Episodios

  • 135. The One With Dominic Sambrook

    135. The One With Dominic Sambrook
    Apr 6 2026
    This week’s special guest on the podcast is the distinguished historian Dominic Sandbrook, author of magisterial histories of Britain from 1956 to 1982 and of course a co-host of the podcast The Rest is History. More to the point, however, he is a passionate supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers whom we have shamefully neglected in our previous 134 plus podcasts, mainly because we have been waiting to get hold of Dominic. In Who Dares Wins, his history of Britain from 1979 to 1982, he not only references the 1980 Wembley final in which Wolves beat Clough’s Nottingham Forest but he utilises the names of Wolves players on a far larger scale. If you listen to this edition of the podcast you will discover how and why he does it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    52 m
  • 134. Underrated Players

    134. Underrated Players
    Mar 27 2026
    This week Omid Djalili, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler discuss the sort of player who should have played for their country but never did, players who lacked the ebullience to stand out from their more aggressive and extrovert team mates and players - wherever they operated in the football pyramid. Players who were the unshowy but reliable… who got the ball, made ground and passed accurately to a colleague in space. On a fictional level the list would start with Blackie Gray who did all the donkey work for Melchester Rovers and provided what we now call the assist for Roy Race, who scored all the goals and was credited with the fancy title of Roy of the Rovers. Today’s edition is all about the Blackie Grays of this world. To be fair to Gary Lineker he always credited Peter Beardsley as the creator of many of his goals for England. Listen to discover who else is regarded as underrated in this way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    43 m
  • 133. Did Young British Players Come Into The First Team Faster Than They Do Now?

    133. Did Young British Players Come Into The First Team Faster Than They Do Now?
    Mar 20 2026
    This week Colin Shindler, Andy Hamilton and Jon Holmes gather to discuss whether there are more 17 and 18 year old players coming into the game than there used to be in the postwar years. Has the abandonment of the A and B sides and more significantly the reserve leagues – like the Central League and the Football Combination – changed things for the better? Can young players learn much by sitting on the bench watching the first eleven play or would they learn more by playing games in a reserve team? How effective are the academies in speeding talented youngsters into the first team? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    48 m
  • 132. Have Newspaper Football Journalists Lost Their Influence?

    132. Have Newspaper Football Journalists Lost Their Influence?
    Mar 13 2026
    It’s the view of Football Ruined My Life that many football supporters used to buy broadsheet newspapers specifically to read Geoffrey Green or Brian Glanville or David Lacey or Hugh McIlvanney – four hugely respected titans of the art of writing about football matches for the next day’s paper. In this edition, Jim White of the Daily Telegraph joins Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler to explain why his own career has coincided with the long slow decline of the influence of the football journalists. There was a time in the glory days when television knocked on the door politely and managers were much more afraid of Glanville and McIlvanney or even the local paper’s reporter than of the stilted television interview on those rare occasions when the match was actually covered by television. With the change in reading habits has it actually changed the nature of the job of a football reporter? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    44 m
  • The One With Michael Crick – Football And Nationalism

    The One With Michael Crick – Football And Nationalism
    Mar 6 2026
    This week Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler are joined by the investigative journalist Michael Crick whose appearances down the years on Newsnight and Channel 4 News have made him a familiar face on our television screens. Despite being a friend of Colin, he is a longtime supporter of Manchester United, having had the decency to grow up in Manchester. In this episode he talks about the power of nationalism and how it has affected the game at both club and international levels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    52 m
  • 130. Do Football Crowds Reflect The Society We Live In?

    130. Do Football Crowds Reflect The Society We Live In?
    Feb 27 2026
    There was a time before 1966 when crowds were a lot friendlier and less angry than they are today. Supporters of opposing clubs stood together on the terraces and policing was relegated to one copper on a horse outside the ground as you came in. Crowds in the immediate postwar years were large and though the grounds were already starting to crumble, club directors saw no need to spend money updating them. The food and drink were mostly disgusting and toilet provision was virtually non-existent. But there was no hooliganism and nobody got stabbed or was hustled to hospital with a dart sticking out of his eye. Omid Djalili, Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes ask what does that tell you about society in the early postwar years? And why did it change? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    53 m
  • 129. The Matchday Experience

    129. The Matchday Experience
    Feb 20 2026
    Andy Hamilton, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler ask the question “Has the match day experience improved over the years they have been going to watch football?” You would think the answer would be that of course it has. We all have a seat, the food, whatever the price, couldn’t be worse than it was in the 1960s and ‘70s, we are never caught in those frightening swayings on the terraces and the clubs appear to want to turn football into some weird version of show business. But… why don’t we see those marching bands on the pitch any more and what happened to Arthur Cager, the man in a white coat on a stand conducting the crowd in Abide With Me and She’s A Lassie From Lancashire before the start of the Cup Final. Is this new awkward marriage between show biz and football something the crowds really welcome? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    46 m