aspects of football, it was supported by a UK book tour and theatre show, and released to critical acclaim. The Daily Express gave it four out of five stars and commented '...whether you're a season ticket holder or a Sunday League player, there's something here for every type of football fan'.
The Football Ramble - By Four Men Who Love The Game They Hate debuted at no.1 in the Amazon Sports chart and was the highest selling non-fiction audiobook on Amazon in the first two weeks of release.
The Podcast can be found in the Championship Manager 2010 video game[6] as one of the 'media outlets' who review manager progress throughout the season.
The Football Ramble has been featured in various Football and non-football publications. Football Punk, Four Four Two and The London Paper[7] have all featured lengthy articles in and around the podcast. All members have appeared on Sky News, debating various footballing matters.[8]
