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Not every football podcast is about transfers, tactics and touchline tantrums. Some explore the game’s cultural ripples, some find humour in its vernacular, while others build fictional worlds that mirror the sport we know. Here are some of the best shows that look at football from a different angles - no TV subscription required.
1. Who Gives A Shirt
PUMA/Mags Creative
At first glance, Who Gives A Shirt is about football shirts. But really, it’s about identity, culture, sustainability and how a simple bit of polyester became a global symbol. Hosted by Love Island star and former semi-pro footballer Jack Fowler alongside content creator Kimberley Cumberbatch, this five-part podcast and video series dives deep into the evolution of the shirt — from flannel and formalwear in the 1800s, to the sponsorship-splashed fashion statements of today.
The launch episode unpicks the origins of kits with expert Xaymaca Awoyungbo, while future instalments explore performance, fashion, fandom and the environmental footprint of the shirt. The mix of history, humour and contemporary questions makes it a surprisingly rich listen — whether you’re a die-hard fan or just curious about how sport shapes culture.
2. The Price of Football
Independent
Football finance might sound dry - and the hosts might frequently express suprise that anyone's interested at all - but the success of The Price of Football proves there's plenty to draw people in.
Hosted by comedian Kevin Day and the country's premier football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the show pulls back the curtain on the money behind the game. From "weaslelike" behaviour from rotten owners to the small print of the small print of PSR, the podcast explains how decisions off the pitch shape everything on it.
3. Football Clichés
Goalhanger
Football Clichés celebrates — and lovingly lambasts — the language of football. Host Adam Hurrey dissects the tropes, phrases and cultural quirks of the game with aplomb.
How wide exactly is the Corridor of Uncertainty? How Big must a Man be for his Good Feet to be remarked upon? Now suitably in the stable of Gary Lineker's Goalhanger studios, Clichés remains sharp, funny look at how we talk about football, not how it’s played.
4. It Was What It Was
The Overlap
More than just a fantastic name, It Was What It Was acts as a guide through the history of the game in the company of some of the field's most respected names. Journalist Jonathan Wilson wrote the definitive history of football tactics with Inverting the Pyramid while co-host Rob Draper is a former winner of the European Football Writer of the Year award and the SJA Football Reporter of the Year award.
Currently deep into a minseries about Nigel Clough, if there's a part of the game's history you'd like to know more about you can find it here. The real joy, though, is in the parts you never knew anything about in the first place.
5. The Offensive
Holy Smokes/Stak
Having tragically wrapped up a couple of seasons ago, The Offensive remains a remarkable achievement in the field of podcasting. This was a scripted mockumentary following the fictional Kent-based club Ashwood City, founding members of the Football League in 1888 and never relegated from the Premier League.
Following the real-life football calendar and news week-by-week, the show saw Ashwood slotting seamlessly into the soap opera of top-level football. Think The Thick of It, but with Adel Taarabt.
