During 2009, EPL Talk made some big changes in the podcast department by moving the weekly show to a daily format, promoting Kartik Krishnaiyer to host and adding new guests and analysts such as Laurence McKenna and Alex Caulfield. In 2010, we have even bigger plans and some major celebrities lined up to be interviewed, but before we get too far ahead of ourselves, I want to share with you the top 15 most download EPL Talk Podcasts of 2009:

  1. Latest developments from Setanta Sports, Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV live from SportelAmerica. Kartik Krishnaiyer and I had the good fortune to meet with executives from Fox Soccer Channel, Setanta Sports and GolTV at an industry conference earlier this year, and our timing couldn’t have been better. We got the latest scoop on the US TV rights to the Champions League as well as the news about GolTV acquiring the rights to La Liga for another few years. We were both able to report back from the event to share what we learned as well as the latest news from the three major soccer networks.
  2. FSC, GolTV and Setanta coverage plans for 2009-2010 season. Since 2006, It’s become an annual tradition at EPL Talk to interview representatives from Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Sports before each Premier League season begins so we can share insight into all of the latest programming changes. This episode is always a favorite.
  3. Martin Tyler interview. We’ll be interviewing Martin Tyler again in a few weeks, but this is the first one we did earlier this year which still stands the test of time and talks about his career as a football commentator and his days as a non-league footballer.

  4. The Ugly Side Of Football analysis. This particular episode of the EPL Talk Podcast discussed several stories that examined the ugly side of football. The topics included the hooliganism at the West Ham against Millwall match, Eduardo’s disgraceful dive against Celtic, and Wayne Rooney’s dive against Arsenal.
  5. Barney Ronay interview. One of my favorite guests on the Football Weekly Podcast by The Guardian is the deadpan Barney Ronay. He’s witty, contrarian and intelligent. So it was a pleasure to interview him in conjunction with the release of his latest book about football managers as we delved into that topic and learned more about how he became a writer and his family’s ties to football.
  6. Vinnie Jones interview. The former Wimbledon player and now Hollywood actor is an intimidating fellow, but we were able to secure an interview with him to learn more about his foray into iPhone apps as well as to touch on his history in football, his memories of the Crazy Gang, and more.
  7. Matchday Three analysis and review. In this episode which analyzed matchday three of the 2009-2010 Premier League season, Krishnaiyer, Alex Caulfield and Laurence McKenna discussed Jermain Defoe’s hot streak, Martin O’Neill’s mastery against Liverpool at Anfield and the Italian influence in the Premier League.
    The third round of fixtures is in the book for the 2009-10 Barclays Premier League campaign. Alexander Caulfied, Kartik Krishnaiyer and Laurence McKenna break down all the action.
    Included in the discussion is Jermain Defoe’s hot start, Martin O’Neil’s mastery of Anfield, William Gallas’ sudden goal scoring prowess, Chelsea’s Italian styled football In tThe third round of fixtures is in the book for the 2009-10 Barclays Premier League campaign. Alexander Caulfied, Kartik Krishnaiyer and Laurence McKenna break down all the action.
  8. Georgie Bingham interview. I’ll never forget seeing Georgie Bingham presenting the first Premier League game of the 2009-2010 season between Chelsea and Hull City. The night before, I had been up practically all night confirming the news I had broken weeks earlier that ESPN had acquired the rights to some of the Premier League matches. So, it was a perfect opportunity a few weeks later for Kartik to sit down with Georgie to chat about the experience of working at ESPN, as well as her thoughts about working with Sky Sports News in England.
  9. Behind The Scenes at Fox Soccer Channel. This was an episode I always wanted to do, so I was fortunate when EPL Talk blogger Eric Altshule agreed to spend the day at the Fox Soccer Channel studios to discover what a typical Premier League production is like behind the scenes. The eyeopening episode reveals how the Fox Soccer Channel personalities multi-task as well as what goes into a typical Saturday production.
  10. Interview with Brant Parsons of the Orlando Sentinel. One of the best kept secrets on the ‘Net is the hard work that Brant Parsons puts in on his Other Football blog on the Orlando Sentinel site. He’s been fighting an uphill battle at a traditional newspaper publication to get soccer on the radar. His hard work has paid off as he reveals in this interview, where he also discusses his favorite club, Arsenal FC.
  11. The status of Setanta’s North American Operations. The future of Setanta was touch and go in the summer of 2009, so we decided to sit down with Setanta’s Shane O’Rourke to find out what the scoop was and to determine how the recent changes would affect the experience of Setanta’s customers.
  12. Keir Radnedge interview. Anyone who has picked up a copy of World Soccer magazine will be familiar with the legendary Keir Radnedge who was the editor of the publication for years. Kartik and I sat down with Radnedge during his recent visit to Miami to learn more about his new endeavor as well as his memories of attending World Cups and interviewing some of the biggest legends of the game.
  13. Mel Charles interview. I’m quite envious that Kartik had a chance to interview the Swansea, Arsenal and Wales legend instead of me, but he did an admirable job of learning about the amazing soccer family Charles came from as well as what it was like to play at Arsenal in the 1950’s, and whether he had an opportunity to watch his brother John play for Juventus.
  14. Interview with Andy Lyons of When Saturday Comes. WSC started out as a fanzine but quickly became a massive hit in the United Kingdom when it became a magazine that was available in newsagents. In this revealing interview with one of the founders, Andy Lyons, Kartik discusses the origins of the publication as well as what makes the magazine different than the mainstream football publications that are out there.
  15. Chelsea transfer ban analysis. The news about Chelsea being banned from future transfer signings was a big deal earlier this season. Also discussed on the episode were England’s 5-1 victory against Croatia, Wales stumbling against Russia and whether Emmanuel Adebayor is a victim or villain after his antagonistic actions at the City of Manchester Stadium in the game against his former club Arsenal.

Don’t forget that the EPL Talk Podcast is the only Premier League interview and analysis podcast available for free. In the past few weeks, we’ve interviewed legends of the game such as Steve McManaman, Efan Ekoku, Martin Chivers and Robbie Earle as well as experts such as Declan Hill, Simon Kuper, Misha Sher, Matt Dickinson and many others. Why pay $40 a year to rival podcasts when you can subscribe to the EPL Talk Podcast for FREE featuring interviews with the biggest names in football?