A League of Their Own is a British sports-based comedy panel game show that was first broadcast on Sky One on 11 March 2010 and concluded with its twentieth and final series on 17 December 2025. The show was hosted by Romesh Ranganathan with Jamie Redknapp and Jill Scott as team captains and Micah Richards as a regular panellist.
Format The show is a standard panel quiz show where two teams of three, the Red and Blue teams compete for points awarded in three rounds, to find the overall winning team by points total.
Round 1 involves both teams having to rank three different sportspersons according to a specific criterion. Round 2, Guest List, involves both teams having to guess the answers given by a sportsperson about his or her sport. Round 3, The Final Challenge, formerly known as the Right Guard Challenge, sees two members of each team have to answer questions for as long as the third team member can sustain a physical challenge in the studio.
Participants The show was hosted for the first 13 series by James Corden. The Red Team is captained by former Liverpool and England footballer Jamie Redknapp, who was formerly joined by once regular panellist and stand-up comedian from Liverpool John Bishop. In series 5, Bishop was absent for several episodes due to his Sport Relief challenge, eventually leaving the show as a regular. Redknapp was joined on the red team by comedian Romesh Ranganathan for series 13 and 14. The Blue Team was captained by retired Lancashire and England cricketer Freddie Flintoff for the first 16 series. Flintoff was replaced by a series of guest captains starting from series 17. For the first four series Flintoff was joined by then Sky Sports F1 presenter Georgie Thompson. From series 5, comedian Jack Whitehall replaced Thompson as regular panellist on the blue team due to her F1 commitments. Whitehall himself left the show after series 12. Micah Richards became the blue team's regular panellist from series 17. Former England midfielder Jill Scott and comedian Mo Gilligan joined the show as the new blue team captains from series 18. Each episode the teams are supplemented by special guests.
Neither Corden, Redknapp nor Thompson had been regular features on a television panel show before. Corden was non-committal about whether the show marked a new direction for him as a television host, stating "I spend most of my time sitting in a room with my mates talking about sport anyway. To get paid to do such a thing will be great. I hope it will be a fun show and people will enjoy watching it." Redknapp said "I'm loving it, but it is nerve-wracking" and "the key is to try to have a bit of fun, but to remember that we're not comedians and can't compete with the professionals" referring to Bishop and Corden. Thompson said of the show that it was "the fun factor that I've been looking for" and represented an "exciting opportunity" in her career.
Due to Corden's commitments to his U.S. talk show The Late Late Show, the 14th series was presented, in part, by guest hosts. Corden's absence was extended into the 15th series due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This series was hosted mainly by Ranganathan with Flintoff and Redknapp hosting one episode apiece. Ranganathan was confirmed as the show's new permanent host starting from series 16.
Production The show was created by Paul Brassey, a development producer at CPL Productions. The show was recorded in Pinewood Studios (BBC Elstree Centre from series 3, and Elstree Film Studios from series 12), being filmed on Mondays and Tuesdays in front of a live studio audience. The show was commissioned by Duncan Gray, with Gray, Danielle Lux and Murray Boland acting as Executive Producers. It was announced on 20 October 2009 that the pilot for the show would be hosted by Corden alongside team captains Redknapp and England cricketer Stuart Broad, although Broad was replaced in the line up by Flintoff by the time of the series 1 start. Executive producer Danielle Lux said it would be "an Olympic standard comedy show for anyone who loves their sport and a fun-filled half-hour for those who don't." The pilot was recorded on 24 October, and was due to be aired later in 2009. Sky One's promotion for the show included a TV advert featuring Corden mis-kicking a football, spoofing contemporary serious sportswear advertising campaigns, accompanied by the tagline "the new panel show that doesn't take sport too seriously".
