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The World Football Phone-In at 20

2017-11-30T10:19:40+00:00

5 live’s World Football Phone-In is celebrating its 20th anniversary this weekend.

For two decades, the weekly show and podcast has rejoiced in the power and intricacies of the beautiful game.

With pundits and loyal listeners from across the globe, it continues to shine a unique light on international stories, teams and players.

Here, the BBC’s South American football correspondent Tim Vickery (aka ‘The Legendinho’) – who hasn’t missed a show since the very first! – reflects on how the show began, evolved and continues to thrive:

This Saturday 2 December, Dotun Adebayo will be joined by an audience of fans and special guests for a 20th anniversary special.

Early December 1997.

For the previous few months, I had been doing plenty of radio reports for the BBC World Service, and the odd thing for 5 live.

Up All Night had been launched. Someone from the show heard me and thought it might be worth a try.

I got a call: Did I fancy doing a quick round up of South American football, say five minutes long, on Sunday night? I did, and we were away.

But when the phone rang again the following week, I was surprised.

The BBC’s South American football correspondent Tim Vickery (aka ‘The Legendinho’) hasn’t missed a show since the first in 1997.

Oh, so we’re doing it again, are we? It’s a regular thing, is it? No one had told me! I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. Two decades later, it’s still going strong.

We went from five minutes, to ten, and then to fifteen.

In late 2002, I got an e-mail: We’re thinking of making it interactive, I was told. An hour long phone-in. Do you think it would work? Not a chance, I replied, and thought no more of it.

A few months later, when I dialled-in for the usual weekly round-up, I had some news: You know it’s extended tonight, I presume? I didn’t. Has no-one told you it’s now an hour long phone-in? No-one had. But let’s roll up our sleeves and try and make it work.

And here we still are, having grown to an hour and a half, then to two, and for occasional specials, up to four.

Regular contributors are awarded a 'Brazilian shirt name' as a nickname.

How has it lasted all this time? We’ve been lucky with presenters. Richard Dallyn saw that it was going down well, and gave it a boost. Anita Anand was wonderfully charming, and adept in handling the transition to a phone-in.

And then came Dotun.

A certain Cork City right back knows Dotun Adebayo as ‘Uncle D’ (sorry Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, but you have to share him with the world!).

He’s everyone’s Uncle D, a big Baloo the bear figure guiding all of us Mowglis through the highways of life.

Dotun is key to two of the main reasons, in my humble opinion, for the show’s success – and for the fact that, to my unending delight, it frequently appeals to people with little interest in the game of football.

One is the sheer warmth that is generated. The show really does feel like a global community, filled with mutual respect and affectionate banter.

The phone-in is hosted by BBC Radio 5 live’s Dotun Adebayo, every Saturday morning on Up All Night.

All are included: pundits, callers, those who send in texts and e-mails, those who listen live or to the podcast. Radio can be a fine generator of intimacy.

The other is the programme’s sheer range. It can go from frivolous and infantile humour (guilty, your honour), to in-depth cultural discussion and back again, all in the space of a few minutes.

Very rarely do I put the mic down at the end of a show without feeling that the previous two hours were gloriously spent in a joyful weekly communion with old mates.

The show features reporters from across the continent, including European football expert Paul Sarah (aka ‘Galatasarahs’).

And of course, none of it would be possible without the loyal listeners…

“The World Football Phone-In has been a central part of my week for the last 10 years, having stumbled across it whilst eating tea and toast after a night out at university. ‘Was it dream?’, I thought in the morning. No, and alas life has never been the same since. Careers, girlfriends, families, daughters and, more importantly, sleep, all come second to the dulcet tones of the Legendinho (Tim Vickery), and the ‘best dressed chicken in town’ (Mina Rzouki), both going all out attack and defence for their justification of their favourite styles of play.” – Bobby

“The World Football Phone-In is more than just about football.” - Richard

“This show has been part of my life since I turned it the right way around.” - Ekram

“The Phone-In has helped me through many a sleepless night Dotun. is a legend.” - Margaret

“Undoubtedly the best thing on any BBC channel, radio station or website.” - Henry

Listener The Artist Archivist has made this collage to celebrate 20 years of the World Football Phone-In.

