What The Footie Podcast

This week’s  What The Footie Podcast is with Akin Solanke-Caulker, CEO at The Athletic Network.  In this exclusive, Paul & Akin discuss his recent work with Erling Haaland, the marketability of footballers, our love for US sports culture and how football is crossing over with other sports and industries, as well as the growth of and the commercial opportunities for the women's game and the future...

This week’s  What The Footie Podcast  is with Paul Barber, CEO at Brighton & Hove Albion FC.  In this exclusive, both Paul’s discuss Brighton’s shrewd recruitment and scouting over the years (Cucurella, Lamptey, Bissouma), how they define the role of the sporting director (David Weir stepping-up into Dan Ashworth’s role), working with Graham Potter and Hope Powell and their ambition for the upcomi...

This week’s  What The Footie Podcast is with Fabien Allègre, Chief Brand Officer at PSG. Since 2008, Fabien has played a pivotal role in PSG's groundbreaking collaborations with brands like Nike Jordan, BAPE, Dior & Levi's.  In this exclusive, Paul and Fabien discuss how and why the Jordan collaboration came about, how PSG continue to lead the way in the new era of fashion and entertainment inters...

This week’s  What The Footie Podcast is all about the the price of watching football.  Looking at the new deal between the MLS and Apple, rising season ticket prices, costly travel for away games and having to subscribe to more than one platform to watch all the games on TV? Is there a better way to maximise fan welfare?   What The Footie is the football and business podcast that goes behind the s...

This week’s  What The Footie Podcast is with Tony Asghar, Sporting Director at Dundee United. In this exclusive, Paul and Tony discuss the importance of leveraging the loan system, creating clear pathways into the first-team for academy players, dealing with the challenges of transfer and loan regulations, working with owners/investors, dealing with fan and media pressure, why more football clubs...

This week’s  What The Footie Podcast is with Tal Brown, CEO and Co-Founder at Zone7, the data-driven AI startup that helps clubs like Liverpool and Rangers FC to forecast and reduce injury-risk. In this exclusive, Paul and Tal discuss why Zone7 is important for the future of football, the state of football (increased fixtures and tournament expansion), the challenges of running a startup and selli...

This week’s  What The Footie Podcast is with Jacob Martin, Member at WAGMI United the new owners of Crawley Town Football Club In this exclusive, Paul and Alex discuss why WAGMI United bought Crawley Town Football Club, their plans for the club, growing the fanbase globally, building the football operations, the football x crypto boom, NFTs, working with Preston Johnson, Eben Smith, the ownership...

This week’s What The Footie Podcast is with Alex Culvin, Head of Player Relations @ FIFPRO, the worldwide representative organisation for professional footballers. In this exclusive, Paul and Alex discuss the challenges that Alex faced in her own playing career, the big issues that players face in the modern game, the difficulties with the international match calendar, athlete activism, how player...

This week’s What The Footie Podcast is all about buying a Premier League Club and valuations.  With the news that Chelsea is for sale for £3bn, I delve into where the growth opportunities lie and where the American bidders see untapped potential. Forbes recently valued Chelsea at $3.2bn, making them the 25th most valuable sports team and way behind several US franchises.  I delve into why US franc...

This week’s What The Footie Podcast is with Dr Dan Parnell, CEO @ Association of Sporting Directors and Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool where has worked with some of the best Sporting Directors in the game such as Michael Edwards, Stuart Webber, Dan Ashworth, Kevin Thelwell and more. In this exclusive, Paul and Dan discuss the the challenges that Sporting Directors face, why it is i...

This week’s What The Footie Podcast is with Dale Vince, Chairman at Forest Green Rovers, the World’s greenest club and the League 1 leaders.  In this exclusive, Paul and Dale discuss the challenges of running an EFL club, why sustainability and financial sustainability are important aspects of the modern game, ownership tests, regulation in football, the 3pm Blackout, working with the UN and so mu...

This week’s What The Footie Podcast is all about the 3pm Blackout, the rule that means matches in England are prohibited from being shown between 14:45 and 17:15 on Saturdays.  Is it finally time to remove it? How do we protect the pyramid and attendances whilst finding ways to engage the modern day fan? Is the rule outdated, given the savvy and new ways for clubs to generate revenue beyond just m...

This week’s What The Footie Podcast is with David Webb. David has spent the last 20 years working in scouting, elite talent identification and football operations for clubs like Crystal Palace, Östersunds FK, Spurs, AFC Bournemouth, Huddersfield Town and Southampton FC. In this exclusive, Paul and David discuss why and how South London continues to produce exciting English talent, why Spurs signed...

