A football podcast like no other, this is real football talk, from local lads and loyal supporters of Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club.
The lads have assembled a first class team to talk about all the goings on from Across the Park, covering topics such as transfers, latest club news/rumours, match reviews, as well as anything else concerning our great clubs.
Where did the idea of a podcast for both Liverpool and Everton fans come from?
We were out for one of the lads’ birthday and just started talking as you do, about football. Comparing certain players and discussing a combined eleven between Liverpool and Everton. A lot of it was pretty straight forward, but then we got into a pretty heated debate about Trent Alexander-Arnold and Seamus Coleman. While the debate was going on, one of the lads just mentioned this would be great to listen to from the outside as part of a Podcast. After that, we talked more about it and realised there isn’t really anything out there like it. There was “a gap in the market”. So we decided to meet one week and get some ideas down about how we would go about it and put a plan in place. We put the ideas into action, recorded a few test episodes, then a few weeks later we released our official launch episode.
What is the main aim of the podcast?
There are plenty of places fans can hear opinions of pundits and experts. We aim to be two sets of fans who discuss matters you may hear down the pub or in an everyday conversation with your mates. We talk matters that affect both clubs and of course insert a sly dig at each other when appropriate. The unique thing about both Evertonians and Liverpudlians is that we are all very close. You see both sets of fans in households and see best friends being red and blue and as such you’ll always have an opinion on the other side. Reds will talk Everton and similarly blues talk Liverpool combining banter and debate. We aim to bring the conversations most reds and blues have on a regular basis to our show and build our content around that.
Tell us about your team members.
We have three blues and three reds, all mates. Starting with the blue half, we have Neil Magill, Ian Mills and Gary Judge. They’re all 33, all from Walton and all have season tickets In the Park End. For the Reds there is Terry McGivern who is also from Walton and is 33 with a season ticket is in the Kenny Dalglish Stand (formally known as Kemlyn Road/ Centenary). Then we have Gary Murray who is 28 from Walton and Phil Roberts, 33 from Bootle. They both have their season tickets in The Kop.
Has there been times during recording things have got a little heated?
Absolutely. Our aim is to produce a show that both reds and blues can relate to and that means debate and opinion. The show, we feel, is very good at capturing not only our individual thoughts on our own clubs, but each other’s as well. The Liverpool penalty decision at Crystal Palace is a prime example. We had really good feedback on social media from both sets of fans on that as it was a topic that divided opinion and that was evident on Episode 3 when we covered it.
What do you think about the current popularity of football podcasts and how do you stand out?
Like I touched upon earlier, the conversations and debate we have are the ones happening across homes in Merseyside every night. There are plenty of great podcasts that cater to each club, but not to both. That’s where we come in. We’ve been mates for the best part of 15 years, the discussion, debate and banter comes natural and we hope that chemistry really comes across on the show. Podcasts are such a big part of the football fan community now and they’re a great way to entertain yourself. The podcast industry will only get bigger and bigger. The availability to access them on numerous devices wherever and whenever you want is outstanding. You can listen whilst commuting, whether it be in your car or on public transport, while on a beach on holiday or while you’re working.
Which players are you looking forward to seeing and discussing this season?
From a red point of view, I think it would have to be Naby Keita, mainly because of the anticipation of him arriving after signing the year before. From a blue point of view, I think Richarlison. He’s a young skilful Brazilian and is now Everton’s record signing. Both seem attack minded players who will get fans off their seats.
Where and when can you be found and listened to?
You can listen to the podcasts via the links on our website, www.acrosstheparkpodcast.co.uk or on various other popular platforms including; Anchor FM, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and a host of others. You can subscribe and never miss an episode, with email updates as and when new podcast episodes are available. We record on a Thursday evening and aim to have each episode out the same night.
Across The Park is also on social media platforms; Facebook – Across The Park Podcast. Twitter – @acrosstheparkpc and Instagram – @acrosstheparkpc, so why not add us to see what the team have been up to, get previews of the newest episodes and keep up to date with everything that is happening Across The Park.
