Journalism students launch local football podcast

Released: 17.12.18

Two Plymouth Marjon University journalism students have launched a new podcast focussing on football in the South West.  

Mike Parrish and Jack Horswell, who are in their second year at Marjon, have started the podcast with the aim of shining a light on football clubs in the region, with a particular focus on non-league football. Titled #LocalFootballRadio, the show aims to bring together the stories from across Devon and Cornwall football, while improving their own broadcasting skillset as journalism students.

“I’ve always been interested in local football and starting a radio show on it just seemed like a natural progression for myself and Jack,” said Mike.

The show is broadcast live every Friday lunchtime and is made available as a podcast in the following hours. In just a few episodes so far, Mike and Jack have had a range of different guests on and spoken to Katie Middleton from Plymouth Argyle Ladies, Dane Bunney from Saltash United and former FA Vase winner Stewart Yetton.

“We want to get loads of different clubs on the show,” said Mike.

“I think the local football clubs are an untapped resource of stories. A lot of the local sides don’t get any coverage. We’ve had a couple of guests on already and they love the show and we’ve already built up a nice following after just a couple of episodes. We won’t run out of content because there are so many people to talk to.”

While the region’s heavyweight professional sides of Plymouth Argyle, Torquay United and Exeter City do get a mention in the show’s running order; Jack and Mike want to focus more on the local stories that emerge with the South West’s semi-professional and amateur sides.

“We just want to help let people know about what’s going on at their local club,” said Jack.

“Hopefully some fans might hear what’s going on at their club and think about getting to a game or getting involved in some way. It’s not just about the big clubs; there’s a lot that happens on pitches all around the region.”

The pair will broadcast live every Friday lunchtime using the Marjon journalism centre’s radio suite before making the show available as a podcast which can be downloaded throughout the week via their SoundCloud channel under the name #LocalFootballRadio.

Both Mike and Jack are excited about the skills they will be learning as the show develops over the coming months.

Jack said: “I want to develop my presenting skills. I’m excited about the idea of getting some genuine practice for radio while giving the local football community an opportunity to showcase themselves.”

Mike added: “It’s a great way for me to bring up my journalism skills. That’s not just broadcasting but it’s interacting with people and getting them to come on the show.”

Listen to the podcast here.

Find out more about studying Journalism at Marjon.

Learn more about Marjon Journalism’s link with the BBC.