The Gaffer Tapes are a comedy fantasy football brand, group of authors and a podcast.[1]

'The Gaffer Tapes: Fantasy Football Podcast'
Left to Right: Hosts Ash Kernsworth, Craig Hazell and Tom Holmes. Front: Actor Dominic Monaghan in 2017
Presentation
Hosted byTom Holmes, Craig Hazell, Ash Kernsworth
Genre
  • Comedy Football Show
LanguageEnglish
Updates
  • Season one: 2014/15
  • Season two: 2015/16
  • Season three: 2016/17
  • Season four: 2017/18
  • Season five: 2018
LengthVariable (60–100 minutes)
Production
ProductionAsh Kernsworth
Audio formatPodcast (via streaming or download)
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes139
Publication
Original releaseJune 2014 –
December 2018
Cited for2016 Football Content Award
Related
WebsiteAudioboom

History of The Gaffer Tapes

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In 2014 Fantasy Football expert Ash Kernsworth, writer and broadcaster Craig Hazell, and comedian Tom Holmes began recording podcasts during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In August of the same year, they accompanied the mini-league on the official Premier League fantasy football website. While the content of the podcast consisted of general fantasy football discussion, specifics such as prices of players and league positions were specific to the Fantasy Premier League game.[2]

In July 2017, The Gaffer Tapes appeared on Everton goalkeeper Asmir Begović's Season of Sports podcast to talk Fantasy Sports.[3]

On 3 July 2017, The Gaffer Tapes announced that they were recording a live podcast at The Phoenix Artist Club in Central London which was recorded on 24 October 2017.[4]

On 31 July 2017 Craig appeared as a guest on Talksport radio to talk about Fantasy Football. On 7 December 2017, Ash also appeared as a guest. Craig appeared again in August 2019 to talk about the release of 'The A-Z of Fantasy Football'.[5]

The Gaffer Tapes were featured in the August 2017 edition of Stuff Magazine as their Number 1 Football Podcast.[6]

In May 2018 The Gaffer Tapes released a song for the England national team's 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign.[7]

Tom and Craig wrote for the television show 'Football's 47 Best Worst Songs' in 2018, which was produced by Goalhanger Films and broadcast on UKTV Play, hosted by Bob Mortimer.[8]

The Gaffers were asked to be Judges for the Professional Footballers' Association 'Player of the Month' award for September 2018.[9]

On 5 March 2019 The Gaffers announced that they had stopped recording podcasts. In total there were 139 episodes recorded between June 2014 and December 2018.[10][11]

Tom appeared on the Hawksbee and Jacobs Show on talkSPORT on 12 December 2019, to talk about chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen and his rise to prominence in fantasy football.[12]

In July 2021 Tom was interviewed in FourFourTwo Magazine about Fantasy Football.[13]

In November 2021 Tom did an interview with British Comedy Guide where it was announced that The Gaffer Tapes "should return from hiatus soon".[14]

Award

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The Gaffer Tapes were nominated as 'Best Football Podcast' at the Football Blogging Awards (now called the Football Content Awards) in both 2015 and 2016, winning the Judge's Award at the 2016 event, held at Old Trafford.[15]

The A–Z of Fantasy Football

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It was announced in October 2018 that The Gaffers had signed a book deal with Pitch Publishing for a Comedy Fantasy Football book. The book was released on 1 July 2019.[16][17] The book is a guide to fantasy football, with anecdotes and advice. It features conversations with Dominic Monaghan, Helen Chamberlain, and Asmir Begović amongst others. The foreword is written by comedian Joel Dommett.

Fans, Guests and Listeners to the Podcast

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Actor Dominic Monaghan is a fan of the podcast and has appeared as a guest in both April and November 2016 and May 2018, as well as submitting several audio questions which were played on the podcast. While appearing as a guest, Monaghan stated:

It’s the best fantasy football podcast out there.[18]

Other notable listeners include comedian and actor Tom Davis.[19]

In April 2017, television comedian Dane Baptiste appeared as a guest.[20]

In early October 2017, comedian, impressionist, and star of Murder in Successville Luke Kempner appeared as a guest.[21]

On 18 October 2017, The Gaffer Tapes released their 100th podcast, with actor, comedian, and rapper Doc Brown appearing as a guest.[22]

Regular Features on The Gaffer Tapes Podcast

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[23]- The Gaffer Gambler

Hazell offered tips and odds on betting opportunities. This feature was brought back sporadically, with odds being provided by The Odds Bible.[24]

Tweets for my Tweet

The hosts read out tweets that were sent to them during the week. The title of the feature was sung by the hosts to the tune of Sweets for My Sweet by The Drifters.[25]

Mental Email of the Week

The hosts began receiving emails that were often not related to football content whatsoever.

