Max Rushden and Barry Glendenning are busy men at the moment. The podcast presenters have just published a book – The Football Weekly Book, edited by Jonathan Wilson – and are preparing to tour the UK next month. They took some time out of their schedules to answer your questions.
Congratulations on your new book, Max and Barry. What are your favourite books about football? And your favourite books in general? Matej
Barry: Tony Cascarino’s autobiography, which he wrote with the help of the Irish journalist Paul Kimmage, is probably my favourite football book, although I’m sure if I ever get around to reading any of the books written by my friend and colleague Jonathan Wilson, I might enjoy them too. As far as non-football books are concerned, I like a good murder of the kind written by the Scottish authors Ian Rankin or Val McDermid. I think the genre is called Tartan Noir. Val is, or used to be, on the board of Raith Rovers.
Max: I read very few football books. I spend enough time watching, talking about and consuming football, and I have a toddler. So I presume I won’t find the time to read a book again until 2030. I am very slowly working my way through a book called the Chaos Machine by Max Fisher, which basically confirms everything you already know about how terrible social media is. Back in the day I would alternate between a Jack Reacher and a grown up book. But if pushed on football, probably Fever Pitch – the Cambridge United chapter is just the perfect description of loving lower league football.
If Max and Barry swapped lives (profession, home, everything) until one of them cracked and demanded to swap back, who would be the one to call time? Max, missing your child is not a valid reason – that’s too boring. Paul
Max: I would be dead after a week of living Barry’s life. But I would do it to see Baz making small talk at soft play about nap times before reaching under the pram to get the wet wipes and pulling out half an old banana and then being vomited on.
Do you have a guilty-pleasure film? Robbie Hiller
Barry: I have no shame in admitting that I love a good, or even bad, romcom. During the pandemic I developed a hopeless addiction to those Hallmark Christmas movies that all have the same saccharine sweet plot.
Max: I’m not ashamed of any of my dubious film, music or TV tastes. You dare take the remote off me when Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves or Enemy of the State comes on the TV. If I am hungover, any romcom will see me through, as will a YouTube video of a hedgehog being stroked with a toothbrush.
A must-watch in the Rushden household. Photograph: Warner Bros/Allstar
Should a fan’s right to support their football team be dependent upon that club’s ownership? Does Newcastle’s ownership by the Saudi Investment Fund make me morally obliged to stop cheering for them? Can we just accept that our club is our club, regardless of who are running the show? Michael Mand
Barry: Of course everyone has the right to support their team, regardless of who owns it because fans have little or no say in who gets to be the custodian of the club they are emotionally invested in. What I find a bit disturbing is the large number of fans who seem happy to excuse, or even condone the often barbaric behaviour of their authoritarian owners for no other reason than that those people have invested money in their football club and might pay for an expensive striker. It’s possible to love the club while holding the owners in contempt, as Manchester United fans, among others, regularly demonstrate.
Max: I find this such a difficult question to answer – and I wrestle with how much we cover it on the pod. I wonder if we’ve sometimes been tougher on Newcastle than Manchester City for example, perhaps as a result of not really understanding sportswashing in the early days when City were taken over (or the fact simply that the Newcastle takeover happened on my watch on the pod) – and then sometimes I think it’s really simple and we’re not tough enough.
I have said I would walk away from my club if a nation state with a terrible human rights record bought it and I think I would, but that’s pretty hypothetical. I can’t see North Korea buying Cambridge United anytime soon. I have Newcastle United-supporting mates who say there’s nothing they can do, but I don’t agree. You can protest, whether it makes a big difference or not, but I guess people don’t want to protest when the team is successful.
Newcastle fans enjoy their 4-1 win against PSG in the Champions League. Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images
I find the accusations from some that we would cover it differently if it was another club – that this is an anti-Newcastle thing – really frustrating. The media isn’t a monolith. I can’t speak for anyone else but we would do the same if it was Spurs, Stevenage or Shrewsbury Town.
Personally speaking, winning isn’t the most important part of football and I would find it hard to cheer success if the money came from somewhere unpleasant. At the very least it would always be at the back of my mind. Equally, as Jordan Henderson proved, principles are much easier when they don’t affect you. I don’t envy the position Newcastle, Manchester City or PSG fans have been put in.
