Staying Relevant podcast hosts plot Birmingham Sunday league rise

PA Media A man with short black hair kisses another man with long slicked black hair on his cheek. — Sam Thompson (left) and Pete Wicks have invested in Great Barr United despite never visiting the area

Two celebrity podcasters have said they plan to make a Birmingham Sunday league team the “biggest” of its kind in the country.

Pete Wicks and Sam Thompson, best known for their early reality TV careers on Made In Chelsea and The Only Way Is Essex, now host one of the UK’s most popular podcasts, Staying Relevant.

The podcast has become the new sponsor of Great Barr United and now adorns the front of their shirts after the team appealed to the show.

Wicks said: “We’ve got plans to make Great Barr United the biggest Sunday league football team in the country.”

The TV and radio presenter, who is also well known for his stint on Strictly Come Dancing, joked that if the team were relegated he would be “looking at another team”.

Asked about how the sponsorship deal came about, he said: “I was actually away and I came back to the fact we had started doing this, so they did nothing to win me over, but they obviously had an amazing effect on Sam.”

Thompson, winner of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, added: “I read the email and I just thought to myself ‘you know what? They’re go-getters’ and they care about their football.

“We’ve seen other people do it, we’ve seen Ryan Reynolds at Wrexham and we thought to ourselves, ‘you know what, we’ll carry on that train of thought’.”

Thompson (left) said he could tell the team cared about their football while Wicks (right) described the opportunity as “exciting”

Staying Relevant A split photo showing two men in white t-shirts and caps speaking into a small black microphone — Thompson (left) said he could tell the team cared about their football while Wicks (right) described the opportunity as “exciting”

The deal includes the podcast purchasing the team’s new kit, paying for their pitch fees and even a commitment to pay for their Christmas party.

Wicks joked this was “the only part [he was] looking forward to”.

He also added: “As much as we take the mick and it is Division Three Sunday league football, it is quite exciting, it’s quite funny, but it is quite exciting.

“All the lads at Great Barr, and all the contact we’ve had with them, they seem like really great people so I’m sure there will be things we’ll be doing along the way that will hopefully have a positive impact.”

The pair have also committed to visiting Great Barr and its respective football club once this season.

“We will go definitely to watch one game this season. We’re going to be there, we’re just trying to get there,” Thompson said.

“I love Birmingham, Birmingham is unbelievable, we’re there all the time.”

Wicks admitted Great Barr was “a new one” to him but said he hoped the area did what it said on “the tin”

Wicks added: “I’m a big fan of the Midlands, I really like the Midlands. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Midlands and I actually film a lot in the Midlands at the minute, as well.

“But Great Barr, it’s a new one on me but I’m hoping it does what it says on the tin and it is great.”

The pair are also very familiar with Birmingham City’s celebrity football owner, former American football star Tom Brady, who Thompson has said could be their “nemesis”.

“We’ve got Brady, we’ll do him over. We like a nemesis on this company and Tom Brady could be the guy,” he said.

“Tell him from us to watch out and there’s a new pair of people involved in the sport.”

‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’

‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bbc.com ’