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World Football Phone-In — World Football Index Podcast

WFi
Pele Eusebio

The BBC World Football Phone-In [WFPI] is one of the biggest influences on our football/soccer media outlet, World Football Index.

A number of WFi contributors have featured on the show, and members of our own South American Football Show have called in to provide updates from their respective regions of the continent.

It was announced last week that the WFPI would stop broadcasting until further notice due to the current coronavirus lockdown.

Dotun Adebayo, the legendary broadcaster who hosts BBC 5 Live’s Up All Night programme of which the World Football Phone-In is a part, says they tried everything they could to keep the show going in podcast form during this time, but the rug was pulled from under them after two weeks.

Despite great efforts to keep the show going, there will now be an early weekend void for many football fans, soccer fans, radio and podcast listeners.

Due to the unique nature of the World Football Phone-in; its interaction with football fans around the world live on air and the quality of its regular contributors, it is a void which is impossible to fill, and a show which is impossible to replace or replicate.

In an attempt to give world football fans something to listen to in those early weekend hours, we at WFi have cobbled something together which will be different to the World Football Phone-In, but covers similar themes and hopes to do so with the same ethos.

…and players from over there playing in our leagues

We are encouraging suggestions from WFPI’s global community, not least from the show’s Facebook page organised, moderated and frequented by familiar names such as Joseph Sexton (or our Buenos Irish as Dotun might call him), Cleo The Book, and Andrew – The Gent, as well as helpful BBC staff members such as James Wickham.

Our first show featuring Simon Edwards, Tim Vickery, and Felipe Cardenas, looked at the Colombia side at the 1994 World Cup, and was published to coincide with the WFPI’s usual slot in the early hours of Saturday morning, UK time.

You can subscribe for free on any podcast app by searching for World Football Index.

We will aim to publish shows each week at the same time until the WFPI returns to the airwaves and to our podcast feeds.

Below is a summary of the other episodes we have recorded, and the ones we have planned:

Chile vs Brazil in 1989 – Chile’s ban from the 1994 World Cup – with host Adam Brandon and Daniel Campos in Santiago, and the Legendinho Tim Vickery in Rio.

World Football Index · Chile vs. Brazil – 1989

 

Ecuador v Uruguay 2001 with Adam Brandon, Tim Vickery, and Xavier Zavala in Guayaquil.

World Football Index · Ecuador 2001 (vs. Uruguay)

Algeria 1982 and the Disgrace of Gijón

Upcoming shows:

The Legendinho, Tim Vickery, has already kindly agreed to appear on more shows, and we will try our best to involve some more of the regular WFPI pundits, and perhaps some older ones as well.

Though this will be a temporary, stand-in production — think of it as a goalkeeper who has arrived during the mid-season transfer window on an emergency loan — we want to keep the quality as high as possible for listeners to enjoy, while also not taking ourselves too seriously, even though some of the subjects discussed will be serious in nature.

This is an unofficial podcast and can’t be found on the BBC Sounds app as it is not associated with the BBC, but should be available on all other podcast apps, including iTunes, as well as being available to stream via Soundcloud.

We hope the World Football Phone-In will return sooner rather than later, but we also hope this will go at least a small way to filling the gap between now and then.

 

World Football Index is an independent football media outlet covering football around the world via podcasts, stories, and reports. A unique mix of journalism and fandom.

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