Fighting Cocks, Dummies, Red Blazers | Soccer Podcast Roundup
Among the many new experiences soccer has introduced me to, like contemplating beer or coffee* during an early Saturday morning Premier League match, podcasts might be the most surprising one.
I’ve never been a fan of podcasts, preferring reading or listening to music on my daily commutes, but in my search for as many ways as possible to engage with soccer, I’ve come across several that are now in regular rotation, adding yet another formidable contender in the battle for the downtime that used to go to pleasure reading.
One of the things that really kept me from getting into podcasts was finding a good, intuitive app to manage them. Back when I had an iPod, iTunes was a disaster, and when I got my first Android smartphone, I’d mostly lost any interest. Pocket Casts is great, though, well worth the $3-$5 I paid for it.
I’m reluctant to declare a hands-down favorite just yet, but if pressed, The Fighting Cock is definitely the front-runner right now. As irreverent and profane as it is passionate and professional, the TFC gang are hardcore Tottenham Hotspurs fans who get together every week to talk about the most recent results, and their insights are often as smart as they are funny. Listening to them on the train is an adventure as I typically have a permanent grin etched on my face, and have literally laughed out loud on many occasions. They also run a really cool website, have a very useful app, and publish an old school zine.
Howler Magazine has quickly become one of my favorite print publications in general, combining literary sensibilities and visual flair into some of the best sports journalism I’ve ever read. Its passion for the sport extends to its main podcast series, DUMMY, which is coolly moderated by founder/editor George Quraishi. They’ve recently added a new series, The Mixxed Zone, which focuses on women’s soccer, and the first couple of episodes have presented a very different voice via host Jen Cooper, but one grounded in the same passion for the sport.
Seeing Red is a New York Red Bulls-centric podcast that’s similar in tone to DUMMY thanks to host Mark Fishkin’s level-headed moderation, perhaps best demonstrated in the episode discussing the raucous Town Hall meeting for season ticket holders in the wake of Mike Petke’s firing. The format is very talk radio, including live call-ins, but in the time I’ve been listening, it’s thankfully avoided the worst stereotypes.
It took a little while to get into this duo as the weird combination of British humour, American pop culture, and football/soccer was really disconcerting, but once I got comfortable with it, I was glad I stuck with them. In some ways, it’s like a combination of The Fighting Cock and DUMMY, and when Rog and Davo get in a groove (which is like 80% of the time), it can hit Daily Show levels of smart and hilarious.
*Answer: Dogfish Head’s Chicory Stout!
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