Kieran Maguire never imagined the phenomenon he would have on his hands when it was suggested he get involved in a podcast about football finance.

He is “completely baffled” by success which has seen The Price Of Football reach 550 episodes, 15 million downloads and attract listeners in corridors of power at leagues, football associations and top clubs.

Now, for one night only, the show is coming live to Brighton, to raise funds and awareness for Samaritans.

The live show will not be aired, which gives a little more editorial freedom.

But then The Price Of Football does not tend to shy away from uncomfortable home truths when required, anyway.

Albion fan and football finance lecturer Kieran said: “The success of the podcast is completely baffling.

“We started it just over five years ago and we’ve done over 550 episodes.

“We know that we are listened to in an awful lot of clubs, at the EFL and the FA and the Premier League because sometimes they’ll get in contact with me after a show to say, ‘Thought you were a bit harsh!’.

“And I’ll say, ‘Come on the show, then, and we’ll have a chat’.

“We have had people from all over the industry. Trevor Birch from the EFL, we have had people from Manchester United, we’ve had Maheta (Molango, of the PFA), people from La Liga. Darren Balkham, PC Daz, of Sussex Police, on what happens in terms of policing at football.

“It’s not like going on the radio and you get three minutes.

“We’ll give you half an hour, an hour. And now we’ve got people phone us up and say, ‘We’d like to come on’, which is great “When it was suggested to me we start up, it was a guy was leaving the BBC.

“I used to do finance interviews on the BBC channels. I thought, ‘OK, mate, it’s a great idea. It will last two weeks. We’ll run out of content and nobody will listen’.

“The original intention was to do 20 minutes worth of content that week.

“We’re now doing two to three hours a week and we could do a lot more.

“I’m very fortunate that I work with Kevin Day because he makes a dry subject engaging and interesting.

“He’s got that comedian’s eye for when to come in with a gag, a follow-up question and so on. I’m forever grateful for him.”

Co-host Day is a Crystal Palace fan but, if that gets him a reaction from the Brighton audience, Kieran says any boos should be good-natured.

He added: “The reason I got in contact with Kevin to begin with was that, when the Albion nearly went bust in in the mid-90s and we were having all the marches, Kevin came down and did a benefit gig to raise money for the fighting funds.

“I never forgot that. That’s why I said to other Brighton fans, ‘Yeah, he’s a Palace fan, but he gets it’. You can’t have a rivalry without rivals.

“I’ve done stuff at Palace, for their foundation, along with Kevin.”

The live show, which falls during the next international window, comprises a look at topical issues followed by questions from the floor – of which the podcast tends to get a lot.

Kieran said: “We’ve got 600 questions unanswered, but not out of desire, simply because we get so many and we’re trying to work our way through them diligently. I want to give proper answers “A lot of it will involve the transfer market. There will be queries from overseas fans, but we are listened to in over 100 countries around the world.

“It can be such as things as when a shirt is sold, who gets the money?

“And we’ve now built up relationships with people in the kit manufacturing industry. I’m interviewing somebody from Admiral in a couple of weeks. We’ve had Hummel.

“We’ve got Nick De Marco, who is the most famous sports lawyer in the country.”

Paul McShane’s white Albion shirt, from the night he headed Albion’s winner at Selhurst Park, will be auctioned to raise funds for Samaritans.

The show, before an audience of 100, has a serious motive after Kieran’s Albion supporting-mate Dean Gallagher came up the idea.

Kieran said: “Dean tells me about the work that Samaritans do. It is humbling.

“What they have to listen to is horrendous. We had a chat and we want to do it in Brighton, clearly because we’re both Albion fans and we’re men of a certain age.

“Men in particular are not good at asking for help and Samaritans is the very, very last call that some people make.

“Given that we know what happened to some of our mates who have been through pretty rough times, this is a way that we could help to raise funds and raise some awareness as well..”

The Price Of Football Live takes place at the Brighton Unitarian Church, next to the Theatre Royal, on Friday, November 15 (7.30pm). Tickets cost £23 and can be bought at eventbrite.co.uk