Football podcasts come in all shapes and sizes, but few are quite as bold as Pitch Side. Produced by The Fellas Studios, the podcast has built a large following by combining football discussion with strong opinions and plenty of deliberately outrageous takes.
Featuring Theo Baker, Reev, Tom Garratt and Bowden, Pitch Side is aimed at listeners who want entertainment over analysis. The podcast describes itself as being full of “outrageous takes” and “heated debate”, which is a fairly accurate summary of what you can expect. It is not a show built around detailed tactical analysis or carefully considered long-term predictions. Instead, it thrives on big reactions and bold claims.
The Hosts
Pitch Side was launched in 2021 and forms part of The Fellas Studios network. Theo Baker, Reev, Tom Garratt and Lewis Bowden are the four regular contributors, and each comes from the world of online content rather than a professional playing career in football.
Rather than a podcast full of retired professionals or active journalists, you have:
- Theo Baker – Content creator with 1.6m YouTube subscribers.
- Reev (Ollie Fletcher) – Content creator who gained popularity through videos of him playing FIFA.
- Tom Garratt – Former Rugby League player turned social media personality.
- Lewis Bowden – Podcaster presenter and creative producer.
What you end up with is a podcast which feels like ‘real’ lads talking about football, characters who will be relatable to many. By their very nature, the four of them are happy to disagree, interrupt each other and push opinions to their limits. There is plenty of banter alongside the football discussion, while the personalities of the hosts are just as important as the subjects being discussed.
The fact that none of the hosts has a footballing background at any meaningful level does, however, mean it cannot draw upon anecdotes or insights from the highest level of the game. For some listeners, wanting to hear about what the game is like behind the scenes, or hear tales they have never heard before, this is a drawback.
Outrageous Takes and Heated Debate
Pitch Side does not pretend to provide the most balanced football analysis available. Its appeal comes from big opinions and even bigger reactions. Episode titles regularly use words such as “HEATED”, “MELTDOWN”, “CRUMBLING”, “BOTTLING IT” and “HOWLER” all in caps, to really drive this point home.
Episodes are rarely posed as questions; rather, they are definitive statements. It’s not ‘Can Arsenal Win the Quadruple’, it’s ‘Arsenal Will Win the Quadruple’ for example. There is little room for sitting on the fence as that is rarely good for engagement.
For some listeners, that is exactly what makes Pitch Side entertaining. Football is an emotional sport, and the podcast embraces that rather than trying to remove it from the discussion. For others, the lack of nuance or balanced discussion means this is not a podcast for them.
Opinions Can Shift Quickly
Shifting opinion is not at all unusual in footballing discourse, but it is particularly noticeable when listening to Pitch Side. The podcast reacts heavily to recent results, which can produce some entertaining but rather dramatic changes in its assessment of teams and players.
Brentford provided a good example of this during the opening round of the 2026/27 Premier League season. After Brentford beat Tottenham 3-0, discussion quickly turned towards whether the Bees could challenge for the top four. It was an idea taken very seriously, but no doubt it would not have been prior to the Spurs game.
Ibrahim Sangare, who impressed during the match, was also declared to be the signing of the entire window. This is somewhat ironic as just a few days earlier in a predicting the team of the year video, they accidentally pulled up an image of Nottingham Forest man Ibrahim Sangare, rather than Mamadou Sangare.
In another example, the gang were discussing top 10 wingers in the Premier League. Theo started his list at number 10 with Miguel Almiron as he had just hit a good patch of form. Needless to say, this wild take, massively influenced by recency bias, was met with ridicule from the others.
Reacting to football in the moment is part of the fun for many. However, listeners should not expect every prediction made on Pitch Side to survive more than a few weeks.
Entertainment Rather Than Deep Analysis
This is perhaps the most important thing to understand about Pitch Side. If you are looking for detailed tactical breakdowns, statistical analysis or carefully reasoned arguments, there are far better options available.
The podcast is much more interested in hot topics and producing discussion-inducing lists or best/worst XIs. They want topics that engage the entire panel and feature things each member has strong opinions on. This inevitably means that much of the content revolves around Premier League clubs and the England national team.
Occasional episodes might include players outside the English top flight, for example when doing a ‘Top 5 League Combined XI’ but it is fair to say their knowledge does not really extend much beyond England. Even their takes on English football are little different from what you might overhear at the local pub. Ultimately this is not important though because people listen to Pitch Side to be entertained, rather than to expand their footballing knowledge.
A Heavy Sponsorship Presence
Advertising is nothing unusual in football podcasts, but Pitch Side’s relationship with its main sponsor is particularly prominent. Bookmaker Dabble is listed as the sponsor in all podcast descriptions, with the branding and advertising appearing consistently across videos. Such aggressive marketing of a bookmaker is slightly controversial given that Pitch Side has a strong following among younger football fans.
Is Pitch Side Really the UK’s Number 1 Football Podcast?
“It WASN’T Tuchel’s Fault!” | World Cup Call In Show Ep. 6 https://t.co/L03MEx5OqR via @YouTube
— Pitch Side (@PitchSideTweets) July 17, 2026
Pitch Side describes itself as the “UK’s Number 1 Football podcast” but does not specify by what metric. Although Pitch Side is a sizeable football podcast, and is among the most listened to, it does not appear to be the biggest, nor has it racked up a huge amount of industry awards. By all accounts then, the claim just appears to be marketing fluff rather than anything substantial.
How to Listen to Pitch Side
Pitch Side is available on the major podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Unlike many podcasts, though, it relies heavily on YouTube and puts far more effort into its video output. The videos are well edited, feature custom thumbnails and are filmed on a well-designed set. This should come as no surprise given Theo and Reev’s backgrounds on YouTube.
The video format is worth considering if you are interested in Pitch Side. A large part of the appeal comes from watching the hosts argue, react and attempt to defend their latest opinions as they get red in the face. Simply listening to the audio gives you the football discussion, but watching the show adds another layer to the personalities involved.