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Type of site | Fanzine |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| URL | https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/ |
| Launched | December 2010 |
| Roker Rapport Podcast | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Association Football |
| Language | English |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Damian Brown – Gavin Henderson – Tom Atkinson – Sean Brown |
| Cast and voices | |
| Hosted by | Gavin Henderson – Rich Speight – Chris Wynn – Martin Wanless – Ant Waterson – Brett Lyons-Davis |
| Production | |
| Production | Sean Brown |
| Publication | |
| No. of episodes | 500+ |
| Original release | 11 September 2016 |
| Updates | 3–4 shows weekly: Quick Reaction – Full Match Reviews – Match Previews – Interviews |
| Related | |
| Website | https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/roker-rapport-podcast |
Roker Report is an onlinefanzine, blog and accompanying series ofpodcasts andlivestreams related to Englishfootball clubSunderland and the club'swomen's team. Roker Report has interviewed many high-profile former players and celebrities and gained significant attention among Sunderland fans during 2018 whenStewart Donald and Charlie Methven gave exclusive interviews to the podcast team after buying the club.[1] Roker Report has performed an annual charity drive since 2019, and has raised over £120,000 for local charities.[2]
Roker Report was formed in December 2010 by Simon Walsh[3][4] and was sold toVox Media In 2011.
A new management and editorial group formed in 2016 with the aim of improving the quality and quantity of the site's content. A substantial recruitment phase took place in the years that followed. Roker Report's website now has over forty regular contributors producing news roundups and opinion pieces on Sunderland as well as many popular regular features such asOn This Day and theRoker Ramble. Many former contributors (including Graham Falk and Connor Bromley) have gone on to careers in sports journalism,[5][6] with some setting up fanzines and podcasts of their own.
Roker Report was nominated for two awards in 2012EPL Talk Awards,[7] and was shortlisted for a 2018Football Blogging Award.[8]
The group has helped raise over £120,000 for local charities since Christmas of 2019 when it launched the now annual Roker Report Christmas Fundraiser.[2] In December 2021 a 24-hour continuous broadcast on TwitterSpaces featuring a number of celebrities, sports journalists, broadcasters, current and formerSunderland andSunderland ladies players and managers – as well as a number of UK based and Internationalfan branches – was attempted successfully and raised roughly £10,000 for the aforementioned campaign in that time period alone.[9]
An original run of Roker Report podcasts were launched in 2011 but were discontinued in 2013. As part of the editorial restructuring in September 2016, the podcast was relaunched with the nameRoker Rapport Podcast.
The podcast shows include both quick reaction, and longer more intensive full reviews of the latest match and result, with support from a regular team of contributors and guests – often including local Journalists or broadcasters. Previews of upcoming games are conducted with Journalists and opposition fans, podcasts, and club officials/owners such asDarragh MacAnthony ofPeterborough United andAndy Holt ofAccrington Stanley.
In May 2018, Roker Report received widespread attention among Sunderland supporters whenStewart Donald andCharlie Methven gave an exclusive interview on the Roker Rapport Podcast immediately after buying the club.[1] This was followed up by several more interviews until November 2019, at which point Roker Report joined a coordinated protest organised by the Red and White Army Supporters' Trust (RAWA) demanding the Sunderland chairman sell the club.
Additional special edition podcasts have included interviews with former chairman andFoundation of Light chairSir Bob Murray,[10] former vice chairman John Fickling, Sunderland super-fan and now retired SAFC Supporters' Association chairman George Forster, former club secretary Malcolm Bramley, club historian Rob Mason, club officials such asKevin Ball and prominent Sunderland fans, such asSky Sports presenter Dave Jones.
Interviews have also been conducted with formerSunderland managers such asPeter Reid andGus Poyet as well as former Sunderland players such asNiall Quinn,Kevin Phillips andSeb Larsson. The podcast team has also interviewedSunderland A.F.C. Ladies managerMelanie Reay and playersKeira Ramshaw, Claudia Moan, Neve Herron andGrace McCatty and former playersJen O'Neill,Rachel Furness andBeth Mead.
Roker Report also runs a 'Lasses Live'Twitter Spaces broadcast on the social media platform every Monday night, covering all things SAFC Ladies with a variety of guests from opposition clubs in theFA Women's Championship, including journalists, fans and others fighting for equality for the women's game in the UK, such asHerGameToo, the grassroots campaign group for an end to sexism in football, which Roker Report partners with.
As of 2019 the Roker Rapport Podcast has been officially partnered with local Sunderland charity the Sunderland CommunitySoup kitchen – all advertising revenue generated by the podcast is donated to the charity at the end of each year. The podcast itself operates strictly asnon-profit, though the Roker Report on-site advertising is handled by SBNation.
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