Rephonic
Artwork for Sporting Witness

Sporting Witness

BBC World Service
Football
Manchester United
Boxing
World Cup
Premier League
Ayrton Senna
Nelli Cooman
Winter Olympics
Women's Rugby World Cup
Colonel Gaddafi
Athletics
FIFA
West Germany
Women's World Cup
Muhammad Ali
NBA
European Indoor Athletics Championships
Alpine Skiing
1990 World Cup
Hockey

Sporting Witness is a short BBC World Service podcast that tells the biggest stories in sport through the people who were actually there. Each episode is about nine minutes – roughly the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea – and is built around one person’s memories.

You don’t even have to follow sport to get hooked on our podcast. A lot of the episodes are about so much more – like identity, obse... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes687Founded15 years ago
Number of ListenersCategories
SportsHistory

Listen to this Podcast

Artwork for Sporting Witness

Latest Episodes

In 2007 Faroese swimmer Pal Joensen competed in the 12th International Island Games held on the Greek island of Rhodes.

Athletes often describe the International Island Games as a mini-Olympics for small nations, designed for athletes from islands a... more

In 1973, the head of the alcohol brand Jägermeister, Gunter Mast, decided he wanted to sponsor his local football team Eintracht Braunschweig.

However, under the rules of the West German Football Federation, the DFB, advertising on shirts was banne... more

In 2016, a new team competed at the Rio Olympics, made up of refugee athletes from around the world.

800m runner Rose Lokonyen fled South Sudan as a child to a refugee camp in Kenya.

She tells Rachel Naylor about how when she was scouted, just mon... more

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Manchester City supporters became famous for an unusual sight on the terraces: inflatable bananas. What began as a light-hearted joke soon turned into one of the most memorable fan crazes in English football.

Uma D... more

Key Facts

Accepts Guests
Contact Information
Podcast Host
Number of Listeners
Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

Similar Podcasts

People also subscribe to these shows.

Witness History
Witness HistoryBBC World Service
The History Hour
The History HourBBC World Service
The Inquiry
The InquiryBBC World Service
The Documentary Podcast
The Documentary PodcastBBC World Service

Recent Guests

Pal Joensen
Former professional swimmer and first Faroese swimmer to win a World Aquatics Championships medal
Episode: The International Island Games
Bernd Gersdorff
Former Eintracht Braunschweig professional footballer
Eintracht Braunschweig
Episode: Germany’s first football shirt sponsor
Rose Nathike Lokonyen
South Sudanese 800-metre runner and Refugee Olympic Team athlete
Refugee Olympic Team
Episode: The first Refugee Olympic Team
Gary James
Football historian and lifelong Manchester City supporter
Episode: Manchester City’s inflatable banana craze
Imre Varadi
Former Manchester City striker
Manchester City
Episode: Manchester City’s inflatable banana craze
Mark Taylor
Former Australia cricket captain
Australian cricket team
Episode: Mark Taylor's sporting sacrifice
Julius Yego
Kenyan javelin thrower, Olympic athlete
Kenya
Episode: Mr YouTube Man
Magi Haroun
Pioneering football photographer
Today newspaper (photography work for the club era)
Episode: The first female photographer in the Premier League
Trischa Zorn-Hudson
American Paralympian and swimmer
Team USA
Episode: The most successful Paralympian

Host

Tim O'Callaghan
Host of Sporting Witness

Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars from 165 ratings
  • Fantastic

    I love this podcast, so many inspirational stories and interesting facts, I often find myself delving deeper into the subject matter after listening. If they ever run out of ideas, doing slightly longer podcasts to revisit some of the most popular ones would be great!!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    PoppyKey
    United Kingdom8 months ago
  • These are fabulous glimpses of history

    I love these these 10 minute glimpses into history speaking to people there at the time. A fantastic taster to sometimes research certain subjects further and evidence of what the BBC are really good at educating us in an informed way !

