UTD Podcast nominated for top industry award

Thursday 23 June 2022 15:38

Another year of remarkable story-telling on the UTD Podcast has been rewarded with a place on the British Podcast Awards shortlist.

The club's official and ever-popular audio series presented by Helen Evans, Sam Homewood and former Manchester United defender David May has been nominated in the Best Sport Podcast category, with the winner due to be announced at a ceremony in Kensington, London on Saturday 23 July.

The shortlist spans a range of sports, with the UTD Podcast being one of three football titles to make the cut from all the entries that were submitted earlier this year. Boxing, cricket, Formula 1, the Paralympics and wrestling are also covered by the 10 nominees in total.
The UTD Podcast was first launched in October 2019 with a special two-parter featuring legendary Reds captain Bryan Robson. There have since been 123 episodes across three series, with each one putting a United player or manager - mainly past, some present like Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire - in front of the microphone.

Some of the biggest names in the history of the club have participated, from Eric Cantona to Sir Alex Ferguson, and Rio Ferdinand to Wayne Rooney. However, not all of the subject matter is celebratory. The UTD Podcast has never shied away from difficult topics on the tougher side of the game, such as addiction and depression.

This week's episode, published on Monday as usual, featured the United legend who was named Man of the Match in the 1968 European Cup final, John Aston Jr.

Co-presenter May was just one of those who was enthralled by the recording, telling MUTV: "When we spoke to John, it was absolutely amazing. The stories he's got from '68, and from growing up at Manchester United, are fantastic."
Following the club's nomination for the British Podcast Awards, United's chief content officer, Ian Nolan said:

"This season we have been privileged to have hosted guests such as Rio Ferdinand and Sir Alex Ferguson, but we’re just as proud of the episodes where our guests helped us tackle difficult issues such as mental health, equality and racism in the game.

"We’re immensely proud of any recognition we get from the industry, and it shows the podcast is still striking a chord with our supporters.

"At the end of each episode we bring the fans into the conversation and when we see that our podcast is helping them discuss and be more open about these difficult topics, we know we are making a difference."

While the result of the Best Sport Podcast competition will be decided by a judging panel, there is one category that fans can have a say in. You can vote for the UTD Podcast to win the Listeners' Choice Award here.

UTD Podcast - Recent episodes:

  • John Aston Jnr – “Bobby, Nobby & 1968”

     podcast

    Series three continues with United legend John Aston Jnr who speaks so well about his dad playing for the club and then returning to help with the aftermath of the Munich Air Disaster. John’s memories of winning the European Cup in 1968 and being named our Man of the Match at Wembley are extremely special, as well as his stories about George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton and Nobby Styles. We hope you enjoy this episode and make sure you check out the box set for more.

  • Eric Djemba-Djemba: “Sir Alex changed my life”

     podcast

    Here’s the episode description from Tasker… Former Manchester United man Eric Djemba-Djemba dialled in from his home in France to join the UTD Podcast this week. The tough-tackling midfielder talked about his first days at Carrington - meeting Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and Roy Keane. He looked back on the moment where he and Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench together at Old Trafford, and the words they exchanged before crossing the white line. The Cameroonian touched on his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, and a very special gesture with the pen Eric used to sign his first United contract.

  • Kiko Macheda - "Inside my dream debut"

     podcast

    The scorer of one of the most iconic Premier League goals in Manchester United history, Federico Macheda, joined the UTD Podcast from Greece, where he is currently playing for Panathinaikos. Kiko talked us through the doubts he had moving to Old Trafford at such a young age but how the staff and players at United made him feel welcome. He revealed the moment where Sir Alex Ferguson approached him in the Carrington gym to say he had a chance of playing against Aston Villa that weekend. And of course we heard about that goal: the last-minute winner against Aston Villa on his Manchester United debut.

  • Bastian Schweinsteiger - "Bayern & United were my two loves"

     podcast

    Deutscher Fußballmeister, Bastian Schweinsteiger joined the UTD Podcast this week to look back on a legendary career that saw him retire with Champions League, World Cup and Bundesliga honours, to name just a few!   Bastian took us through his journey up the Bayern Munich ranks and drew parallels with the Academy in Germany and Manchester United's youth set-up. He also spoke glowingly of United's interim manager, Ralf Rangnick, and midfielder Scott McTominay, whose talent stood out to Schweinsteiger when he was training with the Reserves at Carrington.