46 episodes (+3 bonus episodes) and 44 world-class guests which include leading directors, agents, coaches and more. Ever wondered why Paul started the podcast in the first place? Sit back and listen to What The Footie host, Paul Musa, speak about the origin of the podcast, his passion for football and answer the famous 'What The Footie' question. Remember to leave a review and hit 5 stars on Appl...

This week’s  What The Footie Pod is with Daniel Beckley, A&R @ Universal Music. With Wolves being the first UK football club to launch a record label, in this exclusive, Paul and Daniel discuss the business case behind what Wolves are doing and why more clubs should follow suit. As well as the crossover between football and music, our favourite football songs, the rise in footballers producing mus...

This week’s  What The Footie Pod is with Mike Rigg, former Technical Director @ Burnley. Mike has also been in high-profile roles at Man City, Fulham, QPR, The FA & Blackburn. In this exclusive, Paul and Mike discuss what it’s like being a TD at a Premier League club and the biggest challenges they face. As well as working with different types of ownership models, convincing Sergio Agüero to sign...

This week’s  What The Footie  Pod is with Royce Balogun, older brother to Arsenal wondered Folarin Balogun. In this exclusive, Paul and Royce discuss Folarin’s rise from the u23s to making his Arsenal debut. As well as the importance of player care, the weight of pressure that young ballers carry, the team behind his brother, how brands should approach working with players, the best young players...

This week’s  What The Footie  Pod is with Christian Hurley, Strategy Director @ UMM . In this exclusive, Paul and Christian discuss the YouTube space and the trend around content creators like Chunkz & Harry Pinero linking up with ballers like Jack Grealish & Mason Mount. As well as Football’s Gen Z problem… are they really losing interest in the current format of football? Do we need FIFA’s new p...

This week’s What The Footie Pod is with Tony Sharkey, agent and CEO @ Football Transfer Forum . In this exclusive, Paul and Tony discuss everything transfers and player contracts related from release clauses to preferred agents. From the talent in the Championship to the pressure of doing deadline day deals. Sit back and enjoy us ramble on about our love for Brentford’s recruitment model, how gett...

This week’s What The Footie pod is with Toby Wakefield, brand director for Jesse Lingard & athlete branding expert. In this exclusive, Paul & Toby discuss the secret behind Jesse’s stellar form at West Ham, what makes the JLingz brand so unique, the media pressure that athletes endure, the unfiltered nature of US sports/athletes compared to the UK, a Jesse Lingard NFT collection, what’s next for J...

This week’s What The Footie pod is with sports lawyer, author and podcaster Daniel Geey (Done Deal). In this exclusive, Paul & Daniel discuss the future of football governance after the European Super League (ESL) fallout, why 50+1 won’t work, is it time for an independent football regulator, salary caps as a form of cost control, the fan-led review & so much more! Make sure you’re subscribed to t...

This week’s What The Footie Pod is with Neil Banfield. Neil spent 21 years coaching at Arsenal alongside Arsene Wenger, coaching the reserves, Elite Group & first team. Working with players like Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Cole, Robin Van Persie, Santi Cazorla, Serge Gnabry & more. He is now currently First-Team coach at QPR. In this exclusive, we discuss the best youngster he ever saw at Arsenal, his r...

For Part 2 of my exclusive What The Footie pod with Les Reed, we speak about the ins and outs of Virgil Van Dijk's transfer, the process of trusting young players like Luke Shaw and negotiating with Daniel Levy and super-agent Mino Raiola. We also speak about England, the U21s performance in the Euros, Jude Bellingham's development, Jamal Musiala picking Germany, Gareth Southgate, project 2024, th...

This week’s What The Footie Pod is an exclusive 2-part episode with Les Reed. Les spent just under a decade at Southampton as Vice-Chairman helping to guide them from League 1 to a sustainable Premier League club & recently spent time as technical director at The FA . In this episode, Part 1, Paul and Les speak about creating a vision/philosophy with the owners, Pochettino’s interview, the process...

This week’s pod is with Steve Madincea the Co-Founder of Fantastec the tech company that helps clubs & players to engage with fans through disruptive technologies. In this episode, Paul & Steve speak about how technology/innovation is shaping the future of football both on and off the pitch. We speak about NFTs/digital collectibles, how fans engage with their club post-pandemic, why brands love th...