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Jazz Puppy
    United Kingdom9 months ago
  • Amazon Swimmer

    Loved the interview with the man who swam the Amazon. Great story will listen to more of these.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    ItunesDon
    United Kingdom3 years ago
  • Good but too short

    Plenty of scope for this series, but really, 9 minutes is far too short to cover any topic except in the most rudimentary detail. Half an hour would have been better.

    Apple Podcasts
    4
    Charlie1745
    United Kingdom3 years ago
  • PM

    Love this podcast.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    PMcFlegal
    United Kingdom4 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Many praise the program for bringing pivotal moments to life with eyewitness voices.
Guests who can provide fresh archival material or firsthand accounts tend to resonate well with the audience.
Listeners appreciate the concise, story-driven history and archival depth.
Some listeners wish episodes were longer to allow deeper exploration of topics.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#128
Ukraine/Sports
Apple Podcasts
#245
Ireland/Sports

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Manchester City’s inflatable banana craze
Q: What was it like being a fan looking out at a sea of bananas?
Gary James said it was crazy and a laugh-a-minute, and that the craze lifted spirits and encouraged more fans to attend matches.
Mexico’s Cachirules scandal
Q: Did you have any indication that it was going to be such a big scandal when you discovered it?
I did not expect the scale because I assumed the directorate would deny it, but once we had solid evidence and external verification, the case could not be dismissed, and FIFA decided to take it seriously.
The Juventus match-fixing scandal
Q: As a reporter who'd worked in Italy for decades, were you surprised by the scandal?
I was surprised by the resilience of Italian football and the country's long-standing history of corruption, but the simultaneous rise in footballing brilliance and national pride during the World Cup years made the scandal feel even more jarring.
The Fabiola Rule
Q: But what exactly is vert skating?
Vert skating is performed on a large U-shaped ramp, typically four meters high, where skaters perform aerial tricks and combinations judged by complexity, height, and execution.
The English samurai
Q: How did you feel after the three days of racing and training?
Michael describes being totally exhausted yet filled with a sense of accomplishment and relief, recognizing the extreme physical and mental demands of participating in such a perilous, ceremonial event.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
Social Media Reach

Frequently Asked Questions About Sporting Witness

What is Sporting Witness about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Sporting Witness presents vivid, eyewitness accounts and archival material to recount pivotal moments in sporting history, often told through first-person memories from athletes, coaches, journalists, and designers. Episodes span a wide range of sports and eras, from foundational moments and breakthrough performances to iconic missteps and cultural phenomena, all framed by host narration and interviews with participants or close observers. The show tends to highlight human stories, resilience, strategy, and the social context surrounding big sports moments, with a notable focus on underreported or forgotten chapters. A standout quality is the ability to turn short, nine-minute episodes into memorable, story-led histories that are accessible... more

Where can I find podcast stats for Sporting Witness?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Sporting Witness. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Sporting Witness and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does Sporting Witness get?

Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for four million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Sporting Witness, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.

What are the audience demographics for Sporting Witness?

Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Sporting Witness, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.

How many subscribers and views does Sporting Witness have?

To see how many followers or subscribers Sporting Witness has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to Sporting Witness?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Sporting Witness:

1. Witness History
2. The History Hour
3. 13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble
4. The Inquiry
5. The Documentary Podcast

How many episodes of Sporting Witness are there?

Sporting Witness launched 15 years ago and published 687 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact Sporting Witness?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for Sporting Witness?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Sporting Witness from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

How do I access podcast episode transcripts for Sporting Witness?

Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Sporting Witness. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on Sporting Witness?

Recent guests on Sporting Witness include:

1. Pal Joensen
2. Bernd Gersdorff
3. Rose Nathike Lokonyen
4. Gary James
5. Imre Varadi
6. Mark Taylor
7. Julius Yego
8. Magi Haroun

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

Find and pitch the right podcasts

We help savvy brands, marketers and PR professionals to find the right podcasts for any topic or niche. Get the data and contacts you need to pitch podcasts at scale and turn listeners into customers.
Try it free for 7 days