University of South Wales students are gaining invaluable experience of sports media by helping to produce a new podcast with former Wales international footballer Nathan Blake and ex BBC Wales football correspondent Rob Phillips.
Nathan and Rob are the stars of Rob and Blakey’s Commentary Box – a podcast covering the biggest talking points in Welsh football – with the help of Sports Journalism, Media Culture and Journalism, and Media Production students.
Recorded weekly, the podcast covers all aspects of the beautiful game in Wales, featuring regular guest interviews from current players, managers, coaches and pundits.
Available on YouTube and Spotify, the show has clocked up 30,000 views across the two streaming sites since its first broadcast, with more than 1,200 followers on its social media platforms, including Instagram, X, Bluesky and Threads.
The newly revamped podcast recording suite at USW’s Cardiff Campus offers the perfect location for the show, with professional standard recording and editing equipment and in-house technical expertise.
Rob, who worked as football correspondent at BBC Wales for 28 years, was delighted to launch the podcast at USW. He said: “The students have been a big part of making our podcast happen every week, and if we can help launch some careers in a really competitive media industry, then even better.
“All of our guests who come in to chat to us are impressed by the fantastic set – it looks so professional and really shows what the University can offer. We’re over the moon with how the show has taken off so far, and look forward to what the next year will bring.”
Nathan, who was a striker for clubs including Cardiff City, Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers before retiring with Newport County, was also capped 30 times for Wales, and has worked as a football pundit and presenter ever since.
He added: “The facilities here are top notch, and allow us to record and edit everything in one place. Giving the students the chance to work on something that they really enjoy will hopefully build their confidence and arm them with as many skills as possible.
“This experience might even inspire them to create something similar in the future, now that they have the tools to develop professional-standard content.”
Julie Kissick, senior lecturer in Journalism and Media, started producing the podcast with support from the Cardiff campus technical team – Matthew Hunter, Daniel Bailey and Tomos Hooson.
They then recruited a team of students as part of their challenge-based learning, providing opportunities for them to develop content ideas, record, edit and promote the podcast.
Julie said: “The big advantage for us is to enable the students to work in a professional environment, with professional broadcasters, and give them the opportunity to see the podcast develop with their input. Over the past term, 33 students have been involved, with more expected to come on board in the near future.
“The podcast’s social media presence has grown significantly with their help, which opens it up to a much wider audience and attracts lots of exciting guests to come and talk about the big issues in Welsh football each week.”
Michael Addison, 21, from Newport, is a third year Sports Journalism student and has helped produce the podcast for the past term. After having the opportunity to watch it being recorded, Michael has tried out different roles to gain an understanding of the equipment involved and the teamwork that goes into each episode.
He said: “Being so hands-on with the podcast has been such a rewarding experience. As well as doing the audio mixing and cutting between cameras during the recording, I’ve done a lot of the post-production work, creating short clips for social media and promoting the show as much as possible to grow audience numbers.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of such an exciting project, and gain as many skills as I can during my studies. It’ll be really valuable to add to my CV and prepare me for a role in the industry.”
Eleanor Clifton, 20, from Bournemouth, is in her second year of the Sports Journalism course, and produces social media content with Rob and Nathan for various platforms.
She said: “Working with two such big characters was a little nerve-wracking at first, but they are great guys and soon put me at ease. I really enjoy the behind-the-scenes aspect of producing the podcast, and this has given us lots of real-life experience to take into future projects.”
Matthew Hunter, who supervises the students’ technical involvement, added: “We are really proud of the facilities we have here at USW, and after installing new hardware and soundproofing in the studio, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to host Rob and Blakey’s Commentary Box.
“It’s great to see the students making progress and developing skills that they can use in industry. It can be stressful at times, and definitely isn’t as straightforward as it may look, but it’s a very rewarding process.”
