Episodes

  • How the white football was dismissed as an unwanted fad

    How the white football was dismissed as an unwanted fad
    Aug 31 2020
    The white ball was widely disliked during trials in 1927 and one manufacturer declared it ‘practically impossible to make’. It would take another 24 years for the Football League to give it the go-ahead
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    19 mins
  • The Colourful XI tragedy

    The Colourful XI tragedy
    Aug 12 2020
    Stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In the final episode of this series: 15 Dutch footballers were among 176 people who died in a 1989 plane crash. Edu Nandlal, one of the survivors, tells his story
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    23 mins
  • The France football captain who murdered for Hitler

    The France football captain who murdered for Hitler
    Aug 5 2020
    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: Alex Villaplane said captaining France was ‘the happiest day of his life’. Fourteen years later he was shot dead for being a traitor.
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    13 mins
  • The 1985 English Super Cup

    The 1985 English Super Cup
    Jul 29 2020
    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: after English clubs were banned from Europe in 1985, the Football League created a consolation competition for them.
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    19 mins
  • How the white football was dismissed as an unwanted fad

    How the white football was dismissed as an unwanted fad
    Jul 22 2020
    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: the white ball was widely disliked during trials in 1927 and one manufacturer declared it ‘practically impossible to make’. It would take another 24 years for the Football League to give it the go-ahead
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    19 mins
  • Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean – part two of two

    Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean – part two of two
    Jul 15 2020
    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: the concluding part of a feature-length story about Jim McLean, the tactical genius, bully, visionary and ‘absolute bampot’ behind Dundee United’s unimaginable success in the 1980s
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    26 mins
  • Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean: part one of two

    Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean: part one of two
    Jul 8 2020
    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: the first of a two-part feature-length story about Jim McLean, the tactical genius, bully, visionary and ‘absolute bampot’ behind Dundee United’s unimaginable success in the 1980s
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    22 mins
  • Luton Town's Manager Idol

    Luton Town's Manager Idol
    Jul 1 2020
    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: Primetime TV would prove the inspiration for one of the most shambolic managerial appointments in football history. How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know
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    10 mins