Rick & Lloyd's Guide To The World Cup

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1:03This is the Football Daily Podcast on BBC Sounds. Hello and welcome to Rick and Lloyd's Guide to the World Cup, which, I'll be honest, is less of a guide to the World Cup and more of us trying to figure out what we're going to be doing every day while we're out in America for the World Cup. It's slowly beginning to crystallise for me. I don't know about you, Lloyd, but I thought I would go back to our first interaction about this. So I just checked my texts. And you're currently in Australia, by the way. How are you? Hello. Yeah, I am currently in Australia. Of the way that you confirmed, I am currently in Australia.

1:40But you're going to be back, aren't you? I'm going to be back in England for four days, doing my washing, say hello to the girlfriend, and then jump on a plane with you to LA. Very nice. So what happened on the 5th of February? I'd had a conversation with people at the BBC about the Football Daily at the World Cup and they said to me we need to find someone for you to do it with and my criteria were someone I'm going to enjoy spending a lot of time with someone who is a football fan someone ideally who is funny and someone who's got a lovely singing voice and I thought that is Lloyd Griffith it's tick, tick, tick, tick, tick that was my old Hinge profile back in the day Well, I know.

2:24I've just quoted it directly. And I did say, that is lovely. Is this a wind-up? And how many people have you asked before me? Because apart from the singing thing, I mean, there's surely better people than me. I think you're right, but I couldn't think of any. So I've got the text here. I said, big man, what are you doing for the World Cup? Do you fancy spending it in LA with me and doing the Football Daily podcast? Hope as well, this would be a paid gig. You said, are you asking me to go to LA for the World Cup? Is this a scam? I said, oh, sorry. meant so nice to Rob Beckett. Ah. And then you called me a...

2:57Well, you insulted me and then you said you preferred Steve Jones all along. And that was the start of it. And we were off. And then suddenly it's happening. I can't quite believe it. I mean, look, the banter has started flowing from the off and we're going to LA. We're going to spend a lot of time at Muscle Beach. I cannot wait, Rick. I think we should go to Muscle Beach. I don't know how well we're going to be received there. Do we know where we're hosting the podcast then can it be at Muscle Beach? By and large, we're going to be at this pub, well, I guess they would call it a bar, in Santa Monica where they're showing all of the games.

3:32But I think that with a podcast, we can probably roam a little bit. So I don't see there's any reason why we can't go to a couple of workouts and do it from there while sweating profusely. For me, that would be the dream, to do the podcast live while sweating at Muscle Beach with ideally a bit of an audience. And I think that probably the dream of all the listeners as well, and I say all the listeners quite hopefully, is trying to work out when the last time I saw you was. Now, I don't know if this was the last time, but the Euros in Germany in 2024, where you were there making some hashtag content for a sticker manufacturer.

4:11Is that right? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, it was. I don't think we can mention it, but it's not the one that you're thinking of. No, it's not actually. No, but they are also available. And then you managed to get me a ticket to, was it England, the Netherlands? The quarterfinal? I think it was. Yeah, it was the quarterfinal. I said, there you go. And you went, no. And I said, do you want a ticket? And you said, yes. Which is why I think you got me on this, which is lovely. Do you know what I mean? It's a way of paying you back. Because if you hadn't have got me that ticket, I wouldn't have been in the same row as Tommy Fury, who was also there, I think, as a guest of the sticker people.

4:45And I don't know if you remember what happened with Tommy Fury. but it became apparent quite early on that Tommy Fury doesn't care about football. It's really grumpy about being there. It was really making me laugh. It became quite apparent early on that Tommy Fury wasn't watching the football and was recording a documentary which I was like, I wonder where this will go and it turns out it was on the TV and so many people were like, mate, why are you in the back of Tommy Fury's shop whilst he's in Germany watching the football? And there was me and Rhys James as well there, not the footballer, the comedian.

5:16and we were just in the back of Tommy Fury's shot. I didn't have to sign any disclaimers. It felt a bit weird. It is fair to say that you are a, well, very big Grimsby fan, first of all, but also a big, big England fan. Yeah, I think, I mean, I've been a Grimsby Town fan pretty much my whole entire life. I had a little love affair with Manchester United when I was an eight-year-old child. And then I've followed England, got taken to a few England games by my teacher at school, went on a few trips there. and it wasn't until I started working that you can, you know, afford to go to games and go to away games and stuff.