The World Football Phone-In 20th anniversary special will be live on 5 live from 1am Saturday 2 December. Watch it on the BBC Sport website or catch-up via the podcast, and get involved using #WPFI20.

The road to Rio

2013-11-07T13:43:29+00:00

On November 10th and 11th Victoria Derbyshire will broadcast from Rocinha, one of the largest favelas (slums) in Rio de Janeiro. It’s not far from where the England squad’s main base is due to be when they arrive for the World Cup next June. Ahead of the tournament Victoria will be finding out what supporters making the journey to South America can expect.

Brazil has a population of 196.6 million (UN 2011), in 2011 around 16 million people (8.5% of the population) were living in extreme poverty, defined as having 70 reais (£27) or less a month. The country though is one of the rising economic powers - otherwise known as BRIC nations - together with Russia, India, China and South Africa. It’s estimated there are one million crack cocaine users in Brazil and the latest crime figures show that 406 people were murdered in Rio and the surrounding state in just one month (August 2013). Rio itself is home to more than 600 favelas.

At the moment Brazil is getting the kind of attention it could do without before a World Cup. Protests across the country have become increasingly violent. Beginning in June, as a response to rising public transport costs, the protests have developed into a movement against poor public services, the cost of staging next year's World Cup and better working conditions for teachers. We’ll be speaking to some of those involved who have vowed to continue demonstrating right up to the World Cup finals.

Since 2008 armed police units (Pacifying Police Units or UPP), backed by soldiers and marines, have been going into Rio's favelas to drive out criminal gangs, and establish the first permanent police presences. It’s part of a strategy to take control of Rio's poor districts from drug-traffickers before next year's World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The figure for how many favelas have been pacified so far is only just over 30. Leaving hundreds still in the control of criminal gangs.

Rocinha was pacified in November 2011. Hundreds of special forces police and navy commandos backed by armoured military vehicles and helicopters moved into the slum before dawn.

We’ll also report from a favela under the control of drugs lords - a no-go zone for police - where shootings are common and drugs are sold openly in markets on the street. Traffickers are known as the ‘parallel power’, running favelas as their own kingdoms. They build the roads and schools, and mete out their own kind of justice: beatings for thieves, heads shaved for fighting.

Around 400 local people are killed by police in Rio every year. We'll meet the sister of a man alleged to have been tortured and murdered by police in his hometown. Ten officers have been arrested, and she is campaigning to find his body.

We’ll hear from prostitutes learning English to try and attract World Cup fans next summer. They reckon they will be sleeping with 40 men a day during the competition.

Two years ago Brazil announced it was spending £1.4 billion to tackle what has been described as a "crack cocaine epidemic". It is estimated the country has one million crack-cocaine users, we’ll be visiting a clinic where crack addicts are treated to hear from patients and staff.

We’ll also report from inside football's Mecca - the Maracana stadium – where the World Cup final is due to be held on 13 July, 2014. We'll sit with fans of the Brazil’s biggest team Flamengo and see for ourselves the passion Brazilians have for the game.

Victoria Derbyshire will be broadcasting from Brazil on Sunday 10 November at 8.30pm and Monday 11 November at 10am.

See more photos from Rocinha here.

Football on 5 live for 2013-2014

2013-08-16T08:45:16+00:00

The start of the Premier League season is always an exciting time for everyone at 5 live.

We're extremely proud to bring you a total of 128 live matches from the Premier League, with our commentary team led by Mike Ingham, Alan Green, John Murray and Ian Dennis. On top of that, we'll also have coverage of the Champions League, Scottish Premiership, Football League, FA Cup, Capital One Cup, the Europa League and next summer, the World Cup in Brazil. Plus, this year, we'll also be enhancing our coverage of women's football with commentaries from the Super League and some of the key World Cup qualifiers.

However, as we embark on the new season, there is also a sense of sadness in our ranks. For the first time in nearly 40 years, 5pm on Saturdays will not be graced by the familiar, melodious tones of James Alexander Gordon reading the classified football results.

