'I always say I wasn't born with Forest, but I'll die with Forest. That's how I feel.'
Those are the words of Ryan Brandell, better known as Barstool Chief, a podcaster and blogger for the Chicago branch of Barstool Sports - one of the biggest sports podcast networks in the world. Brandell gives his take on Chicago sports on a nearly daily basis as a part of Red Line Radio and the Dog Walk podcasts. If Nottingham is seen as a big sports town, it is dwarfed by the Windy City.
Chicago has the Bears, Cubs, White Sox and Blackhawks covering America's quartet of sporting powerhouses - NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball, as well as Chicago Fire in the MLS. Yet Brandell, 36, felt there was still a void to fill when it came to English football and fortunately for him, his younger brother opened his eyes to Nottingham Forest. Now an ardent Red, he regularly tweets to his 101,000 followers about the team he began following during the Covid pandemic.