5:51So I do like to go to as many England games as possible. I've been to a number of tournaments. I did Russia, did Germany. I think most famously, Rob Beckett and I did get quite loose at the Euros. I'm going to say you got carried away. Yeah, a little bit. I think I leaked 7 ,000 men in one night and got home four times that evening. We got captured on the TV, my phone melted, and then Rob Beckett was eating chicken by a bin, and I dropped my phone down a toilet at Wembley. So that was, I think, if people think of me going to England games, I think that is what they kind of do think of, the bucket hats.

6:31England just coming out of lockdown, beating Germany. But yeah, but we're going to be doing it very differently this year. Well, I think we're going to have to, aren't we? So we're going to be doing the podcast every day. Well, I guess it'll drop at like 7am UK time during the World Cup. So we'll record it sometime in the previous... I mean, the time zone is sort of confusing me slightly. We'll have recorded it after all of the games have finished the night before, which will also be the morning. But you get the idea. I do get the idea. Yeah, I mean, hopefully like a week in we'll definitely get the idea.

7:07And also we should also stipulate to the listeners that there is a producer that is making sure that we know exactly what's going on. It is not just you and I with two mobile phones. No, I think that would be catastrophic. It is lucky in some senses, although the other thing is that the producer, Lizzie, is also having to live with us for six weeks, which is a big ask. We'll kind of talk about all the biggest stories of the tournament. Also, I guess we'll just try and give you a sort of just an idea of what it is like in the States for the tournament. And we'll have guests alongside us in every episode from all over the USA, from Mexico and from Canada.

7:49And people joining us in LA when they're dropping in. And all of your Football Daily favourites, including the mighty Ian Dennis, who joins us now. Denno, how are you? I'm very well, Rick. How are you? Yeah, I'm pretty good. I'm excited. Hello to Lloyd as well. Oh, Ian, hello. I'm excited, but sort of a bit... It's just a long time. I know you've done loads of this, Dan, but this is a long time to be away, isn't it? It is, yeah. It is. I'm only here, by the way, because John Murray couldn't make it. So, Lloyd, don't feel bad that you're second choice for Rick. You know, John Murray's first game is in Mexico at the Azteca.

8:27You must be fuming about that, Dan. Well, I've got to say that when the World Cup draw was made, I don't think we were alone in all sort of like making our various pitches to go to Mexico City for that. But then it was quite apparent that John was going to do it because England obviously are one of the later games in the schedule. So he was able to get to Mexico City and then obviously get back for that opening game against Croatia in Dallas. But the good news from that point of view is that it's meant that I've had a few days in Florida, warming up and acclimatising to this World Cup. yeah and it's really important to get the voice get the voice acclimatized get yourself ready um you will also be very familiar with what it is like when you're spending six weeks or whatever it is in in close quarters um and how how relationships can can can develop i imagine well yeah and with that you need you need to have a good tourist with you so i'm sure that lloyd will will tick the box with that as will lizzie of course your producer because you When you're having a little bit of those flat moments, those down days, you need somebody to give you a little bit of a lift, a little bit of a perk me up.

9:34And as long as you don't play that corrupt bauble quiz game that you did four years ago in Qatar, then I'm sure everyone will get on fine. Not that I'm bitter about that, Rick. No, you don't sound it. I mean, look, I can tell you that, yeah, so I'll be presenting Breakfast Every Day as well on Five Live at some ungodly hour of the morning. And we do have a new game lined up. I don't think I can say what it is yet. But you will be playing, Dano, and I can promise to give you a fair crack at a whip. Good. I look forward to that. Have you got any tips on sharing digs with someone for a long time?

10:11Well, I've got to be careful with this. Because in Qatar, and you came to our apartment on a couple of occasions, it was quite a sociable apartment, I think it's fair to say, with producer George, who very kindly said you can take your pick of the rooms so he was very noble about that i actually gave him the biggest room uh but that's the first thing you've got to do if you're sharing an apartment who's going to get first dibs on the bed the best bed the second thing is and i'm not going to name names because that would be unfair but myself and george we would just wander around in our sort of like our boxer shorts we were shy in that respect but i do know that two of the engineers who were sharing an apartment in Qatar at the last World Cup, one of them had a no pants rule that they weren't allowed to walk around in their pants.

