How It All Played Out

"If we don't beat you, we'll knock your bloody blocks off" In one of the most bitter and controversial Ashes series ever played, England set their sights on taking down Australian cricketing legend Don Bradman . Their method? A brutal, calculated strategy known as Bodyline - a tactic so aggressive it sparked outrage, strained diplomatic ties, and forever changed the spirit of the game. In this epi...

Some of the most iconic victories have come after the longest waits. England's historic Ashes victory in 2005 came after an 18-year drought. They famously secured the urn with a 2–1 series victory by drawing the final Test at The Oval. 2025 saw Crystal Palace end a 119-year wait for a major trophy, Newcastle United end a 56-year wait by winning the Carabao Cup, and, over in golf, Rory McIlroy ende...

In the last episode of Season 2, as we gear up for the Ashes , Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward bring you the story of Australian media magnate Kerry Packer , who all the current players should be thanking. Packer turned the gentile game of Test cricket upside down as he signed the captains of England, Australia and the West Indies to what some called his 'rebel circus'. For two years at the end of...

Introducing Bloomin’ Legends! The podcast where Johnny Vaughan and Gavin “The Woodman” Woods uncover the wildest, most unbelievable, and downright legendary true stories from history. In this episode, we dive into the unbelievable life of Max Woosnam, the man who might just be the greatest British sportsman of all time. A gentleman athlete who captained Manchester City, won Olympic gold, lifted th...

Pep Guardiola celebrated his 1000th game as a coach at the Etihad on the weekend as his Manchester City side defeated Liverpool 2-0 in the Premier League.  In that time Guardiola’s teams - Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City - have won an outstanding 71% of those 1,000 matches, lifting 12 domestic league titles, 3 Champions Leagues and numerous Cups - really just too many to mention....

Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward bring you the story of Althea Gibson - don't worry if you've never heard of her, few have! Arthur Ashe is a name immediately recognisable to every tennis fan - and most sports fans. He was the first Black man to win the US Open, the Australian Open and Wimbledon - and the largest tennis stadium in the world, the US Open main court, is named after him. But he wasn’t t...

Tottenham’s lamentable performance in their 1-0 home defeat by Chelsea on Saturday was bad enough for their fans - but then worryingly for them manager Thomas Frank was snubbed by 2 of his players, Djed Spence and Micky van de Ven as they came off the pitch. So Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward are asking, What happens when players and managers appear to fall out very publicly? What’s the long term i...

It's one of the most iconic photos in Olympic history: Mary Decker falling flat on her face as Zola Budd runs past her bare foot. Decker, America’s golden girl and the World Champion on home turf, against Budd, from apartheid-ridden South Africa, who acquired a British passport in double quick time to line up, against her own will. Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward bring you the story behind the phot...

Liverpool’s defeat at Brentford on Saturday night was their fourth Premier League defeat of the season in a row - that's as many as they suffered in the whole of last season. In the past decade three reigning champions have lost that many in a row before - Leicester, Manchester City and Liverpool themselves.  So Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward are asking, why do some Champions fall off so alar...

From General Franco to Johan Cruyff , and from a pig's head to the Messi v Ronaldo rivalry - Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague joins Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward to explain how El Clasico became the biggest club match in the world. And it's not all about fascism versus socialism, underdog versus serial winner...You might think you know the story but believe us, there's a lot of myths t...

Cricket’s oldest and greatest rivalry resumes next month when the first Ashes Test starts in Perth.  But a month out the phoney war has already started - the sledging is underway. It’s two former players who are at the forefront this time - Australian opener David Warner and a man who got him out for fun during the last Ashes, Stuart Broad . So, Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward are asking,...

In the 1980s English football was at an all time low. Attendances down, stadia crumbling, hooliganism all too prevalent, and then three horrific disasters - Bradford, Heysel and Hillsborough. Then almost out of nowhere Bobby Robson and his band of characters came within the width of the post of reaching the World Cup Final . England might have lost the semi-final against West Germany but they won...

After Jude Bellingham ’s shock omission from the latest England squad, surely Thomas Tuchel couldn't leave him behind for the World Cup ? Well, it has happened before... Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward tell the story of when Glenn Hoddle didn't take England's star player Paul Gascoigne to the 1998 World Cup - still one of the most controversial moments in English football history. Remember to follo...

