The podcast that is going from strength to strength
Three years ago the footballing world was in limbo. Struck by the pandemic lockdown non-league football was swept up, null and voided before the end of the 2019/20 season and that was that. Records gone, money wasted and a feeling decisions were made too quickly to satisfy those at the top order of the FA and not enough consultation with those involved on the front line.
I was invited onto the Worthing FC Rebel Yell podcast along with a few others to discuss the decision that had been made, in hindsight we knew it to not have worked out right but that’s the past. However, that evening and subsequent texts and WhatsApp’s after was born a brand new podcast, The Premier Non-League Podcast.
Made up of myself, Peter Vale and James Easton from Worthing, Lee Roberts from Bognor plus Jonny Kenworthy and Iain Budgen from Horsham and a contribution from Ronnie Peet in South Shields the journey began.
Along the way there have been some changes in format and personnel, times change and so do commitments in life, the first three of us are still here, Gareth Spinks another Worthing-ite has joined while Chris May has become the South Shields guru.
We also make sure we get some interviews in as well, the likes of ex Wales skipper Ashley Williams, former Newcastle and Wimbledon defender Warren Barton, Isthmian League chairman Nick Robinson, and many more have appeared.
Our summer specials featured Dorking Wanderers’ owner/chairman/manager Marc White, Bunch of Amateurs Rich Phippen, Littlehampton Town striker Joe Benn, Peterborough Sports boss Jimmy Dean and BT Sport’s lead National League commentator Adam Summerton, variety is what keeps people coming back and what we have to keep improving on.
Those specials have really clicked us into gear over the close season with more followers especially on our Twitter page (@thepnlp) and the reach across groups on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ThePNLP) from our page has been just phenomenal.
We don’t just stick to the top flight of non-league football either, we look all the way through the pyramid and certainly encourage clubs to get in touch and share a story if they have one, we know there is plenty happening week on week and why not showcase it.
I have sponsored the podcast this season to give myself more exposure, don’t think you can ever have enough and having moved my blog over to a new platform I am effectively starting again when charging people to read what I write.
Our third season begins this week, we’ve waited until everyone has now kicked off from Steps 1-6 and hopefully for us the growth continues and listening figures keep on creeping up. If you do listen, share it with your friends and get them to give us a follow, we’re always wanting to hear from the people who give us the numbers, ideas are always welcomed.
You can find us on all the usual podcast listening platforms and you can also ask Alexa to ‘play The Premier Non-League Podcast’, there is a nice back catalogue of episodes to listen to if time is on your side!