About us

The show

A labour of love that began in a kitchen in 2007, The Football Ramble has grown steadily through word of mouth and the hard work of its team to become the biggest independent sport podcast in the genre, regularly topping the iTunes chart ahead of more established competition from the likes of The Guardian and the BBC.

During that time, the show has built a dedicated and passionate following with the presenters regularly hosting football matches and social events to meet their listeners in person.

The website has further established the sense of community around the show and few media outlets are as closely linked with their own fan base.

The show has won seven awards, four of them People’s Choice awards, with its irreverent and uncompromising style earning plaudits for being both consistently funny and informed.

The presenters

Marcus Speller

The velvet-voiced anchorman of the show, Marcus is often asked who he supports. He will never reveal this, except on the occasions when he does, but these are rare.

Marcus has made many appearances as a pundit on Sky News and has also dabbled in stand up, something he intends to dabble further with in future.

Marcus has a big heart and has previously undertaken charity work with Ambassadors in Sport throughout Africa, where he is revered as a God. He also provided the voiceover for the NSPCC’s 'Soccer Saving the Number Week’ campaign, which was broadcast around Premier League grounds.

Luke Moore

Luke is passionate about football, music and his beloved Portsmouth FC.

Having made contributions to the likes of BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio London, ESPN, Sky News, talkSPORT, Clash Magazine, IGN.com, Gigwise and football365, he's carved out a niche for himself as a a hirsute and erudite pundit, writer and broadcaster.

Jim Campbell

Jim is an acclaimed stand up comic and in 2009 joined the likes of Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey and Peter Kay when he reached the final of the prestigious new act competition So You Think You’re Funny? In the same year he was a finalist in the Amused Moose Laugh Off competition and the runner up in the Leicester Square Theatre New Act of the Year competition. He has vowed to either win a competition or stop entering them.

Jim writes a regular blog for the site every Monday and was recently nominated for Best Contributor to a Blog or Podcast in the 2010 NOPA Awards. He again didn’t win in scenes reminiscent of when Goodfellas was overlooked for an Oscar, confirming his position as a loser of the highest quality.

“Jim Campbell injected another much-needed dose of vibrancy into the gig, with a flamboyant, campish performance slightly reminiscent of fellow Essex boy Russell Brand... witty asides and afterthoughts sparkled." – Chortle.

"An exciting new talent..." – Tim Arthur, Time Out.

"Jim Campbell is really funny; plus his delivery reminds me a bit of mine - when I used to have more energy." – David Baddiel.

A list of Jim’s upcoming live appearances can be found at facebook.com/JimCampbellComedian

Pete Donaldson

Hartlepool’s favourite, Pete Donaldson is a presenter and producer on alternative music station Absolute Radio. Originally a co-host on the Xfm breakfast show with Lauren Laverne, he later worked alongside Alex Zane.

Pete’s cartoonish, Northern tones can also be heard on voiceovers ranging from Spotify ads to programmes about Kerry Katona on ITV2.

He is a Newcastle fan and once came second in a Pete Donaldson lookalike competition to a man who’d wandered in from a nearby Adolf Hitler lookalike competition.

Ramble HQ

Jonathan Teague

AKA "Lord Ramble". The behind-the-scenes grown-up of the Ramble Empire, Jon is the man responsible for growing the show beyond the four-men-in-a-kitchen position it began in to the multimedia entity it is today.

If it looks professional, Lord Ramble's behind it.

Matt Isherwood

The man who turned the site from looking like a fanzine to a more sophisticated affair, Matt is a webmaster to rival Peter Parker.

When not keeping the good ship thefootballramble.com afloat and enhancing the place with infographics, Matt has been known to dabble in audio himself, co-presenting the Webgun podcast and building webgun.net, as well as designing for the BBC.

Contributors

Andy Brassell

A regular contributor to the BBC’s World Football Phone In, Top Brass is a respected freelance journalist and the author of All or Nothing: A Year in the Life of the Champions League.

A fan of AFC Wimbledon, Andy has a vast knowledge of the game. When Luke once pointed out that Matt looks like Pepe Reina, Andy replied; “He also looks a lot like the Shaktar Donetsk press officer.” The man really, really knows his stuff.

James Appell

The Ramble’s resident Russophile, James lends himself very well to alliterative descriptions and is also a presenter on the ITV Football Podcast.

A Leeds United supporter, James has somehow ended up with an in depth knowledge of Russian and Eastern European football, which he makes fine use of in his excellent blogs.

Rupert Fryer

Rupert is the only hip-hop obsessed, South American football expert who is called Rupert and from Oxford that you will ever even hear of.

Having written for The Guardian and Goal.com, Rupert has an excellent understanding of the tactical element of the game. He is establishing himself as an authority on South American football and is a co-founder of the excellent southamericanfootball.co.uk

Chris Nee

The Ramble’s resident MLS expert, Chris writes with insight and understanding about a league that is often overlooked as a David Beckham vehicle.

He is also the editor of the Two Footed Tackle blog, which can be found at twofootedtackle.com

Joel Richards

Joel Richards is based in Buenos Aires and is a regular contributor on Argentinian football to The Guardian and FourFourTwo magazine. He is also a television producer and presenter.

Chris Mann

Chris Mann covers Spanish football for the RambleBlog and is also the founder and editor of the brilliantly in-depth Equaliser blog, which can be found at equaliserfootball.com

Michael Cox

The man behind the innovative zonalmarking.net, Michael has won numerous awards and worked with the likes of The Guardian, ESPN and ITV.

Steve Reynolds

Steve Reynolds completed his doctorate in philosophy in 2008. Since then he has lectured on a number of philosophical topics, including aesthetics and ethics, at the University of Oxford. He brings his philosophical credentials to the RambleBlog, regularly writing about the meaning that can be found in football.