Sometimes you need to blow your own trumpet and it is with great pride that we write today to confirm that highly respected football writer Andrew H Smith is leaving the world of broadsheet journalism and joining The Celtic Underground.
Andrew started his journalistic career at The Celtice View over 30 years ago, shortly before the Fergus McCann revolution – something he discusses at length in two of our forthcoming podcasts. After leaving The View he progressed on a 30 year career in the written press with the Scotland on Sunday and then the Scotsman, focussing on the football of our dear green city and specifically Celtic and the Rangers.
With more than 30 years experience in Scottish sports journalism, Andrew has covered everything from domestic football to international events and European cup finals. He has been shortlised for UK awards and has been a vociferous campaigner against racism and sectarianism in Scottish football.
There’s going to be some changes to our website and the content we deliver with the arrival of Andrew and there’ll be more on that shortly.
The media world is becoming fragmented with consumers curating their own echo chamber of views and information and it’s within this context that fan media has evolved – football fans talking to other fans about their club. At Celtic Underground we’ve been doing that on the podcast for 18 seasons.
One thing we’ve noticed in doing the podcast is the expectation from listeners is continual improvement in quality. Gone are the days when I can have a chat on the phone whilst walking the dog and people accept cars whizzing by as they consume their Celtic chat.
We want to keep true to the foundation of CU and we will continue with the standard output from likes of @Stephen4_2 and @celticrumours but in this fragmented media world, people also want more. We want to keep true to the foundation of CU and we will continue with the standard output from likes of @Stephen4_2 and @celticrumours but in this fragmented media world, people also want more.
And so, in addition to the usual rubbish, we’re sprinkling a little bit of quality. Andrew Smith is leaving the broadsheet newspaper world and joining Celtic Underground. He’ll be using his extensive contact list to bring listeners a range of high quality guests. There’ll be some changes to the site and the quality and quantity of the podcasts with more detail coming soon. We’ve got this weeks podcast reviewing Dundee & previewing Hearts then 2 pods on his time working with Fergus.