Reception Keith Watson of the Metro welcomed the show as a challenger to "Britain's No.1 TV sports spot-the-scripted-bits banter show", referring to the BBC's show A Question of Sport, hosted by Sue Barker. Watson, writing after the first episode, said "Team skippers Freddie Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp are just there as window-dressing/butts of jokes, for this is Corden's show and he takes to it like a puck to the ice rink. [Sue] Barker beware." Sharon Lougher and Larushka Ivan-Zadeh also of the Metro went further, announcing the show as "basically, A Question of Sport for idiots ... the televisual equivalent of Nuts magazine".
Writing after the first episode, Harry Venning of The Stage panned the show, summarising it as "Imagine A Question of Sport without the sports questions, combined with They Think It's All Over without the comedy". Criticising the length of the opening hour-long special, Venning said it contained some fine gags but not enough of them, and the format was "dull, unimaginative and painfully protracted", albeit praising Flintoff for being "surprisingly witty and charming".
The British Comedy Guide said of the first episode that "the sportsman-dominated panel showed: very few laughs, and little charm" and were not convinced of the format, although conceding that not being sports fans they might not be the target audience.
Guest appearances
The following have made more than one appearance on the show as a guest (up to and including series 18, episode 8):
24 appearances Jimmy Carr
15 appearances Rob Beckett
12 appearances David Walliams
8 appearances Maisie Adam Tom Davis Gabby Logan
7 appearances John Bishop Alex Brooker Josh Widdicombe
6 appearances Kevin Bridges Alan Carr
5 appearances Tony Bellew Joel Dommett Micky Flanagan Romesh Ranganathan Jack Whitehall
4 appearances
Clare Balding Roisin Conaty Jessica Ennis-Hill Mo Farah Anthony Joshua Lee Mack Dara Ó Briain Jonathan Ross Katherine Ryan Helen Skelton Claudia Winkleman
3 appearances
Tom Allen Dina Asher-Smith Richard Ayoade Aisling Bea Ashley Cole Patrice Evra Kerry Godliman Amanda Holden Jenny Jones Guz Khan Frank Lampard Jason Manford Andy Murray Judy Murray Sam Quek Harry Redknapp Micah Richards Laura Woods
2 appearances
Nicola Adams James Anderson Big Zuu Jo Brand Peter Crouch Sara Cox Tom Daley Noel Fielding Robbie Fowler Joe Hart Niall Horan Russell Howard Chris Hoy Maya Jama Katarina Johnson-Thompson Jade Jones Ruth Jones Laura Kenny Nish Kumar Christine Lampard Denise Lewis Stephen Mangan Neil Morrissey Gary Neville Dermot O'Leary Adam Peaty Kevin Pietersen Jon Richardson Alex Scott Johnny Vegas Heather Watson Amy Williams
a. One of their appearances was as a guest team captain. b. Appearances made after series 5, when Bishop was no longer a regular panellist. c. Appearances made before Whitehall became a regular panellist. d. Appearances made before Ranganathan became a regular panellist or permanent host. e. Includes one appearance as host f. Two of their appearances were as a guest team captain. g. Appearances made before Richards became a regular panellist.
