(Picture: Action Images via Reuters)
Every week, the Football League is full to the brim with great stories that deserve to be heard across the country, but they are sometimes lost in the hysteria surrounding the Premier League, La Liga or the Bundesliga.
Here at The FLP, we try our best to bring you those great stories every Sunday, and now, along with our friends at NTT20 Pod, there's another new source to help spread the word and bring you the best from the EFL.
From the makers of the ever-popular Totally Football Show, a podcast focusing primarily on Europe's top five leagues, comes the Totally Football League show, presented by journalist and Southend fan Iain Macintosh.
Iain has always been a Shrimpers fan, but his job covering the Premier League meant the seasons of going to games at Roots Hall had to be put on hold.
However now, he's back in touch with the Football League thanks to his new podcast – a show he has wanted to do for a very long time – and on a “voyage of discovery” in the lower leagues.
“As a Southend fan, I've always been used to not much being written or heard about us in the media, so I'm so excited to be doing a podcast like this.
“The Football League doesn't get the same coverage as say the Premier League, so we want to do our bit. We want to find what's interesting and exciting. We almost want to tell Premier League fans: ‘Look over here! The Football League is still here!'”.
“We want to make sure people know about the Football League, hear little stories and think, when they hear something about a certain club or player, ‘I want to manage them on Football Manager!'”
The obvious aim of the Totally Football League show is to tell the listener the stories going on in the EFL, but in 45 minutes, covering all 72 clubs is almost impossible. The show is different in that it won't necessarily start at the top and go down.
“Bolton, for example, are a club many people remember for Sam Allardyce and for being in the Premier League, but things are very different now and they're not doing so well. Matt [Stanger, TFLS co-host] went to their game on Saturday, which we're covering in tomorrow's show, to talk to fans and see what's happening there.
“Or what about Northampton? In League One, the last time they had a lot of press was probably last year, when they played Man United in the EFL Cup. Since then, they've had three managers and been taken over by a Chinese consortium!
“There are so many stories. The onus is on us to tell them – we can't just talk about Wolves or Leeds every week.”
The aim of the show is to tell stories with relevance, to entertain the listener – and Iain wants people to know the Football League is a place with some brilliant clubs and excellent fans – and give them some real knowledge about the lower levels.
“People sometimes forget about clubs lower down, or the clubs on their doorstep. We let listeners know where to get tickets, nearest train stations. We want people to enjoy the Football League.
“On tomorrow's show we have Justin Edinburgh, last week we had Alex McLeish. As well as finding stories and interesting points, we want authoritative accounts from players and managers to let listeners know things they don't know already – maybe gain them some drifting knowledge for when they're with mates or down the pub.
“Most of all, we want to make sure people know about the Football League, hear some good little stories and maybe even think, when they hear something about a certain club or player, ‘I want to manage them on Football Manager!'”
The Totally Football League Show comes out every Tuesday. You can subscribe on iTunes and Audioboom, follow the show on Twitter here and like the show on Facebook here.
