When Saturday Comes podcast heading to South Shields FC for first live tour

Featuring a line-up including renowned local football writers Harry Pearson (The Far Corner) and Daniel Gray (Saturday, 3pm), alongside WSC magazine editor Andy Lyons.

Organisers of the show on Thursday, June 16 say it will be packed with plenty of knowledgeable chat about North East football from Darlington to Ashington.

Andy said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be kicking off our first ever tour in South Shields, supporting one of the area’s many non-League clubs in the process. The North East has such a rich and varied footballing history across all levels of the game, having produced not only some of the greatest players and managers, but also some of game’s best writers.

"We’re so excited to be bringing two of them, Harry Pearson and Daniel Gray, back to the area for what should be a brilliant evening of entertainment.”

When Saturday Comes is the UK’s biggest independent football magazine, producing alternative writing on the game since 1986, and launched its successful podcast in 2019.

For its first ever live tour, the magazine has chosen to support non-League clubs around the country, who have all had a tough time during the pandemic.

First up is the trip to South Shields FC where, as well as getting to pick the brains of the three football experts and getting their books signed, audience members will also have a chance to browse the touring WSC Photography exhibition.

The collection showcases some of the best images from the magazine’s team of photographers: Colin McPherson, Paul Thompson and Simon Gill.

The three photographers have spent decades documenting UK football culture at all levels, and many of the images they have selected have already been inducted into the prestigious Martin Parr Foundation gallery in Bristol.

Middlesbrough fan Harry Pearson is the author of the seminal The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North-East Football, widely regarded as one of the best football books ever written, and its popular recent follow up The Farther Corner.

“I'm thrilled to be making my debut at South Shields and getting the chance to meet readers and listeners face-to-face,” he said.

"I'll definitely be bringing along the programme from my first visit to Mariner's Park – a Northern League Division Two clash with Newcastle Benfield nearly 30 years ago – along with a strange souvenir from a meeting with one of the north-east's top referees”

Daniel Gray is the author of ten books, the most recent of which is Extra Time: 50 Further Delights of Modern Football.

He hosts and produces the WSC Podcast, and is editor of Nutmeg, a Scottish football magazine. He is a Middlesbrough fan exiled in Scotland.

He said: "After far too long presenting events on computer screens, doing something in person is going to be an almost surreal treat.

A non-league social club in the north-east is very much home territory for us, and I can't wait to discuss important footballing matters such as the advertising career of Kevin Keegan, Marco Gabbiadini's orange ball revelations and where exactly the phrase 'Sanddancer' comes from."

There will be stalls from WSC and South Shields FC, and the bar will be open.

The evening kicks off at 7pm. Tickets cost £20, or £15 for early bird if you get in quick, and are available on Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wsc-live-the-podcast-tickets-314581891907