Transmissions
Original Series Series Start date End date Episodes Presenter Team captains Regular panellist(s) 1 11 March 2010 13 May 2010 10 James Corden Jamie Redknapp Freddie Flintoff John Bishop & Georgie Thompson 2 7 October 2010 11 November 2010 10 3 4 March 2011 29 April 2011 8 4 7 October 2011 18 November 2011 7 5 20 April 2012 8 June 2012 8 John Bishop & Jack Whitehall 6 26 October 2012 14 December 2012 8 Jack Whitehall 7 23 August 2013 11 October 2013 8 8 29 August 2014 17 October 2014 8 9 15 May 2015 3 July 2015 8 10 7 January 2016 25 February 2016 8 11 22 September 2016 10 November 2016 8 12 14 September 2017 26 October 2017 7 13 30 August 2018 18 October 2018 8 Romesh Ranganathan 14 15 August 2019 3 October 2019 8 James Corden & Guest presenters 15 13 August 2020 1 October 2020 8 Romesh Ranganathan N/A 16 19 August 2021 7 October 2021 8 17 18 August 2022 6 October 2022 8 Guest team captains Micah Richards 18 25 October 2023 13 December 2023 8 Jill Scott Micah Richards & Mo Gilligan 19 9 January 2025 20 February 2025 7 20 12 November 2025 17 December 2025 6
Specials Date Entitled 20 May 2010 The Best of Series 1 27 May 2010 The Unseen Bits from Series 1 12 November 2010 The Best of Series 2 19 December 2010 The Unseen Bits from Series 2 23 December 2010 Christmas Special 6 May 2011 The Unseen Bits from Series 3 (Part 1) 13 May 2011 The Best of Series 3 (Part 1) 20 May 2011 The Best of Series 3 (Part 2) 27 May 2011 The Unseen Bits from Series 3 (Part 2) 16 December 2011 End of Year Special 6 January 2012 The Unseen Bits from Series 4 13 January 2012 The Best of Series 4 15 June 2012 The Unseen Bits from Series 5 (Part 1) 22 June 2012 The Unseen Bits from Series 5 (Part 2) 29 June 2012 The Best of Series 5 21 December 2012 The Unseen Bits from Series 6 (Part 1) 28 December 2012 The Unseen Bits from Series 6 (Part 2) 18 October 2013 The Unseen Bits from Series 7 (Part 1) 25 October 2013 The Unseen Bits from Series 7 (Part 2) 1 November 2013 The Best of the Rally Car Special 8 November 2013 The Best of Series 7 17 October 2014 The Unseen Bits from Series 8 (Part 1) 24 October 2014 The Unseen Bits from Series 8 (Part 2) 31 October 2014 The Unseen Bits from Series 8 (Part 3) 31 October 2014 The Unseen Bits from Series 8 (Part 4) 24 December 2014 Christmas Special 10 July 2015 The Best of Series 9 (Part 1) 17 July 2015 The Best of Series 9 (Part 2) 24 July 2015 The Unseen Bits from Series 9 (Part 1) 31 July 2015 The Unseen Bits from Series 9 (Part 2) 3 March 2016 The Best of Series 10 (Part 1) 10 March 2016 The Best of Series 10 (Part 2) 17 November 2016 The Unseen Bits from Series 11 24 November 2016 The Best of Series 11 24 December 2016 Christmas Special 10 August 2017 A Premier League of Their Own 5 December 2017 The Unseen Bits from Series 12 12 December 2017 The Best of Series 12 21 December 2017 Christmas Special 25 October 2018 The Unseen Bits from Series 13 1 November 2018 The Best of Series 13 20 December 2018 Christmas Special 10 October 2019 The Unseen Bits from Series 14 17 October 2019 The Best Bits from Series 14 19 December 2019 Christmas Special 15 October 2020 The Unseen Bits from Series 15 22 October 2020 The Best Bits from Series 15 17 December 2020 Christmas Special 14 October 2021 The Unseen Bits from Series 16 21 October 2021 The Best Bits from Series 16 13 December 2021 Christmas Special 13 October 2022 The Unseen Bits from Series 17 20 October 2022 The Best Bits from Series 17 12 December 2022 Christmas Special 12 July 2023 The Lionesses Special 25 March 2025 The Rally RAx01 1 April 2025 The Rally RAx02 8 April 2025 The Rally RAx03
Road Trip Series Series Start date End date Episodes Area 1 10 May 2016 24 May 2016 3 USA 2 5 June 2017 26 June 2017 4 USA 3 10 January 2019 31 January 2019 4 Europe 4 9 January 2020 30 January 2020 4 Europe 5 8 April 2021 29 April 2021 4 UK 6 7 April 2022 28 April 2022 4 UK & Ireland 7 17 February 2023 10 March 2023 4 Southeast Asia 8 21 May 2024 11 June 2024 4 Mexico g. Series titled Loch Ness to London. h. Series titled Dingle to Dover.
Specials