WHETHER IT’S TRIPE AND TROTTERS, Bert Truman’s Helmet or Bob Lord’s Sausage, football’s favourites fanzines could become a thing of the past thanks to the rise in “fancasting”. The smudgy, sarcastic publications that emerged in the mid-80s face being replaced by easily downloadable audio blogs recorded by fans as passionate about their iPods as they are about football.

You can blame Adam Curry, the former MTV presenter, for this rise in digital punditry. Also known as the Podfather, Curry is the creator of the podcast. In October 2004, he designed the software that allows internet radio shows to be saved directly on to an Mp3 player and then played, rewound and fast-forwarded at the listener’s leisure. Now, one year later, there are 10,000 podcasts available for download from iTunes, Odeo or Yahoo. Savvy corporations such as the BBC and Virgin have cottoned on to this revolution, but it is the amateur hams who are really taking advantage of the new medium.

Last month, Brian Cole became Charlton Athletic’s first fancaster. You may have heard of Cole. He was Charlton’s official stadium announcer until being unceremoniously dismissed last October for introducing their South London rivals as “Crystal Palarse”. Denied the chance to broadcast through the Valley’s loudspeaker, Cole’s main outlet now is his weekly podcast. Every Sunday evening, the 45-year-old loan salesman records Charlton Plus from his flat in South London. “It provides Charlton fans with an opportunity to air views that they may not be able to elsewhere,” he said.

So simple is the technology required that Robert Farley, an Antipodean Arsenal fan, records his cunningly entitled show Aussenal on his mobile phone on the way to work.

“Occasionally I get someone saying, ‘You should do a more professional job, stop recording in your car,’ ” the 31-year-old software developer, who also podcasts sermons from his local church in Adelaide, said, “but I know some of my listeners appreciate the odd comment about other drivers.”

Just as the advent of fanzines meant anyone could become a published writer, fancasting is democratising sports broadcasting. When, in April this year, Ande Smallwood, a 25-year-old insurance salesman, launched The Premiership Podcast from his bedroom in Leeds, it became the UK’s first football-themed podcast. Smallwood now registers audiences of up to 3,000 a show. “It’s only a matter of time before every club have their own dedicated podcast,” he said.

“They’ve all worked on their websites in the last few years, but if they want to stay ahead of the game then this is where they need to head.”

Today, with no more than a dozen football fancasts to choose from, podcasting is still in its infancy. Curry expects this to change soon. “With the sale of every new iPod or Mp3 player there’s another potential listener,” he said. “New mobile phone technology could mean that the number of people capable of listening to podcasts could jump to 100 million quickly.” Could this digital revolution prove to be the final curtain-call for fanzines’? “ No, the two can exist side by side,” Curry said.

The Treble — www.TheTrebleTalk.com

Aussenal — www.aussenal.com

The Premiership Podcast — www.andesmallwood.libsyn.com

Charlton Plus — www.offthechartradio.co.uk/podcasts.shtml

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