BBC’s Football Daily will add visualised episodes hosted by Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith twice a week from Thursday 15 October, the broadcaster has confirmed, as the wider game faces renewed debate over FIFA governance after the failed FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal.
- Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith will host visualised Football Daily episodes on Thursdays and Sundays from 15 October.
- The BBC's decision follows strong World Cup audience numbers: over 3.4 million visual views and 7.3 million total streams for Football Daily during the tournament.
- Europe’s top leagues have issued a joint call for a major overhaul of FIFA governance following the withdrawal of the FIFA Forward Enterprise proposal.
What’s been confirmed for Football Daily
The BBC will carry new Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith editions of Football Daily on Thursdays and Sundays, with the full visual episodes available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Football YouTube channel in addition to the normal audio feed on BBC Sounds. The pair’s World Cup output attracted large audiences: the visualised editions totalled more than 3.4 million views on BBC iPlayer and BBC Football YouTube during the tournament, part of over 7.3 million Football Daily streams across the World Cup period, figures supplied by the broadcaster show.
Edwards and Griffith presented Football Daily content during the 2026 FIFA World Cup and are now set to return to a twice-weekly slot from 15 October. The BBC says their episodes will sit inside a wider weekly schedule that covers the Premier League, Football League, Scottish, international and European football.
How the revamped schedule will look
- Monday: Monday Night Club, hosted by Mark Chapman.
- Tuesday and Wednesday: 5 Live reaction to midweek football, including Champions League coverage.
- Thursday: Rick Edwards visualised Football Daily episode (from 15 October).
- Friday: The Commentators’ View.
- Saturday: The Football Interview with Kelly Somers.
- Sunday: Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith visualised episode (from 15 October).
The BBC has also said the EFL Podcast and Euro Leagues feeds will continue independently for dedicated coverage of those competitions.
Why the BBC is expanding visual Football Daily editions
Podcasting Today reported the BBC’s decision and attributed it to the pair’s World Cup performance, noting the positive audience response to the lighter, conversational format Edwards and Griffith offered. The BBC’s own audience numbers for the World Cup run — 3.4 million visual views and 7.3 million total streams for Football Daily across the tournament — underline the scale of engagement that has encouraged the broadcaster to keep the duo in a regular slot.
Both presenters have spoken about enjoying the World Cup stint and bringing energy and debate back to fans; the BBC’s schedule aims to blend analysis, interviews and debate across written, audio and visual formats.
Meanwhile: Europe’s top leagues press for FIFA reform
At the same time as the BBC reshapes its flagship football podcast, Europe’s major leagues have publicly demanded a comprehensive restructure of FIFA’s governance in response to the fallout from the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) proposal. Media reports summarising the leagues’ joint statement say the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga and Serie A called for a fundamental overhaul of how FIFA is run and urged that leadership and accountability be restored across the global game.
The leagues’ statement, as reported in national press coverage, criticised what it described as a governance problem at FIFA and argued that power concentrated in the presidency risked undermining trust. They proposed that any future leadership model should involve “key stakeholders, including national associations, leagues, clubs, and players from across men’s and women’s football” and called for independent oversight of ethics, financial and electoral bodies. The coverage credited Premier League chief executive Richard Masters and his counterparts in Spain, Germany and Italy as signatories to the joint appeal.
FIFA’s commercial proposal, FFE, was withdrawn on 31 July after resistance from UEFA and other confederations; subsequent reporting shows tensions have escalated into a legal and political dispute. UEFA has pursued legal avenues to obtain documents and testimony related to the plan, and media summaries record a sharp exchange between UEFA and FIFA, with FIFA accusing UEFA of running a “smear campaign” and disputing the basis for some of UEFA’s legal filings.
Why this matters to UK football fans and clubs
Changes to FIFA governance could affect the distribution of commercial rights, the organisation of major tournaments and the balance of influence among confederations, leagues and clubs. The Premier League’s involvement — through its chief executive — makes this a matter of clear interest to English clubs and supporters because any reform that alters how revenues, match calendars or global competitions are decided will have knock-on effects for the domestic game.
At present the dispute over FFE and calls for reform are at the political and legal stage: European leagues want a governance reset and an independent review, while FIFA has contested aspects of UEFA’s tactics. Neither side’s proposals have yet produced a binding institutional change; reporting shows the struggle is ongoing and likely to remain a defining football-administration story through the autumn and into the FIFA presidential cycle.
What comes next
- From 15 October: Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith start twice-weekly visual Football Daily episodes on BBC iPlayer, YouTube and BBC Sounds.
- Autumn: expect continued media and legal exchanges between FIFA and European football bodies as calls for independent reviews and governance reform proceed; UEFA’s legal actions and FIFA’s responses are developing stories.
- Longer term: any formal changes to FIFA’s governance would require broader agreement among confederations and member associations; observers will watch upcoming meetings, legal filings and candidacies for FIFA leadership for signs of concrete reform.
Key takeaways
- Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith will present Football Daily visual episodes on Thursdays and Sundays from 15 October, available on BBC iPlayer, YouTube and BBC Sounds.
- The BBC expanded visual output follows strong World Cup audience figures for the pair and the Football Daily feed overall.
- Separately, Europe’s top leagues have publicly demanded comprehensive FIFA governance reform after the FFE controversy; the dispute has moved into legal and political arenas.
“The response to Football Daily during the World Cup was surprisingly positive given it was essentially just two goons chatting nonsense about the game we love.”
The quoted line above appears in reporting on the presenters’ return and reflects a comment attributed to Rick Edwards in coverage; it has been included to convey the tone of response to the World Cup editions.