Are you happy talking bollocks about football all week? Would you rather be doing something else? Alex Spratt
Barry: If I wasn’t talking bollocks about football all week on the Football Weekly podcast and getting paid for it, I’d almost certainly be doing it elsewhere for free. In fact I regularly do, usually in my local pub, which is in south-west London but seems to boast a worryingly large number of Arsenal fans among its clientele. Most of the regulars are mystified by the fact that I get to talk about football for a living, as am I.
Max: There are occasions when I think I cannot be fucked to watch Fulham v Bournemouth on a Monday night. But I never think: ‘I don’t want to do the pod or the radio or the TV.’ Genuinely, I know what a privilege it is to earn a living by watching and talking about something I love. It’s still a job, so some of the magic has gone. But anyone who has got to that position and has a tiny bit of self-awareness knows they are insanely lucky. There are so many people who would love to do it and, regardless of whether you are any good or not and how hard you’ve worked to get there, you need so many slices of good timing and fortune on the way. There are so many incredibly talented people who could do what I do, and I know I’m completely dispensable – so I just hope I can get away with it for as long as possible.
Who is Barry’s League of Ireland team? Has Max found an AFL side yet? Chris Campbell
Barry: I used to live near Tolka Park in Dublin when Shamrock Rovers played there, back in the days when they were homeless and metaphorically kipping on the sofas of other teams. A friend of mine from Birr, Stephen Grant, played up front for them at the time, so I used to go to all their home games.
Max: I am a Western Bulldog through my family. Go on the Doggies. There’s a great community around AFL in Melbourne – everyone has a team, every single person, however much they’re into it or not. I did end up watching a game in the pub with my football team the other day and it was won with the last kick. It seemed quite exciting, but I don’t have the time or energy to really get into it, so it very much looks like about fifty men in vests with mullets just getting it launched and then trying to catch it.
Tolka Park in Dublin. Photograph: Tom Maher/INPHO/Shutterstock
How do you marry the recent anti-gambling rhetoric in the paper and podcast with the constant talk about cheeky bets from Barry? Don’t you feel you should have also held your hands up as part of the problem? John
Barry: It is a common misconception that we are “anti-gambling” on the podcast when nothing could be further from the truth. I have no problem whatsoever with anyone having a bet but I dislike the ubiquity of gambling advertising around football and various other sports. I get called a hypocrite because I co-present a show with Max on TalkSport, which broadcasts loads of gambling advertising. That’s fair enough and I suppose I am a hypocrite, but it is almost impossible to work in sports media these days without directly or indirectly taking the bookmaker’s coin. On the plus side, I won £4,700 for a Brixton foodbank during the summer from a £25 charity bet I placed on our radio show, so some good came of a feature I would honestly prefer to have nothing to do with.
Max: I agree. I like gambling, but I do it very rarely. I can take it or leave it. As Baz said, unless you’re at the BBC or now the Guardian, you can’t avoid it. A while ago I accepted an offer to send a few tweets for a bookie. I chose to walk away from it after listeners to the pod expressed displeasure. There was lots of: “I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed.” We spoke to former addicts and experts and I didn’t want to have that on my conscience. I’m very lucky I could afford to make that choice. Others in the industry aren’t, so I don’t judge. The key is bookies not taking advantage of problem gamblers. Much as I’d like an independent regulator for football, I’d like one for the gambling industry too.
I’ve just moved to London from Dublin. Which pubs do you recommend to watch football in? I’m living out west but happy to travel further, especially when meeting friends. Robert Walsh
Max: Cafe Kick on Exmouth Market.
Cafe Kick on Exmouth Market. Photograph: Suki Dhanda/The Observer
When will football price itself out of reach of the true fans who support and breathe the game every moment while financiers play with monopoly-type wages and transfer fees? Avi
Barry: While Premier League stadiums remain full, the fairly dreary atmosphere at most of them suggests that proper, passionate fans are already being priced out of games and, at clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, are being replaced by football tourists. The vast majority of season ticket-holders at Premier League grounds seem to be middle-aged men and it will be interesting to see who, if anyone, replaces them when they are no longer able to attend games.