James - or JAG as he is known to friends and colleagues - has been forced to retire as his voice is no longer strong enough to broadcast following surgery to treat throat cancer.

It is a cruel way to end a legendary career. He had made reading the results into an art form - every inflection of his voice indicating which way a match had turned. We will miss him terribly.

It was never going to be easy to replace James, but I am delighted that the former Radio 4 newsreader, Charlotte Green, has agreed to take on the role. She will start on Saturday September 28th and says it is a dream come true.

Only myself and producer, Audrey Adams, have been fortunate enough to hear Charlotte reading the results. We met up earlier this month to have a run through - and it left us in no doubt that Charlotte is the perfect choice to take over one of the most high-profile roles in radio. She can't wait to get started.

Our football line-up includes more new voices this season as well, with Chris Waddle and John Hartson joining our team of pundits, Ian Wright and Kelly Cates presenting Sunday 606 while Dan Walker takes over as Friday 5 live Sport presenter.

So there's lots that is new, but Dan will also be bringing back something old and much loved - the theme music which used to herald the start of Sport On Two many years ago will now play out at the opening of Dan's show every Friday night. It's a wonderfully evocative piece of music and we hope it will get everyone in the mood for our big weekend preview show. You can listen to it by pressing play below:

Then, after all the action, the Monday Night Club returns with Mark Chapman, Motty and Steve Claridge debating the big issues from the weekend.

But it's not just about big clubs on 5 live - listen out for Caroline Barker's excellent Non League Football Show at 5.30am every Sunday or, if that's too early, it's available as a podcast.

It promises to be another great season and we hope our blend of old and new will be a winning combination for all our listeners.

Dan Walker’s first Friday night 5 live Sport begins at 7pm on August 16^th. You can get in touch with the programme on by calling 0500 909 693, by texting 85058 or by tweeting @bbc5live.

Subscribe to our Football Daily podcast for all our best football analysis. You can also read our full commentaries list here.

5 live latest audience figures

2013-02-01T11:42:50+00:00

I just wanted to share the headlines from our latest audience figures with you.

The total numbers of listeners to 5 live increased by a small amount in the last quarter (October to December 2012) to 6.12 million listeners. One of our aims is to maintain an audience reach of above 6 million, so it is pleasing to do this again for the 16^th consecutive time.

A lot has happened over the last year, not least the small matter of moving a 24 hour live speech radio station 200 miles, so I’m really proud of the commitment shown by our team over this period to keep making really strong and brave programmes.

5 live sports extra saw its biggest ever figure for the October-December period – up to 850,000 listeners each week. Our sports team have put a lot of focus into improving the schedule on sports extra so I am pleased to see these good numbers.

It has been a busy start to the year as we put our plans in place for 2013 and we’ve been putting some early thoughts in about Commonwealth Games and World Cup coverage in 2014. I’ve been really pleased with the strength of our sport and news journalism over the last fortnight. Highlights have included coverage of the David Cameron Europe speech when I thought we analysed all the issues very clearly across the day. The latest twist on the Lance Armstrong story - his Oprah interview – saw really significant audience interest. We covered it well on Up All Night, in 5 live Sport and on Sportsweek in particular.

We commissioned a documentary from an independent production company called “Snappin Turtle” which took a snapshot of homelessness in the UK on one of the coldest nights of the year. This was recorded and edited very quickly and we broadcast it last Sunday night as part of an extended Stephen Nolan show.

I was also really pleased with our transfer deadline day coverage and the way we worked closely with our colleagues from BBC TV and BBC Sports website to keep a track on all the stories.

They are just some of the things that have been keeping us busy. Let me know your thoughts on what you’ve been hearing.

We should have a new permanent controller in place within the next few weeks. When we do have, we will make sure we are on this blog, asking you what you think about our programmes and our coverage and any suggestions you want to share about how we keep making 5 live even better. We also have lots of exciting plans about the Ashes summer and some powerful news specials we have commissioned which we can tell you about soon.

Thanks for reading and for being one of the 6.12 million listeners.

Jonathan Wall is acting controller of 5 live and 5 live sports extra