The Athletic FC Podcast
The Athletic's flagship daily football podcast, bringing together its roster of journalists to break down the biggest stories and transfer news.
This is a newsroom in audio form, acting as The Athletic's daily debrief on the world's biggest sport. Rather than a fixed panel, it's a fluid conversation between hosts and the specific journalists covering the day's major stories—be it a World Cup match or a blockbuster transfer. The show leverages the publication's key asset: access, with reporters like David Ornstein often breaking news on the podcast itself.
“Unlike pundit-led opinion shows, The Athletic FC Podcast is driven by its reporters. Its primary distinction is using its own journalists as expert guests, providing on-the-ground insight and breaking news directly from the source.”
Who hosts this show
The Athletic FC Podcast is the flagship daily football podcast from the subscription sports media company. A rotating cast of hosts, including Adam Leventhal and Emma Paton, are joined Monday to Friday by a panel of The Athletic's specialist writers and correspondents like David Ornstein and Adam Crafton. The show provides inside analysis on the biggest news, from major tournament matches to the intricacies of the transfer market.
Credentials & credits
- Adam Leventhal: Award-winning journalist, formerly of Sky Sports News.
- Emma Paton: Presenter and journalist for Sky Sports News.
- David Ornstein: Leading football correspondent, formerly of the BBC.
- Carl Anka: Manchester United correspondent for The Athletic, best-selling author.
- Adam Crafton: Journalist for The Athletic.
- James Horncastle: Football writer specializing in Italian football.
Other ventures
- The Athletic (subscription sports media)
- Talk of the Devils (podcast hosted by Carl Anka).
- Sky Sports News (employer of Adam Leventhal and Emma Paton).
What kind of podcast
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Region
- uk
When new episodes drop
- 01Why are Man City paying £116m for Elliot Anderson?Jun 26, 2026 · 31 min
- 02Are Brazil serious World Cup contenders?Jun 25, 2026 · 36 min
- 03Why were England so flat against Ghana?Jun 24, 2026 · 40 min
- 04Ornstein transfer latest: Tonali, Bergvall, BalogunJun 23, 2026 · 40 min
- 05Who is winning the World Cup so far?Jun 22, 2026 · 40 min
- 06How far can Pochettino take the USA?Jun 20, 2026 · 39 min
Notable episodes
- 01Why are Man City paying £116m for Elliot Anderson?
A prime example of the show's core strength: breaking and analyzing major transfer news with their top correspondents, David Ornstein and Sam Lee.
- 02Why were England so flat against Ghana?
Demonstrates their typical tournament coverage, with a panel of journalists dissecting a key match (England's 0-0 draw) and its tactical implications.
- 03Are Brazil serious World Cup contenders?
Showcases the global nature of their coverage, with reports and analysis on international teams like Brazil, featuring specialist James Horncastle.
- 04Ornstein transfer latest: Tonali, Bergvall, Balogun
An episode centered entirely on transfer market dominoes, led by the publication's star reporter, highlighting a key reason many listeners tune in.
What you'll be asked on this show
The show uses a rotating group of main hosts (including Adam Leventhal, Emma Paton, and Ian Irving) who anchor a panel of two to three journalists from The Athletic. Correspondents frequently call in from stadiums or different cities to provide live updates. The tone is conversational but informed, like a high-level editorial meeting discussing the day's events.
Questions the host keeps coming back to
- “What did you make of their defending?”
- “How much does a couple of goals for [player] change people's opinions of his World Cup?”
- “What were you wrong about at the start of the tournament?”
- “Has anything surprised you?”
- “How advantageous is that [tactical or strategic position]?”
- “Why have [club] been so adamant that they wanted [player]?”
- “Do you think it's likely that they could still bring in [player] as well?”
Signature segments
- · Do You Know? (Daily trivia quiz)
- · Star of Soccer (Profile of a notable player)
- · Discussion of the Day
- · Ornstein transfer latest
Topics covered repeatedly
Who gets booked here
Guests are almost exclusively in-house journalists from The Athletic. The guest list for any given episode is determined by the news cycle, featuring club-specific correspondents (like Sam Lee for Man City) or topic specialists (like David Ornstein for transfers).
- David Ornsteinon Why are Man City paying £116m for Elliot Anderson?
- Sam Leeon Why are Man City paying £116m for Elliot Anderson?
- Carl Ankaon Are Brazil serious World Cup contenders?
- James Horncastleon Are Brazil serious World Cup contenders?
- Liam Twomeyon Why were England so flat against Ghana?
- Jack Pitt-Brookeon Why were England so flat against Ghana?
Where to find this show
Audience & reach
The podcast primarily serves as a marketing channel for its parent company, The Athletic, frequently promoting its articles, newsletters, and subscription offers. External sponsors mentioned in evidence include Threads.
Subscriber and view counts are pulled live from YouTube and re-verified on a 30-day cycle. Listener estimates for the RSS feed aren't published here unless they're host-verified.
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People also ask
- Who are the hosts of The Athletic FC Podcast?
- The podcast uses a rotating team of main hosts, most frequently Adam Leventhal and Emma Paton, with others like Ian Irving also appearing.
- What is the format of the show?
- It's a daily panel discussion show where a host is joined by several journalists from The Athletic to discuss the biggest football stories of the day.
- How often do new episodes come out?
- A new episode is released every weekday, Monday to Friday, with increased frequency during major tournaments like the World Cup.
- Where can I listen to the podcast?
- The podcast is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast, and most other podcast platforms.
- What makes this podcast different from other football shows?
- Its main differentiator is that the expert guests are the publication's own specialist reporters, providing sourced, in-depth information rather than just punditry.
Built from the show's public RSS feed, YouTube, the host's own websites, and the cited sources below. Computed and AI-extracted fields are labelled. Facts only — no private info, no fabrication, no transcripts republished.
Sources & how this page was built
This page is AI-assisted, grounded in the public sources cited below, and host-verifiable. We publish facts only; we do not republish transcripts. If anything here is wrong, the host can claim and correct the page above.Model: gemini-2.5-pro · high confidence
- [01]The Athletic FC Podcast on Acastplay.acast.com
- [02]Adam Leventhal - Journalist Profileharojournalist.com
- [03]Emma Paton - Journalist & Sky Sports Presentercovered.agency
- [04]Adam Leventhal - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- [05]Carl Anka - Pan Macmillan Author Profilepanmacmillan.com
- [06]David Ornstein's Profile | The Athletic Journalist | Muck Rackmuckrack.com
- [07]The Athletic FC Podcast | Podfollowpodfollow.com
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