Kevin McCluskie reports on another big night for Scotland’s major football podcast
Popular YouTube podcast A Celtic State of Mind has picked up a top award at the UK’s Football Content Awards, the Oscars of the game’s online community.
The BBC, ITV, Sky Sports, The Athletic and Copa90 were among those gathered at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this Thursday night to acclaim winners across 34 categories, a celebration of the biggest names in football content creation.
With its main host Paul John Dykes in attendance, ACSOM reclaimed the title of Best International Podcast it also won in 2021, lifting its seventh FCA trophy in six years.
Upon accepting the award, Dykes told the story of a follower who had recently lost his wife in tragic circumstances, and who found solace in ACSOM and its many contributors talking about the club they love.
“We are only talking about football,” said Paul, addressing the illustrious guests. “But it means a hell of a lot to a lot of people.”
Originating in 2017, the first podcast recorded on a kitchen table in Stirling, ACSOM has developed and diversified to present hour-long daily discussions on the latest goings-on in the world of Celtic FC, as well as creating high-spec video content.
From humble beginnings, ACSOM now reaches more than one million monthly listeners and viewers across multiple platforms. It recently celebrated 18 million YouTube views, more than any other channel dedicated to Celtic, apart from the official one run by the club itself.
Generating insightful discussion around the culture of Celtic, the city of Glasgow and the followers of the reigning Scottish champions, Dykes taps into the global diaspora of Celtic support. Along with Scotland-based contributors, ACSOM can draw on an International Brigade from Hungary, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, each contributor with their own unique perspective.
While other podcasts now offer daily bulletins and match-day verdicts, ACSOM continues to innovate with standalone shows designed to bring thought-provoking content to a wide audience. Recent interviews with George Galloway, Tony Roper and Mick Lynch have made Friday night’s This is ACSOM one of the fastest-growing football shows online.
In addition, since its inception in 2017, ACSOM has helped raise more than £110,000 for worthy causes, including food banks, mental health charities, vulnerable children and St Mary’s Church, birthplace of Celtic FC. For this particular charitable endeavour, ACSOM collaborated with Glaswegian band The Wakes to release a charity single in December 2022 – The Glory & The Dream – which peaked at #16 in the iTunes Chart, as well as hitting #1 in the iTunes Rock Chart.
Most recently, ACSOM has helped the family fund ongoing treatment for their young son Jamie Tierney, who suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease for which there is currently no known cure.
This evening, Saturday, November 23, John Paul Dykes and his ACSOM team will be covering Celtic’s visit to Hearts from 7.15pm UK time.
