A LIFELONG Carlisle United supporter who moved to Manchester and set up a podcast to keep in touch with his dad now has a global following.

Liam Barton's 'The Blue Army Podcast', which started out as a little lockdown project, has made it into the UK top 50 podcasts about football in the UK.

For the past eight months, he has put out a weekly podcast covering everything about the city team.

The chef said: "I moved to Manchester two years ago and dad and I were always struggling to catch up with us working different hours.

"Instead of trying to catch each other with phone calls, I started recording messages for him on my phone."

The messages were about all sorts of aspects of their favourite team. As they grew in length, Liam, 30, decided to set up a podcast which could be enjoyed by his dad, Eric, who works in the Royal Mail depot in Carlisle.

"I recorded them weekly and when I got to episode five I realised there were more people listening than me and my dad," he said.

He is on episode 38 now and has more than 1,000 loyal listeners, some as far afield as Canada, America, New Zealand, Australia and Norway.

"It's just reached the UK top 50 podcasts about football in the UK on the official apple podcast charts," said Liam, a chef.

"It's a lockdown project that's grown legs and I love doing it.

"I'm really hoping I can secure a sponsor and grow it even further."

Liam has linked up with various former players, including Derek Holmes, Jason Price and Mark Boyd.

"I've interviewed some of my childhood heroes, which has been fantastic," he said.

Match reports are the bread and butter.

He added: "Me and my friend, Wills, will break down the highlights of each match and each give our man of the match.

"Then we'll look at next week's opponent, how they're looking, best players, etc," he said.

"I love doing interviews. Each episode I have a guest and joke of the week. I'm not here to be negative about the team, we are here to be positive about something we're passionate about.

"We finish with a bit about what's happening in the world of football."

He is delighted with how it has evolved. "We've been getting more and more feedback as we go along," he said.

While growing up in Carlisle he has many fond memories of going to matches with his dad, uncle and brother Dale.

"One of my first memories of Carlisle United was when, aged six, I saw the legendary Jimmy Glass goal.

"Everyone was very excited, we knew something big was happening."

Liam is not sure his dad still listens to the podcasts every week but is delighted so many others do.

"Mum's a Tottenham fan!" he said.