11:03Now, bearing in mind... Hang on, hang on. Does that mean no pants as in naked? No, no. You weren't allowed to walk around in your boxer shorts or your pants. Okay, okay. But bearing in mind that I, when I was at Radio Leeds many, many years ago, I used to room with Peter Lorimer and Norman Hunter. Norman bites your legs? Yeah. And me and Norman would basically just walk around in our room in all of our morning glory. Oh. So I don't have any problem. You know, I've got a very old school approach to sort of like sharing. Now, obviously, with if Lizzie's that that changes the dynamic and the equation altogether.

11:43But if it's just if it's just bellowed, yes, in my head. But if it's just the two of you, then I think you need to set some ground rules as well about what's acceptable and what's not, because I'm quite relaxed. I'm quite liberal. OK, so come on then, Lloyd. Let's get into it. I think it's probably pants on, isn't it? I think it's definitely pants on. Yeah. And I am, you know, even in my house back home with my other half, I am pants on. I think, you know, it's quite ridiculous to just walk out. Also, I live in a flat in London on the fourth floor, so everyone can, you know, can see him. Have a peer in.

12:20Have a little mooch in, do you know what I mean? I am very much a kind of Grimsby Town, 2002, 2003, like, shorts kind of guy. Yeah, sure. Also, as I keep saying, we're going to be at Muscle Beach probably once or twice a day. So as the physique gets better and I become more like, you know, a triangle... So you're going to expose more and more of it. ...tip to top off. Yeah. Exactly. Do you know what I mean? The shorts will get tighter and I just thought, you know, Just let the people see what they want to see. So I guess play it by ear, Rick, is what I'm saying. Yeah, that seems... What would your preference be, Rick?

12:53Yeah, I think pants on, and other than that, I'm fairly relaxed. I think the only thing that is a complete no-no is a T-shirt, no pants, which is the worst look that a man can have, I think. Don't know if you'd agree with that. When have you seen that before? I've seen that more times than I feel like I should have done, where you just see a little bit of dangle at the bottom, and it's really unacceptable. That's out. Yep, well, I mean, it literally is, yeah. Yeah. I can reveal that Norman Hunter never used to do that. If you bite more than your legs. I want to ask, this is not really a sort of a ground rule exactly, but given that you have a delightful, delightful singing voice, Lloyd, would it be possible and I think I'll probably get up after you because I'll finish later because of the breakfast show is it possible that my alarm call every morning is you singing me a different song well I mean it can be arranged how many days are we out there for probably what 42 is it?

13:59it's something like that you're getting through three or four albums worth yeah I think look I'm more than happy for you to put a playlist together I'll learn those songs and I can just wake you up every morning. You know, King Charles gets woken up by the bagpipes, apparently. Rick Edwards gets woken up by little fat choir boy, Lloyd Griffith. I'm more than happy. I'm not going to be doing anything that time of morning, am I? I think that would be brilliant. I genuinely do think we should do that and maybe record little bits of that and treat the audience. Now, this is... I'm slightly apprehensive about this, but two people that know me and you very well, Lloyd, are my wife, Ema, your partner Phoebe, and they have sent in some voice notes, which we have not heard, about the things that they think we should know about each other before we head out.

14:49So with a degree of trepidation, here is what Ema said. Hey Lloyd, it's Ema, Rick's wife here. There's a few things that I thought you might want to know before you live with Rick. First of all, he obsessively clips his toenails and fingernails. Not obsessively. Sometimes he'll just get up and run off to the bathroom like it's an emergency because he hasn't clipped his toenails and fingernails recently, as in the last few hours. And then he'll spend a really long time in the bathroom doing it. So make sure you get to the bathroom before he starts his clipping habit. Oh, God. I guess it beats having really long, creepy talons.

15:29Well, exactly. I just honestly don't know how he has anything left to clip. Secondly, he is a brilliant but very slow cook. What? You should ask him to make an omelette for you because it will be perfect, but it will take the best part of an hour, which completely defeats the point of an omelette. And thirdly, you should know that he has zero sense of smell. He actually has great hygiene and never smells bad, but it's just nice to know that you have licence to absolutely stink because he will never know. and I think you should really go for it. Test it. Oh, my gosh. Well, it could have been worse, couldn't it?