Where's Wallerz?

A weekly update on the social media whereabouts of former Leicester City footballer Marcin Wasilewski, who is referred to as "Wallerz".

Tom's Lee Sharpe Anecdote

On the final podcast of every season, Holmes told an anecdote about when he met former professional footballer Lee Sharpe at Elland Road as a child.

The Diary of Little Timmy Tinker

From the beginning of the 2018–19 season until the final podcast in December 2018, Holmes began reading excerpts from the fictional diary of a nine-year-old footballer called Timmy Tinker.[26]

Any Other Business

The hosts read out social media interactions that usually consisted of listeners pointing out incorrect statements and facts that appeared in the previous week's show.

The Weekly Quiz

Every season, one of the hosts acted as Quiz Master and the remaining two competed in weekly quizzes with the loser being given a forfeit at the end of the season. In the inaugural 2014–15 season, Hazell hosted the quiz and Kernsworth defeated Holmes. In 2015–16 Kernsworth hosted the quiz and Hazell defeated Holmes. In 2016–17 Holmes hosted the quiz and Hazell defeated Kernsworth. In 2017–18 Hazell hosted the quiz again and Holmes defeated Kernsworth. In 2018–19 Kernsworth hosted the quiz again and Holmes took on Hazell with no winner being determined before the podcast finished.

References

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  1. ^ "The Gaffer Tapes: Fantasy Football Comedy Podcast". Spotify. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Fantasy Premier League, Official Fantasy Football Game of the Premier League". Fantasy.premierleague.com. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  3. ^ "The World of Fantasy Sports". Audioboom.
  4. ^ "Week 10: The Gaffer Tapes: LIVE — The Gaffer Tapes". www.thegaffertapes.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Kick off: Fantasy Football special – Monday, July 31". 31 July 2017.
  6. ^ @TheGafferTapes (25 August 2017). "Here's the nice little mention we got in @StuffTV.Really does sum up what The Gaffer Tapes has always been about.…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Do You Remember? (England World Cup 2018 Song – The Gaffer Tapes). YouTube. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Football's 47 Best Worst Songs". IMDb.
  9. ^ PFA Player of the Month Nomination (September 2018). YouTube. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Announcement — The Gaffer Tapes". www.thegaffertapes.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Podcast — The Gaffer Tapes". www.thegaffertapes.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016.
  12. ^ "TalkSPORT". 12 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Buy FourFourTwo Season Preview 2021 from MagazinesDirect".
  14. ^ "Tom Holmes – Random 8". British Comedy Guide. 16 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Football Content Awards". Football Content Awards. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  16. ^ https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-gaffer-tapes/tom-holmes/craig-hazell/9781785315060 [bare URL]
  17. ^ Holmes, Tom; Hazell, Craig (July 2019). The A-Z of Fantasy Football: A Hilarious Guide Filled with Anecdotes and Expert Advice. Pitch. ISBN 978-1785315060.
  18. ^ "Login to your Podbean Account | Podbean".
  19. ^ @BigTomD (14 May 2016). "love the gaffer tapes BTW" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "Week 31: Train Baptiste #FPL 16/17 — the Gaffer Tapes". Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  21. ^ "Week 8: Murder in Isaac Successville #FPL 17/18 — The Gaffer Tapes". www.thegaffertapes.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017.
  22. ^ "Week 9: The Gaffer Tapes 100th Episode Special #FPL 17/18 — The Gaffer Tapes". www.thegaffertapes.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017.
  23. ^ "The Gaffer Tapes: Fantasy Football Comedy Podcast". audioboom.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  24. ^ "All The Latest Theoddsbible News, Videos & Breaking Stories | SPORTbible". Theoddsbible. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  25. ^ Sweets For My Sweet, 26 August 2008, retrieved 14 February 2023
  26. ^ "The Gaffer Tapes: Fantasy Football Comedy Podcast". Deezer (in Serbian). Retrieved 14 February 2023.
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