Anything but Footy

The lockdown is easing and that means sport is also returning - from snooker to Royal Ascot and football to tennis. It's right that new events like Jamie Murray's 'Battle of the Brits' takes centre stage this week, when we'd usually be preparing for Wimbledon. But organisers of the US Open have also announced their event in New York in August will just be mens and women's singles and doubles - no...

We are joined by two freelance sports journalists to find out how they have been able to continue working despite having no live sport to report on. Mark Woods is a journalist and broadcaster who writes for various newspapers and is the host of the basketball podcast MVP Cast. We are also joined by Liz Byrnes, a freelance journalist for various newspapers and the European Correspondent for Swimmin...

The Olympic and Paralympic games of 2020 have been postponed for a year, Wimbledon has been cancelled and the Premier League are lookin at ways of finishing their season. In this special episode, we discuss the impact Lockdown has had on sport in this country and across the globe. We talk about the consequences for UK Sport, Team GB and Para GB following the announcement that Tokyo 2020 will take...

This is a special edition of the podcast produced on behalf of Swim England. The swimming family, like the rest of the country, has been hugely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. We hear about some of the steps Swim England has taken, and continue to take, to support clubs, members, staff, pools and the wider swimming sector during this challenging time for everyone. Jane Nickerson - the CEO at...

An unforgettable night in Highgate - overlooking the City of London - with world class competitors, results and times!  We hear from Steph Twell, the new British champion, European Cup gold medalist who has automatically qualified for the 10,000m at the World Championships in Doha while with just a year to go to Tokyo 2020 she also bagged herself an Olympic qualifying mark! The women’s ‘A’ race wa...

This is Great British Bosses from Anything but Footy - the series where we profile the men and women responsibly for running sport in this country - from grassroots participation to those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. In this episode we practise Social Distancing in light of Government advice around the spread of COVID-19. Hugh Brasher - the Event Director at London Maratho...

A special edition of Anything but Footy focuses on the choice facing the IOC and IPC about Tokyo 2020. Currently, the position is that the organisers are committed to staging the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games this summer in Tokyo. The British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association are planning accordingly, albeit with a warning for their athleties not to endanger their health...

This is Great British Bosses from Anything but Footy - the series where we profile the men and women responsible for running sport in this country - from grassroots participation to those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. At the Rio 2016, British canoeists won 2 golds and 2 silvers in the Olympics and also topped the medal table as the sport made its Paralympics debut. Just bef...

A special edition of the podcast recorded live for Superpod 2020 which raised money for Sport Relief. Superpod 2020 brought together a number of leading podcasters in one venue in Southampton and saw them broadcast back to back across two days. Anything but Footy was invited to take part to stage a special edition of the pod in front of a live audience at the venue. This special edition welcomed g...

This is Great British Bosses from Anything but Footy - the series where we profile the men and women responsible for running sport in this country - from grassroots participation to those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. Julie Harrington took control at British Cycling in May 2017. She took over an organisation reeling from a series of damaging episodes involving bullying, dis...

This is Great British Bosses from Anything but Footy the series where we profile the men and women responsible for running sport in this country, from grassroots participation to those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. Neil Armitage is the Chief Executive of Archery GB, an organisation that the financial company he then worked for sponsored before the London Olympics. He loved...

This is Great British Bosses from Anything but Footy. In this series, we profile the men and women responsible for running sport in this country. These people are often responsible for managing teams, staff, budgets, grassroots participation and overseeing those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. James Hope-Gill is the Chief Executive of Skateboard GB and Skateboard England. Bot...

We confess there's a hint of deja vu in this week's edition of Anything but Footy as we give the latest updates and analysis on a number of stories that have dominated the headlines - and the podcast - in 2020. We start with the spread of coronavirus which is having a significant impact on world sport. Both the Tokyo 2020 organising committee and the International Paralympic Committee have met thi...

This is Great British Bosses by Anything but Footy. We profile the women and men responsible for sport in this country - many at national governing bodies - who manage teams, staff, budgets, grass-root participation and overseeing those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. Ian Walker MBE is the Performance Director of the British Sailing Team, two time Olympic silver medalist in 1...

World Athletics gave the go ahead this week for Nike's new Vaporfly shoe to be used in competition after suggestions it offered athletes an unfair advantage. There are now strict rules and regulations around footwear in track and field competition to replace a rule that was previously vague and open to interpretation. Russian athletes - even those who competed under the authorised neutral athlete...

This is Great British Bosses by Anything but Footy. We profile the women and men responsible for sport in this country - many at national governing bodies - who manage teams, staff, budgets, grass-root participation and overseeing those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. Season Two continues with someone who's track record is already remarkable before even starting in sport! Fro...

There's exactly six months until the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The latest medal table predictions have been released. The US and China are expected to fill the top two positions with Team GB predicted to fall from 2nd in Rio to outside the top 5 in Tokyo. We analyse where medals might be lost and what sports might surprise this time around by increasing their total. Meanwhile, the Winter Youth...

This is Great British Bosses by Anything but Footy. We profile the women and men responsible for sport in this country - many at national governing bodies - who manage teams, staff, budgets, grass-root participation and overseeing those medal moments at Olympic, Paralympic and elite level. But as we start season two, we wanted to find out more about the grassroots of sport - and try and work out w...

The perfect white snow, the bright blue sky, everything looks rosy in Olympic world as the 2020 Youth Olympics Winter Games in Lausanne Switzerland enter their second week. Team GB are celebrating success too with 5 medals on day 6 - and more sports start their action this week.  But thousands of miles away in South America, Rio’s Olympic Park is apparently dangerous and virtually in ruins, 4 year...

We have the latest on the plans to stage a separate shooting and archery competition in India alongside the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games being staged in Birmingham. John believes this will be the end for the Commonwealth Games and the event has become irrelevant, but Michael disagrees. There's strong opinions on both sides with Michael believing this imaginative staging of the event is t...

It's Olympic year again and Tokyo is preparing to stage its second games - 56 years on. The Games will be dramatically different from 1964 but they'll also be different from Rio - just 4 years ago. The Olympics changes and evolves and with 5 new sports and more than 30 more gold medals up for grabs, Michael and John run through all what's new for Tokyo 2020 - from stadia to sports to events. This...

Join Michael and John for Anything but Footy Sports Awards - and their Christmas Party at the Gunmakers Pub in Eyre St Hill in Clerkenwell! For this festive edition of the Olympic and Paralympic podcast, we'll be recognising the sportsmen and women, Team and moments of the Year from a British and worldwide perspective - but they could be the same of course! So sit back and enjoy the review of 2019...

2020 is another Olympic and Paralympic year! The older you get the more they seem to come round (NB. they're every two years of course with the Winter Games too!) In this pod, Michael and John look-back at some of their first Olympic experiences as children, discuss some of their best moments and sports people to interview and look ahead to what might be to come in the Olympics in the future! As w...

Michael stated on a recent edition of the podcast that BBC Sports Personality of the Year is the closest the UK gets to the Oscars for talkability about an awards show. Tonight's gong-fest in Aberdeen has again sparked debate and conversation. Ben Stokes won the main award with the England Men's Cricket Team picking up team of the year and moment of the year. We also discuss awards for Baroness Ta...

WADA has announced that Russia will be banned from international sporting competition for four years. The ban, subject to appeal, means that Russia will not be able to send a delegation to the Olympic or Paralympic Games in Tokyo and will also be banned from most other sporting competition. Euro 2020 is not affected and FIFA is currently reiewing the decision ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar....