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Barry Glendenning
Interview with Barry Glendenning
19th December 2008
I was recently lucky enough to interview the Deputy Sports Editor of guardian.co.uk
For the listeners of The Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast, it`ll be no surprise to hear that Barry Glendenning spent a period of his life as a standup comic. It is of course, humour and banter that make the podcast so enjoyable. “I was working for Hot Press, somewhat like an Irish version of NME, and it was suggested that someone do a stand up gig. It went well and I enjoyed it.” It was the lure of comic success that convinced Barry to shelve his journalism ambitions, leave Dublin and move to London. Unfortunately, things did not really work out. However, a huge opportunity came his way. “I managed to get a night job at The Guardian, just moving stuff really. I managed to become night editor, and then got on the Sports Desk.” Within five years, Barry had become deputy sports editor for one of the country’s leading broadsheets.
Apart from his writing in The Guardian, Barry is best known amongst football fans for his inimitable contribution to the podcast. The quick fire wit of James Richardson, Sid Low, Paul Doyle, Raphael Honigstien amongst others makes for a very enjoyable listen. Apart from the comic factor, Football Weekly is very refreshing. When the rigid and predictable comments from the Match of the Day team have become the norm, the view of the Football Weekly team is great to hear. They are not afraid to say what they feel, and are not censored in the way many other footballing bodies are. When I asked Barry how the podcast was made, he told me “We have a meeting for roughly five minutes before and suggest the big talking points and ring Spain and Italy. Pete (the producer) decides who we’re going to have on. It’s not scripted, although James has his puns ready! It’s good fun to do, but hard on a Monday morning after a bit too much beer the night before!” Although Barry makes this sound easy, clearly a great deal of knowledge and expertise go into the podcasts, along with humour. The podcast is available for download on Mondays and Thursdays, but during the European Championships in the summer, a daily podcast was recorded. “It was good fun. Vienna is a really nice place. Without whining, it was gruelling. We had to record the podcasts late at night and get up very early in the mornings, but it was lovely to be there.”
When I asked Barry for his opinion on one of football’s most topical questions, he had this to say, “There’s probably not too many foreigners in the English league. It’s made it the best league in the world. The money is here, so the players want to come here. Foreigners are better players than English players, because there’s the whole of the world to choose from and England is only one country. The England team does suffer, but that’s probably the price you pay for a good league. But there’s at least twenty two good players in England, and it looks like Capello is doing a good job.”
I finished the interview by asking Barry what his advice would be for students interested in pursuing journalism as a career. “People seem to have this idea that journalism is a closed shop, but it’s not. Best thing to do is to write, get hold of contact information, and sent relevant stuff to the right people. Find out who works where and send things in for their consideration.”
If you would like to listen to Barry and the rest of the football weekly team, download the podcast at http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/footballweekly