16:07Look, I think I completely refute the idea that I obsessively clip my fingernails and toenails. I just like to keep them trim. It's that simple. How quickly do they grow? How quick do your fingernails and toenails grow? Well, it's like, you know, a couple of millimetres a day, maybe nothing out of the ordinary. So, yeah, no, I do. I take good care of my cuticles and fingernails, and I'm not going to be apologising for that. The cooking thing, that's upset me a little bit because I'm the only one who cooks in our house. So I do it all and I don't want to be told I'm too slow. That's how I'm all done.

16:45That has slightly upset me and I will have a little word with him about that. But I am very genuinely very happy to do the cooking. Don't know how you are on it, but I like it. I've spent three and a half months in Australia filming and I have not cooked once since the end of February. So I am looking forward to going to potentially Whole Foods, other foods are available, and cooking a very expensive omelette when we get to our day. Don't know, I can't imagine you're a cook, are you? Well, actually, I am. No. Yeah. When it comes to the Sunday roast, I do the whole works. I am the cook whenever we do the Sunday dinner.

17:23But only on Sundays, though? No, no. No, I can... Okay. Yeah, I am a domesticated man. I can hoover. I do the ironing, do my own ironing, do my own washing, do my own cooking. So, no, I think you've underestimated me there. You are full of surprises, don't I? Yeah. Do you do the chimney? I can do if I had one, but I just don't walk around with just a T-shirt on. No, to be clear, neither do I. I'm just saying that's a no-no. What was the third thing? Oh, yeah, yeah, it is true. I have a very, very poor sense of smell. So any hygiene issues that you may have will be completely unobserved and uncomplained about by me.

18:02So enjoy yourself. Do you know what? I'll wait until Phoebe said what her three things are. Then I'll add on to the sense of smell. OK. Well, should we have a listen to Phoebe then? Hiya, Rick. Phoebe here. I thought I'd let you know a few things about Lloyd before you live with him. First of all, this man absolutely loves any new fad. Collagen sachets, oil capsules, those funny spiky mats that you lie on, anything, you name it. He's probably already ordered it, to be honest. Secondly, he has got an encyclopedic knowledge of fire engines. If one of them drives past, he'll make you stop and he'll tell you all about it.

18:49And he's already found this fire engine museum out there that he really wants to go to. So if you could take him, that really saves me a job. So thanks in advance. Lastly, I think probably most importantly, if you think that Lloyd has an off switch, you are all. He's like this all the time. Good luck. Have fun. See you in six weeks. Well, I mean, that was a real roller coaster there, wasn't it? Yeah, I mean, well, first of all, your assessment, please. No, no, I'll offer out of mine. I mean, I do love a fad. Like, you know, even when I was a kid, I remember buying an ab roller because I saw it in the Little Woods magazine.

19:27I was like, oh, that looks quite cool. And then I essentially was just used as a clothes horse for five years. I bought one of those. Do you remember the sort of electric pad stick-on thing for your abs? Yeah. Yeah, I thought I was going to get a six-pack from them. Yeah, that didn't work. Did not happen. What I'm on at the moment is sunflower oil tablets Because someone told me they're really good for your hair. So I'm based on them. She's absolutely right. I love a fad. The fire engines, yeah, but that's not weird, is it? Do you know what I mean? It's not weird that a grown man has five fire helmets at home and will buy paraphernalia whilst I'm out there.

20:05That's not weird. I actually will enjoy a trip to the fire engine museum with you. Yeah, great. Honestly, I absolutely love fire engines. It's from childhood trauma. So, do you know what I mean? It's absolutely fine. And then the off switch, I mean, that is right. Do we want to talk about the trauma or should we save that for when we're out there? Oh, I think maybe episode 10. Yeah, okay. And then the off switch, she is right. John Kearns kind of said to her, he was actually at that party, he was like, just so you know, he's not got an off switch. He has not got an off switch. Oh, I've realised that.

20:35So I am a bit of a performer, a bit of a clown, a bit of a jester. So I will be there. I'm essentially like the fourth choice goalkeeper. You know, like the English goalkeeper that they just get along. Do you know what I mean? They're good fun. Do you know what I mean? The league rounds. They're good fun. You're Tom Heaton is what you're saying. I am Tom Heaton. I'm there on a technicality, but I offer, you know, a little bit of fun assistance when needed. Honestly, I think this all sounds perfect. Do you know what I genuinely thought she was going to say? On the sense of smell, I love my perfumes.