Max: I’m not sure it ever will. And I think a lot of people at the top of the game know that and take advantage of it. If we really care, we should all join the Football Supporters’ Association, and fight for things as a collective.
If you could pick three new panelists to appear on the pod, who would they be? Chris
Max: Angela Lansbury, David Attenborough, Mr T.
This is a question for Barry. When footballers spend a night or two in a hotel room, twin sharing, is it acceptable behaviour for a third footballer to arrive, a tad merry, and commandeer one of the two beds? I ask, because this is exactly what you did to me on a stag weekend in Banagher in the mid-2000s. We acted like professionals and turfed you out. Liam
Barry: I remember that stag weekend and was definitely more than “a tad” merry. Look, I needed to sleep, saw a vacant bed, got in it and was then unceremoniously deposited on the floor when you, the rightful owner of the bed, returned to the hotel room. I thought it was an uncharitable act on your part then and still think so today.
The world’s about to end and you’re given the chance to rewatch just one football match before the lights go out. What game would you choose? Andrew Blackman
Barry: Republic of Ireland 1-0 England at Euro 88. A terrible, nerve-shredding game but a great result and arguably the happiest I’ve ever been after a football match.
Max: Old Actonians 2-4 Polytechnic VIs (aet). Southern Amateur League Intermediate Novets Cup semi-final 2011. Rob Dickson’s free-kick. I’m amazed more people don’t talk about it.
Ray Houghton scores for Republic of Ireland at Euro 88. Photograph: Colorsport/Rex/Shutterstock
I’m dying to know – how is a Football Weekly panel selected? Please tell me it’s a more exciting process than coordinating schedules. Randall
Max: Producer Joel and I spend about three minutes after the odd pod: we say the same names to each other and then try to remember people we haven’t asked for ages. The only thing we’ve consciously done in the last five years is get more women and greater diversity on the pod. We can always do better but I think we do a pretty good job of that. I don’t think there’s a better variety and quality of panelists anywhere else across football broadcasting and it makes my life very easy.
Do you have any plans for a live show in the US? You’ll know better but I bet there’s a lot of listeners over here. Paul
Max : We do. At least I hope we do. As far as I know the audience is 50% UK and 50% worldwide, so we would love to go to as many places as we can. We could do east coast, west coast and then pop to Sydney, finish in Melbourne and then all make our own way home.
Can you remember the last time you presented the podcast together in the studio, and who were the esteemed guests? Could you ever foresee a return to the studio format or is Zoom just way too convenient? Gary
Max: I remember the one we did right at the start of the pandemic. Jonny Liew was on and we were all just wondering if we should be there or not. I can’t remember if we ever went back once things opened up. We did a couple in person during the live tour last summer. We were actually talking about remaining remote before I moved to Australia. Before the pandemic I would have said you have to be in the room, but I don’t think that’s true – and it’s helped us. We can get Sid for an hour (if he can be bothered) in quality rather than on a shit phone line. And panellists don’t have to get to King’s Cross for 8.30am on a Monday so even across the UK we get more variety.
Which footballer could you take in a 10pm fight round the back of a ‘Spoons? Tom
Pedri and Gavi take on Max Jamal Musiala. Photograph: Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images
Max: I’m not a violent man (my fighting record is P0 W0 D0 L1), but I reckon one of Gavi or Pedri but not both – and only in self-defence.
I’ve never been to Australia but I have watched Mad Max and The Castle. Which one is the more accurate description of everyday life there? Ben
Max: It’s a perfect mix of serenity and wild long car chases through the desert. And of course our back doors are unlocked so that Dr Karl can pop in any time for tea or a minor felon can wander in at 2am at take the keys to the Subaru.
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Australia are playing England in a five-a-side competition for non-humans. Max is coaching Australia and Barry has the British Isles. Must be native animals and not extinct. They’ve all been trained in the art of the game, so they won’t try to kill each other. Football is for everyone, right? Patrick
Max: In goal: funnel web spider. Two holders (possum and kangaroo), lazy but enigmatic koala in the No 10 role, with a great white up front. I’m not sure Baz can provide anything against that.
Thanks to everyone who took part.The Football Weekly Book is out now and you can see them on tour in November.
