‘It’s the only way to do it for me. I wasn’t brought up on using autocues or having scripted questions and things like that, you know?’ Jeff Stelling launches new podcast

For 29 years, Jeff Stelling was the face of Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, with his Saturday afternoon stint appointment viewing for every armchair fan.

The Hartlepool United fan left the show at the end of the 2022/23 season, but that did not mark the end of a broadcasting career that is into its sixth decade.

Stelling has been presenting TalkSPORT’s breakfast show since December 2023, but is now launching a new venture.

Jeff Stelling launches podcast with a twist

The broadcasting icon is partnering with sports community and betting comparison site OLBG to launch a brand new podcast later this year.

“It’s my first venture with OLBG,” Stelling told FourFourTwo. “Obviously the company are immersed in sport – they do everything from sponsoring racing stables to sponsoring Dorking Wanderers Football Club – so I’m really looking forward to working with them.”

Stelling is keeping back certain details for now, but has dropped a few hints about what the podcast will contain.

“The podcast will be later in the year, and it’ll be an in-depth dive into people’s footballing and personal lives,” he continues. “It’ll be a podcast with a twist. I can’t tell you what that twist is at the moment, but it *will* be a podcast with a twist.”

True to form, Stelling insists the project will retain the free-flowing, unscripted style that made him one of the most distinctive personalities in English football.

“Well, look, I did nearly 30 years of Soccer Saturday, which – you might have noticed – was unscripted,” he said. “It’s the only way to do it for me. I wasn’t brought up on autocues or scripted questions.

“I think you need a conversation, just like the one we’re having now, rather than having Question A followed by Question B, C and D,” he added.

Further details on the podcast, including its format and guest list, are expected to be announced closer to launch later this year.

Jeff Stelling has been named as the new brand ambassador for OLBG, which will see a new podcast The Jeff Stelling Show launched across all platforms.’

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.