21:07I have, I think, 40 perfumes at home in England. I think I brought eight out with me to Australia. I'll probably bring about eight to ten perfumes out with me in LA and it's quite nice knowing that you're not going to use them because you can't smell them no I won't I mean this might be a technicality do men definitely call it perfume I do um I don't know you've got a few on that do you wear perfumes you can get um I'd say fragrance yeah I think men wear fragrances Lloyd yeah or aftershave I've got a unisex uh fragrance now it's a high-end aftershave that go on what is it it's well it's governor's island from bond number nine what i was once in a south you just made that up no no i was once in a southampton indian yeah and they had this uh this this fragrance that was attached to the sink with a with a gold chain and i thought i'll have a little spray of that and um i went in and everyone must have thought i had a weak bladder because i just kept going back to the toilet to have another spray of this and i didn't wash my jumper for about well you'd have been fine with it rick because you can't smell yeah but um two or three weeks later i thought i'm gonna have to wash it now but i i wanted to um wanted to cling on to this to this fragrance so i actually messaged my mate who lives in southampton and i said next time you're in that restaurant take a photo of the the aftershave or the fragrance he did and on one occasion i'd had a little bit to drink too much and forked out quite a lot of money for this bottle of aftershave.

22:34And I've since bought another bottle. I'm looking at how much this perfume bottle is. I love a perfume. It's quite expensive, mate. It is. How much are we talking there? It's probably in excess of 300 quid. What? Yeah, but... To smell like an Indian restaurant in Southampton? Are you mad? But when you wear it, right, when you wear it, it's a head turner. Yeah, because people are like, is that a booner? Yeah.

23:04That's nice. Also, it feels wildly out of character for you, don't I? Well, listen, I'm a... You're a man of depth. I'm a man of surprises. I've taken you in a way, isn't it? That much is clear, yeah. On two or three occasions now already. Yeah. Wow. The only thing, though, Lloyd, is that... And I'm not trying to diss the American transit system when you take your luggage away, but because I've got about 12 flights coming up over the course of the next few weeks, I haven't brought it with me. I've left it at home because I could not have the risk of losing my luggage and then having to fork out another bottle.

23:39Could you have got a tiny little vial that you just kept around your neck, like an emergency supply? I could have done, but knowing me and my clumsy hands, I would have spilt it down the sink.

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25:02There's this song. When it gets to a bit, the whole place goes. So good, so good, so good. You gotta do the arm bit too. So funny. I love that bit. We know that feeling.

25:24The FIFA World Cup 2026. Coming soon on Five Live and ABC Sounds. This is the Football Daily Podcast from Five Live Sports. Let's talk about tournament preparation then. Lloyd, as mentioned, has been to a bunch of tournaments as a fan. I've worked at a few it's going to be quite a different experience for you I think Lloyd having watched England just purely socially as a fan sometimes too socially and now working are you kind of ready for that as being a bit of a shock? Yeah I think it would be nice to watch the games and I guess be able to remember them first and foremost and also they're at relatively watchable times aren't they afternoon games and stuff so I am looking forward to just going been partaking as a fan almost you know as i'm working there so i am absolutely uh i'm you know i'm definitely looking forward to to going at it from a different angle and as you say less less sociable yes yeah although still reasonably sociable hopefully um we'll be getting on um denner have you watched much international football as a fan i figure you've just been working on it for so long maybe not yeah i have um uh i've been i've been doing this job since the mid 1990s so i have been as a fan i once went to um it was a i think it was a euro qualifier england switzerland at wembley probably 2007 somewhere around there two it was a two two draw shakiri scored two free kicks i think of course he did for uh the power cube yes for great Switzerland Switzerland but no my the nearest I've ever probably got to and I don't know where Lloyd was actually um did you go to the World Cup in Brazil no I did not go to the World Cup in Brazil the only reason I asked that is that um I was the touchline reporter for five lives so I was behind the goal and invariably I was actually positioned in front of the banks of England supporters who would then be behind me and I remember shivering in Sao Paulo in Brazil when they lost to Uruguay, but then equally baking in Belo Horizonte when they played that dead rupper against Costa Rica and Ben Foster.