The Mail’s new soccer podcast has bumped Gary Lineker’s showcase the highest of the charts with its first episode.
Soccer A-Z, which has reunited Soccer AM legends Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain, at this time ended the stranglehold of Lineker’s The Relaxation Is Soccer on Apple’s sport podcast charts.
It has now reached quantity 4 within the total Apple podcast chart.
Lovejoy and Chamberlain are joined on the present, weekly on Wednesdays, by former Soccer AM sidekick ‘Tubes’, actual identify Peter Dale, YouTuber Robbie Knox, in addition to ‘Sheephead’, AKA Joe Worsley.
DMG Head of Podcasts Jamie East mentioned: ‘Attending to the highest of the sports activities charts on day 1 with a model new present is one thing others can solely dream of – the remainder is soccer, however we’re Soccer A-Z!
‘I’m delighted for Tim, Helen and the entire podcast gang who’ve labored tirelessly to deliver this to life.’
High of the pops: Soccer A-Z knocks The Relaxation Is Soccer of its perch on the head of the chart
The workforce deliver a refreshing vitality and confirmed chemistry to the world of soccer podcasting
Within the inaugural episode, Lovejoy opened up on why he stopped paying for a Chelsea season ticket and even delved right into a ’bout of melancholy’ which footy contributed to.
He defined how going to soccer matches didn’t make him notably blissful, with one journey to Anfield, the place he obtained abuse from supporters, sticking notably strongly in his thoughts.
Meaning he’s now a self-confessed ‘armchair fan’, with Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Rio Ferdinand among the many telly pundits he enjoys listening to from probably the most.
Again within the day: The star presenting duo rose to fame on Soccer AM
Lovejoy and Chamberlain have been long-running hosts on the Sky Sports activities present, which ran between 1994 and 2023.
Lovejoy was a presenter on the present between 1996 and 2007, whereas Chamberlain labored on it for 22 years till 2017.
Chamberlain, 57, is a pioneer for girls in soccer broadcasting, beginning in an period the place there have been far fewer girls on air speaking concerning the males’s sport.
The programme additionally helped Lovejoy, 56, discover wider fame as he started his long-running Sunday morning TV partnership with chef Simon Rimmer in 2006.
Talking concerning the new podcast, Lovejoy mentioned: ‘Helen, the crew and I spent over a decade sharing laughs and unforgettable moments on Soccer AM, and I can not wait to deliver that very same vitality and fervour for soccer to our new podcast, Soccer A-Z.
‘This will probably be a journey by way of the historical past and coronary heart of the sport, that includes loads of acquainted faces alongside the way in which. Beginning September 4, the gang is again, and we’re excited to deliver the spirit of Soccer AM to an entire new platform.’
Chamberlain added: ‘I am actually trying ahead to reminding Tim of all absolutely the nonsense he thought up, and made us do in the course of the Soccer AM days, as I am certain he is forgotten most of it – fortunately, the remainder of us have not.
‘All of us have countless tales about placing that present collectively, and it should be so good to meet up with among the outdated crew and listen to their finest recollections from each behind the scenes and in entrance of digital camera.’
Every week the podcast will probably be led by the alphabet with every episode taking over a spread of football-inspired ‘challenges and triumphs’ as dictated by the letter of the week. The programme could have ‘followers in thoughts each step of the way in which’.
