Featuring leading Nottingham Forest experts, former Nottingham Forest players, and die-hard Nottingham Forest fans, the Garibaldi Red podcast is quickly becoming our city’s leading - you guessed it - Nottingham Forest podcast. Our own Reds correspondent, Gareth Watts, runs us through its rise…
The Garibaldi Red podcast began in February 2020 and is hosted by Matt Davies, Social Media Editor at Reach PLC, whose publications include our city’s beloved Nottingham Post. At that time, Nottingham Forest were doing well in England’s second tier, but would prove (as per the many, many preceding seasons) to be not quite good enough for a promotion spot. With a dedicated fanbase, who’d feasted for decades on the tales of past glories, there was always potential for a large audience for a Forest pod that got it right - and an even larger audience if a Forest team ever got it right.
With his role at the Nottingham Post, and the ensuing connections with the club and throughout the media, Davies was ideally-placed to launch a podcast that was better-informed than ranty fan efforts (RIP the LeftLion Football Podcast - and thanks again to our listener) without being a bland ‘official’ club product. In this spirit, the regular contributors were critical to maintaining that balance: the optimism and exuberance of fans Mikey Clarke and Greg Mitchell, a member of Forest fan group Forza Garibaldi, is offset by the poised pragmatism of Michael Temple, Commercial Director of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. Temple himself feels one iTunes review put it best when “it compared Matt to the village vicar, Greg to the ‘everything is brilliant’ man from The Fast Show, and me to a typical tit off LinkedIn… which was hilarious.”
Insight from former players includes that of Reds legends Garry Birtles and David Prutton, as well as expert analysis from BT Sport’s Darren Fletcher. It’s a great listen because you’re tantalised by some insider knowledge at the same time as being enthused by the fan contributors.
Listeners to the podcast can hear fellow fans talking about their own lives - the difficult family stuff as well as the Wembley knees-ups
It’s the hope that kills you, especially with Forest, but last year Greg’s outrageous prediction ‘finish fourth and get promoted’ was spot on. Forest fans had a dream season and Davies’ prolific output meant that Garibaldi Red was with us every step of the way. Viewer and listener (the podcast is simultaneously streamed on Facebook and YouTube) figures skyrocketed such that, in Nottingham at least, the lads are becoming household names. Greg is even a repeat guest on Sky Sports’ The Overlap. “It’s transformed my job and the industry is transforming at a rapid pace,” reflects Davies. “The podcast started off as a side project and it’s ballooned and coincided with the way that the media has diversified: Many people seem more interested in watching videos and listening to podcasts.”
Indeed, Davies is clearly the defensive midfielder who holds the show together, and I’m struck when interviewing the gang at the fierce sense of loyalty his guests have towards him. “Matt brought us together,” Temple notes. “As a host, he lets everybody breathe. It’s not six voices all fighting for a pay cheque: We’re all respectful of each other’s answers.” Another seemingly deft touch by Davies lies in the broad structure of each episode. As Mikey says, “We’ll spend half of it looking back at what’s happened, but crucially half of it looking forward at what’s to come. Let’s go again.”
As I write, Forest are scrapping for Premier League safety and Garibaldi Red continues to lead us through the mass nail-biting. So what does the future hold for the pod? Although originally co-hosted by Sarah Clapson (also of the Post), the line-up had been somewhat male-dominated for several months. Cue the recent arrival of BBC East Midlands’ Emily Anderson as pod fan and hugely popular guest. Could Emily be a more regular voice? “The plan is that hopefully Emily will become just as big a part of it as the lads,” Davies says, and in an incredible season where Forest Women have bagged several trophies, the logical step would be to increase the focus on the women’s team, too.
We’ll spend half of each podcast looking back at what’s happened, but crucially half of it looking forward at what’s to come. Let’s go again
I’m most intrigued by the moments of tenderness shared on the show. Greg was openly upset in describing his sister’s recent cancer battle and regularly updates listeners about his friend Sam Perkins’ charity efforts to fundraise since his Motor Neurone Disease diagnosis. “I do let my guard down and it’s been really nice, especially regarding my sister; people come up to me in the ground and ask me how she is and she’s doing really well now.” Football fans mirror society and, as such, moments of humanity and vulnerability like these seem particularly significant. “We don’t want to be at the extreme ends of the debate, it’s nuanced: it’s not terrible or brilliant, there’s lots to talk about in between,” Temple reflects. And listeners to the podcast can hear fellow fans talking about their own lives - the difficult family stuff as well as the Wembley knees-ups.
Indeed, the podcast form, in narrowcasting for niche interests at a level of detail that broadcasters could never allocate the time for, is an accidentally intimate medium. Win, lose or draw, with Garibaldi Red my daily commute is spent with four mates, chewing the fat about Forest. And life is that little bit better for it.
The Garibaldi Red podcast is available on all major platforms. To find out more about Sam Perkins’ fundraising, please visit @StandAgainstMND
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