Max Rushden out to shake up Stan's Champions League coverage and abandon Bozza at the Christmas party

Kieran Francis

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Max Rushden out to shake up Stan's Champions League coverage and abandon Bozza at the Christmas party image

"Whatever Bozza and Fozz want to do, or if they want to do it together that's great, I'll be chipping off at about half-10 and getting a good night sleep."

Mark Bosnich might be disappointed with Max Rushden's tongue-in-cheek plan for the Stan Christmas party, but football fans Down Under should be excited about the famed English presenter's move to Australia to head up Stan Sport's Champions League coverage.

An interview with Rushden is like your own private episode of the Guardian Football Weekly podcast - arguably the world's most famous football audio show - which he has hosted since 2017 and will continue to despite his Australian journey.

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Rushden has the incredible ability to come across as a comedian and an authority on football at exactly the same time, with his presenting style set to be put on display when he hosts Stan's Champions League broadcasts from September 15.

What Rushden will bring to Australian audiences is evident when he is asked about why he is linking up with Stan and the strong emphasis on entertainment bodes well for supporters looking to wake up in the early hours to watch the world's biggest club competition.

"I had good chats with Stan about how they want to cover the football," Rushden told Sporting News. "It's all about creating an environment in the studio, with the experts back in Europe and the people that work pitch side as people you would want to watch the game with.

"I find with a lot of live sport, they take it incredibly seriously. Obviously people getting up at 3am or 4am to watch their team - they care. But at the same time, you want to be entertaining.

"You want to find things in the game that are funny, you want find the serious issues. But when I said this is how I want to do it, [Stan] appeared to agree with that. The idea is that we don't want to take ourselves too seriously.

"We want to give good analysis but at the same time we don't want to be in a suit and tie at 5am in the morning. Because who wears a suit at five in the morning?"

"I really love football but I know it's just a game. I don't want to misquote Bill Shankly, but football isn't more important than life and death; it's entertainment, which is fun. I was really pleased that Stan had a similar vision."

Rushden isn't just an overseas presenter looking for a pay day in Australia either, his connection to the country stretches back to a chance meeting on a Central American mountain-top 11 years ago.

The 42-year-old met his Australian wife Jamie Bruce in 2010 on a volcano in Nicaragua, with the pair living together in UK from 2013 and getting married in 2018.

A move to Jamie's homeland in Australia was always discussed but unlikely with Rushden's line of work being on English, European and international football.

"I made the mistake of falling in love with an Australian on a volcano in Nicaragua in 2010," Rushden says. "I fell in love with her in about five seconds.

"About three-four years later, she was so bored of me pestering her that she decided to move to the UK.

"She would talk a lot about Melbourne, or just paint a picture of the Botanical Gardens or the Tan, and said, 'why don't we move here?'."

But with creative persuasion from Jamie about her lack of fertility in the UK, Rushden sought out to build his profile in Australia through roles on Fox and Optus Sport, before managing to snare one of the only two jobs he could move Down Under for.

And there is a baby on the way.

"She did say that her ovaries only worked in the Southern Hemisphere. It turns out they do work in the Northern Hemisphere - there's a baby coming," Rushden said.

"The timing of the move to Australia was almost serendipity. I would be chatting with people in Australia about coming out here to work and I've done little bits with all sorts of operations such as Fox and Optus.

"But really, there is only two jobs I could have moved to Australia for. One is to host the Premier League and one is to host the Champions League.

"I don't know enough about the A-League. You can't bluff football knowledge or any sports. Sports fans are not forgiving people. Unless you are brought up within a game, you can't talk about it with any authority."

Rushden's wealth of knowledge from working in European football over the last 13 years - beginning with the famous Soccer AM program in 2008 - will be an asset to Australia's football fans.

With the UEFA Champions League beginning next week, Rushden revealed his excitement about the opening game Stan is covering between Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

And also the arrival of megastars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at different clubs.

"I really want to see Barca play PSG at some point during the Champions League", Rushden said. "What's happened to Barca has been extraordinary.

"Everybody wants to see what Messi looks like playing a different football shirt. It will feel so weird.

"I'm obviously interested to see how Ronaldo fits in at Man Utd - where he is right fit? I don't know. I feel like they got him just so Manchester City didn't. But obviously he will score a lot of goals."

Rushden will be alongside Socceroos legends Bosnich and Craig Foster during Stan's coverage, with former Matildas midfielder Grace Gill also involved, while famed-UK presenter Mark Pougatch will be pitch-side.

However, the notoriously playful Bosnich won't have a partner-in-crime at the Stan Christmas party, with Rushden vowing to not give in to any peer pressure from either him or Foster.

"I'm a massive square," Rushden said. "I like to finish early so I'm very much hoping I can just have a couple, wish everyone well and go to bed.

"I don't give in to peer pressure. Whatever Bozza and Fozz want to do, or if they want to do it together that's great, I'll be chipping off at about half-10 and getting a good night sleep."

Watch football’s biggest superstars in the UEFA Champions League with every match streaming ad-free, live and on-demand only on Stan Sport from next Wednesday 15 September.

Start your 7-day free trial here.

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.