"This race was an incredible exhibition of sprinting brilliance and power, but only because it came from a drugs bottle." In the scorching heat of Seoul during the 1988 Olympic Games , the world watched as two titans of track and field prepared to battle for gold in the men’s 100m final. Carl Lewis , the outspoken American, faced off against Ben Johnson , the quiet Canadian powerhouse and world re...

At 17 years old boxer Barry McGuigan won Commonwealth Gold for Northern Ireland but just two years later he fought at the 1980 Moscow Olympics for the Republic. So how did the Featherweight World Champion straddle the border and unite Ireland at the height of The Troubles, where bombs, bullets and killings were all too common? Remember to follow or subscribe, and give us a 5 star review too! We'd...

Russell Martin is looking for a new job after becoming the shortest serving manager in Rangers ' 153 year history. As we record on Monday morning, Ange Postecoglou is clinging on at Nottingham Forest after the defeat at Newcastle - it’s no wins in 7 for Forest since the Australian took over 27 days ago.  If Postecoglou leaves soon he would become the shortest serving Premier League manager. B...

1965-1975: A time when Sport Was A Lot More Fun In this episode of How It All Played Out , Paul Hayward takes Mark Pougatch on a personal journey through his favourite sporting decade - an era of flair, freedom, and unforgettable drama. From the dancing feet of Pelé to Johan Cruyff's total football, and Sir Gareth Edwards’ legendary try for the Barbarians against the All Blacks in 1973. This is a...

The ‘Battering at Bethpage’, the ‘Legend of Long Island’... this weekend was a Ryder Cup for the history books. Europe held off a late comeback from the Americans to win 15-13 in New York - the first away win since the Miracle of Medina 2012.  Have other captains got it as wrong as Keegan Bradley before? Does history show that rowdy crowds have worked for the Americans in the past? And w...

Ball tampering, fans storming the golf course, bringing in the military... this is the story of how the Ryder Cup rivalry changed forever. Can you believe that it was once a quiet, civilised exhibition between the UK and America? The War by the Shore and Battle of Brookline transformed all that. So how did the Ryder Cup become the commercial juggernaut of colour, cash and controversy that we're se...

After the tragic passing of Ricky Hatton, this week's bonus episode of How It All Played Out takes you back to the defining fight of his career. On June 4 2005 a raucous crowd in Manchester watched Ricky Hatton fight Kostya Tszyu for the IBF Light welterweight title. Hatton - the popular, skilful, combative, Mancunian Everyman - walked into the MEN Arena to sounds of his beloved Manchester City’s...

"It was a f**k up from beginning to end. Every mistake you can make in the 800 I made. Too far off the back, too wide, too diffident, no logic that day" - Seb Coe From the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, Britain ruled the world of middle-distance running. At the heart of this golden era stood two legends: Sebastian Coe, the Yorkshire-born record breaker, and Steve Ovett, the tough competitor from Bri...

After Kevin Keegan resigned in the men's loos at Wembley in 2000, the FA decided to hire their first foreign England manager - Sven Goran-Eriksson. He paved the way for Thomas Tuchel, who leads England at the World Cup qualifiers this international break.  With Sven, the FA got much more than they bargained for. A man with a love for the game, life and women - Eriksson often graced the front...

"I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the president either" - Jesse Owens In the concluding episode of Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward’s Adolf Hitler’s 1936 Olympics trilogy, the pair uncover the lasting legacy of the Berlin Games and how they shaped athletes, politics, and global sport for decades to come. From Jesse Owens’ post-Ol...

"The Americans should be ashamed of themselves, letting Negroes win their medals for them. I shall not shake hands with this Negro” - Adolf Hitler, 1936 In Part Two of the Adolf Hitler's 1936 Olympics trilogy, Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward head to Berlin, 1936, as athletes from 49 nations arrive for the games. Determined to showcase Germ...

"It's a project of Jews & Freemasons, and a play inspired by Judaism which cannot possible be put on in a Reich ruled by national socialists" In Part One of this gripping trilogy of How It All Played Out , award-winning journalists Mark Pougatch and Paul Hayward take listeners back to 1930s Berlin to uncover the dark truth behind the 1936 Olympic Games. Discover how Adolf Hitler and his Nazi r...