Neville’s The Overlap goes daily, adding Gerrard, Hart and Schmeichel to roster
Gary Neville’s football podcast The Overlap went daily last week, expanding its schedule to 4pm Monday to Friday and bringing in contributors including Steven Gerrard, Joe Hart and Peter Schmeichel. The change followed a summer signing of Wayne Rooney from the BBC for a Manchester United–focused two-hander with YouTuber Mark Goldbridge.
The new push sits inside a wider shift of former players moving into the creator economy, an evolution the article likens to the prescience of Nathan Barley about digital culture. Unlike the Gary Lineker Goalhanger output, The Overlap largely confines itself to football; a rugby podcast was mothballed in February while a cricket equivalent continues. Mark Goldbridge’s real name, Brent Di Cesare, is noted in coverage of the project.
An online launch sequence featured Jamie Carragher baiting Goldbridge and an exchange that left Neville choking on his Huel, an episode that was “clipped up, the send button pressed, job done.” The programme now presents a TV-style family dynamic with recurring contributors and moments designed to produce shareable clips.
The Overlap’s regular cast is described in familial terms: Neville and Carragher as “mummy and daddy bear,” Jill Scott as the “dotty aunt,” Roy Keane as the “irascible uncle,” and Ian Wright among those smirking over gossip. The show has been “highly popular, occasionally agenda-setting,” has softened Keane’s image and has even turned production assistant Kiaran Saunders into a cult figure supplying biscuits and blueberries.
Weekday line-ups have been established: Mondays feature Steven Gerrard reviewing the weekend with Becky Ives, including Gerrard’s defence of Florian Wirtz — “Don’t give up on him.” Tuesdays pair Kelly Cates with Ashley Young. Wednesdays host Tim Sherwood and Jamie Redknapp, a duo whose mid-2000s venture Icon is recalled for its short-lived lifestyle magazine aimed initially at professional players.
Newly signed pairings also include Mark Crossley and Duncan Ferguson. Crossley, noted for saving a Matthew Le Tissier penalty and for an after-dinner speaking career built on Brian Clough anecdotes and “young man” impressions, clashed with Ferguson on a recent episode when Ferguson suggested Gianluigi Donnarumma “might be over the hill.” Crossley responded: “He’s 27, actually,” before the discussion moved to video assistant referees and the old practice of “smashing into the opposition at goal-kicks.” The column suggests those conversations may encroach on the audience of podcasts such as Under The Cosh.
Last week’s Friday edition brought Joe Hart and Peter Schmeichel into a discussion labelled a Manchester City charges chat, during which Neville admitted to mistakenly burying the lead when Lisandro Martínez was willingly dishing the dirt on Manchester United while serving as CBS’s Champions League interviewer in Madrid last Tuesday. Schmeichel pressed Hart on ownership matters: “They’re letting Manchester down, they don’t understand what this place is. They have built a lot of towers and homes and all that but they don’t get this place.” Hart replied: “It’s tough to be a Manchester City person,” Hart said. “I love the club … we’re in it together.” He added, “I’ve worked closely with Khaldoon [al-Mubarak] and he does get this place, that’s my reference point,” said a hesitant Hart. “He’s an incredible person.” The article notes the City discussion will continue to push former players into uncomfortable territory.
Neville’s expansion shows no immediate limit: the piece reports his plans include newsletters to follow and mentions further business interests such as building projects running parallel to the Abu Dhabi-funded developments in Manchester. Overlaps between media activity and other commercial ventures are described as becoming unavoidable.