It might be getting cold outside, but the Championship season is hotting up! And that’s not just because West Brom’s mascot is a man dressed as a boiler. From top to bottom, there is narrative, drama and more narrative!

The Second Tier podcast keeps you in the know all year round. Every Thursday and Sunday, hosts and self-confessed Championship obsessives Ryan Dilks and Justin Peach bring you match reactions and tackle all the topics that fans really care about. It’s all the best storylines, with less of the xG!

So forget the Radio Times’ Christmas TV guide. We’ve got you covered with all the games you need to watch this Christmas from the most entertaining football
league in the world!

IPSWICH TOWN vs NORWICH CITY
12:30 Saturday December 16th

Justin: The East Anglian derby hasn’t been contested in almost four years which means the bitter rivals have plenty to catch up on. That day, Ipswich were beaten 3-0.

But fast forward to 2023 and Ipswich have been cruising this season under Kieran McKenna. Norwich, meanwhile, have struggled for consistency in the midst of lots of changes upstairs, meaning that Ipswich have the upper hand in this fixture for the first time since 2010 – when Norwich were a third-tier side. There will be more than bragging rights on offer in this fixture at Portman Road.

BIRMINGHAM CITY vs LEICESTER CITY
20:00 Monday December 18th

Ryan: Did someone say Wagatha Christie: Part 2?! This fixture sees Birmingham boss Wayne Rooney reunited with Leicester striker Jamie Vardy for another round in the ring –
except this time it probably won’t involve phones ending up in the sea.

Birmingham City wanted “no fear football” when Rooney was appointed – but it’ll be hard to stand up to Leicester’s Maresca-ball, which has seen them take 36 points from their opening 13 games.

The sub-plot to this is just too juicy to ignore and my fingers are firmly crossed that Vardy lets his impulsive thoughts win if he scores in this one.

IPSWICH TOWN vs LEICESTER CITY
19:45 Tuesday 26th December

RD: The best Christmas present of all. These two sides both had the best starts to a season in Championship history, and Boxing Day will be the first time they clash.

The big difference between the two is Leicester have been freshly-relegated from the Premier League with a massive budget, while Ipswich are newly-promoted from League One. It’s a mouth-watering fixture with so much at stake, including getting one over their chief rival to win the whole division.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY vs HULL CITY
17:15 Monday 1st January

JP: What better way to kickstart a season than a win on New Year’s Day? Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to grab three points after a disastrous return to the Championship following League One promotion last season.

Expectations are completely different on Humberside though, with the ambitious Club President, Acun Ilicali, funding a promotion challenge for Hull City.

An emphatic Ozan Tufan hat trick was the difference in the reverse fixture in August when optimism was still in the air at Hillsborough. However, three points will be vital if the club are going to steer clear of a drop back into League One. Expect a supercharged atmosphere at Hillsborough.

As the Championship kicks into high gear this festive season, Second Tier is your ticket to the real action. Join hosts Ryan Dilks and Justin Peach every Thursday and Sunday for match reactions and discussions on the hottest Championship topics. From the East Anglian derby’s revival to the intriguing clash between Ipswich Town and Leicester City on Boxing Day, the Championship promises unforgettable moments. Don’t miss out on the real blockbuster stories; tune in to Second Tier: The Championship Podcast, where every match is a story in itself. The football festivities begin here!

You don’t want to miss new episodes of Second Tier which you can find wherever you get your podcasts.

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This column was created with Stak. Stak produces podcasts that entertain and inform, including some of the UK’s biggest and most popular shows – boasting a combined 4 million monthly listen and over 45 years of podcasting experience. Whether recording remotely or in our broadcast-grade London  studio, we special in every stage of the podcasting process. To find out more or get in touch, visit our website at stak.london.

The post A very Championship Christmas with Second Tier! appeared first on POD BIBLE.

Your friendly neighborhood Pod Bible folks joined the team behind GIANT last week for a listening party on Twitter where we explored their first episode, “Ronaldo: A Superhero Origin Story”, about the Brazilian football legend’s time playing for PSV in Holland. If you haven’t given all six episode a listen yet, we can’t recommend it enough, whether you’re a football fan or simply a lover of great podcasting production and storytelling. There’s something in there for everyone.

When listening to yesterday’s drop, fans of the programme will be reassured to hear as Mundial features editor Owen Blackhurst once again introduces us to another brilliant episode. Blackhurst, alongside Seb White and executive producer Tayo Popoola, comes together with We Came to Win’s Nando Vila to discuss the thing that brought the global game to its knees only three short months ago: the coronavirus.

In two equally beautiful but heartbreaking stories, we experience the impact the virus has had on the football community on both a small town and global scale. The GIANT gang take us to the Hampton & Richmond Burough Football Club, part of the National League South. Here we meet coaches, staff, players and fans, all of whom passionately describe the screeching halt that ended their season, and how important the football club is to the surrounding community.

In the second half, Nando introduces us to broadcaster Kike Mateu, who covers Valencia and was deemed “patient zero” after contracting coronavirus at the Champions League match in Milan between Valencia and Atalanta. The story of how the virus spread throughout players and fans alike reminds us all why we are enjoying the podcast from the safety of our homes, and not on the way to a packed stadium.

Though the tentatively scheduled Premier League season will be played behind closed doors, far from the raucous, singing, screaming throngs of fans that are so integral to the vibrancy of football, the underlying message of yesterday’s GIANT stories rings more true than ever. While some games are played, the football that fans truly love is still a long way off. So until then, we look forward to more stories of intensity, victory, heartbreak, and redemption.

GIANT is a Spotify Original podcast, produced in partnership with Mundial. We Came To Win is a Gimlet Media Production.

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