🚨 Episode Drop! 🚨

Almost two years in, and on our 46th book, we think we’ve found the best one yet. Hold on to your hats, because Joe McGinniss’s The Miracle of Castel di Sangro is coming your way.

Alistair had never even heard of it (he blames the title). But have you? 🤔

Back in 1996, tiny Castel di Sangro — a town of just 5,000 souls tucked away in Abruzzo — pulled off the impossible. Against all odds, their Serie C1 side won promotion to Serie B, making them the smallest club ever to reach that level. That was the miracle. Or at least, the first one.

What followed — on the pitch, in the dressing room, and in Joe McGinniss’s unforgettable book — is a story packed with glory, heartbreak, and a gut punch ending you won’t see coming.

This episode has it all. 🎧 Give it a listen — and if you haven’t already, grab the book. 📚

In the first episode of the Ademola Bookmen Podcast, hosts Al Bond and Johnny Coughlan tackle the literary heft of the Jamie Vardy story. The skittle vodka swilling goal machine takes us from the lows of the English 8th tier to the highest of highs, the top of the Premier League. Is it worth a read? Listen & find out.

⚽ Injury Time 16 is here! 📺🎙️

In this episode, we choose our greatest television lineups. There may be some personal and national biases at play as we pick the best presenters 🎤, pundits 💬, and commentators 🎧. Thankfully, 🤖 AI is on hand to settle the debate and decide whose lineup comes out on top.

Heated arguments 🔥, nostalgia 🕰️, and a few questionable selections 🤔 ahoy.

🎧 Listen now and let us know which lineup you think deserves the crown 👑!

🎧 Episode 46 is out now — and it’s the most Alistair-esque episode yet.

That’s right, we’re doing our best to distract poor Al from events at the City Ground by diving into Psycho — the autobiography of his all-time hero, Stuart Pearce. ❤️🌳

The all-tackling, all-scoring, punk-loving left-back spent 12 loyal years at Nottingham Forest, sticking around even after relegation. Fierce, frugal, and forever Forest — Pearce is the kind of player they just don’t make anymore.

In this episode, expect:

• Some serious Forest fanboying 🌲
• Tales of punk rock and penalty misses 🎸😬
• A begrudging appreciation of Psycho’s sensible money habits 💷

💬 Drop us a comment and you’ll be in with a chance to win a copy of Jim McGuinness’ The Miracle of Castel di Sangro!

Give it a listen. Psycho would.

💥👊

🎧 Injury Time 15: The Mayor of Barnet Fair – Football’s Worst Haircuts 💈⚽

It’s a question as old as the combover: who had football’s worst-ever haircut? From tragic trims to peroxide crimes, we’ve gathered the very worst in a draft showdown that pits one smorgasbord of shockers against another.

There are two routes to hair hell:

1. Trying too hard 💇‍♂️
2. Not trying at all 🪮

In this episode, we explore both — and find out which is the fastest path to follicular failure.

🎙️ Tune in for:

• ✂️ Alistair’s own haircutting tips for the budget-conscious
• 🎤 Some unexpected hair/rap etymology
• 🍑 And a troubling impression of Ballon d’Or winner Bobby Charlton’s lovemaking…

And of course, we find out whether Alistair can level the series and prevent Johnny from stretching his lead to two.

The winner gets to graze his sheep on the common lands around ye olde Barnet Fair…

🎧 Episode 45 is OUT NOW! ⚽🐭

He’s King Kev in England, Mäuserich (Mighty Mouse) in Germany — and everywhere he goes, he’s a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, European Cup champ, and all-round lovely fella. We are talking of course about Kevin Keegan.

Sure, he’s a bit hapless at times but in the words of Bill Shankly, Keegan is “everything a man should be.”

In this episode, we dive into Kevin Keegan’s 2019 autobiography My Life in Football, ghostwritten by known Forest supporter Daniel Taylor. From humble beginnings to European superstardom, it’s the story of, in his own words or those of Daniel Taylor, a “mongrel who made it to Crufts”. But Kev, you are so much more than that - a whirlwind player, a plucky manager, a hair innovavtor, and a reasonably singer…

🕵️‍♂️ Tune in to discover:

• How many times he was savagely beaten 😬
• What his grandad did to inspire a whole poem ✍️
• What he really thinks of Andy Cole 😅
• And… who in the world doesn’t know who Per Mertesacker is!? 🤯

Matthew Jarvis 20:16 – “So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

In this episode, we turn things on their head 🙃. We’re picking the worst players to notch up at least 100 Premier League appearances – that’s right, the aim of this draft is to lose. 🫣

Sure, if you’ve played 100 times in the EPL, you’re probably half-decent… but some of these lads were still pretty damn rubbish. 🗑️⚽

🎧 Tune in to find out who out of Alistair and Johnny assembled the em… rubbish-est.

📚 Episode 44 is here!

This week, we’re diving into The Soccer War by Ryszard Kapuściński 🇵🇱 — the legendary Polish reporter, a writer who happened to be a journalist (in his own words) and a man who played fast and loose with the truth, it seems.

⚔️ The book centres on the 1969 war between Central American neighbours El Salvador 🇸🇻 and Honduras 🇭🇳 — a conflict that lasted just four days, but claimed thousands of lives, with most of the victims being civilians.

There may be a bit more war than soccer in this— and not just in Central America. From despots to desks, Kapuściński takes no prisoners. There’s also a surprise appearance by the lesser known author, Ted Stoves.

🎙️ Tune in to find out:

• Whether Al can pronounce Kap…Kapuś…Kapuściński 🫣
• And whether Johnny can be trusted to buy a book on Kindle 📲📕