The Game

Hull sit proudly at the top of the table. Is it a freak or have the Tigers, and the other promoted clubs been misjudged? Ipswich were thumped at Old Trafford, but their performance had many positive signs. While Man Utd looked to have rediscovered some swagger. Who shone brightest, Fernandez, Rashford or Mainoo. After the break familiar horribly memories at Spurs as they lose again - but will it b...

Forest pay fifty million for Liam Delap; City buy a teenager for eighty five million and Spurs sign second stringer Savio also for eighty five million. Has the Premier League transfer market gone mad? Xabi Alonso's Chelsea looked good in their first run out of the season, if they sign a keeper could they be challengers to Arsenal?  As teams struggle to compete financially is it a level playin...

Our weekly look at all the latest from the EFL with Tom Clarke and Gregor Robertson. Plenty of surprises in week two of the Championship. West Ham lost at home in front of sixty two thousand fans, are their players ready for a tough season in the second tier? No wins for fancied Norwich, Birmingham or Burnley. At the top Millwall may have a new star up front in Taryk Arconte and West Brom have sta...

The Premier League is back and if the opening weekend is anything to go by it could be an unpredictable season.  Hull shocked Man United, Brentford reminded Roberto De Zerbi of the tough job he faces at Spurs and Brighton thumped Villa.  Promoted Ipswich got a big win, Man City got a late winner and Liverpool levelled with the last kick against an impressive Newcastle.  Champio...

The 2026/27 Premier League season is here. So, it is prediction time. Who is going to win it, who is in the top four? Who's getting relegated, who could be looking over their shoulders?   Plus who will be the surprise packages, who are we most excited to see and which manager will come under pressure first?   Tom Clarke is joined Chief football correspondent for The Times and S...

The Football League is back and as unpredictable as ever.  Gregor Robertson joins Tom Clarke to discuss the opening weekend in The Championship, League One and League Two after plenty of reminders of why these divisions are so hard to call.  Will Lankshear scored twice to get promotion chasing Middlesbrough off to a winning star but West Ham, Burnley and Wolves all draw. There was contro...

Are Arsenal clear favourites to retain the title? Do Man City really need more players and are Chelsea dark horses? Just some of the questions we answer in the first of our Premier League Preview shows. Tom Clarke, Alyson Rudd, Gregor Robertson and Pete Rutzler also look at which teams need more signings before the season starts and could some big players still be on the move.  Plus, which te...

Tom Clarke is joined by the Times Joe Harston and Kit Shepard and EFL stalwart Gregor Robertson to preview the start of the EFL season which kicks off this weekend! Can anyone stop West Ham? And is Jarrod Bowen going to run away with the Golden boot? We discuss how the Hammers will cope with the pressure of having to win every week having just dropped into the Championship Elsewhere we look at how...

Tom Clarke is joined by Alyson Rudd, Gary Jacob and Tony Cascarino to continue the build up to the new Premier League season which is less than two weeks away! Bruno Guimares has signed for champions Arsenal, we ask what impact the Brazilian will have on the Gunners midfield and we herald the return of experienced and sensible transfers after they shelled out £75 million for the 28 year old. One B...

Tom Clarke check's in with the Times Chief Sports reporter Martyn Ziegler who brings us right up to speed with all the latest surrounding under pressure FIFA President Gianni Infantino. He remains in charge.....for now, following an emergency meeting in Morocco, but he has apologised for his handling of the FFE proposals which rocked the football world last week. Martyn explains why Infantino won'...

What next for Gianni Infantino and FIFA? Tom Clarke is joined by Alyson Rudd, Tom Allnut and Tony Cascarino to discuss what the future holds for the controversial FIFA President after a number of FA's across Europe publicly withdrew their support for him following his attempt to sell off a stake in the World Cup. We ask if we have really seen the end of this story for good and compare the similari...

Another huge day in the biggest story in football - Tom Clarke is joined by Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter at The Times and the man who broke the news of FIFA's plan to sell stakes in the tournament. In this special, snap episode Martyn offers an update on who has spoken out against the plans, why they will not proceed and whether it could be the end of Gianni Infantino as FIFA President. H...

What a dramatic day! Tom Clarke is joined by Alyson Rudd, Tom Allnutt and James Gheerbrant to discuss FIFA, Gianni Infantino and their plans to sell the World Cup. The panel call for action and a strong response and before we could finish editing we got that strong response, as UEFA announce they will boycott all future FIFA competitions - Tom rejoined the show to give us the latest. As if that wa...

Tom Clarke speaks to The Times Chief Sports reporter Martyn Ziegler - following his exclusive story in detailing FIFA president Gianni Infantino's plans to offer 'stakes' in the World Cup. What are the plans? Why does it matter and what happens next?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Game is back on tour, speaking with Pete Rutzler who is following Chelsea (and Spurs) down under. The Blues have been spending big, will there be any out goings and how will new manager Xabi Alonso deploy his new talent? Ian Whittell is in America following Liverpool's tour and saw their first preseason game against Sunderland. Who caught the eye, how is Iraola adapting and will there be more...

While the World Cup has been on there has been plenty of transfer activity in the Premier League. The record fee has been broken twice by Elliot Anderson to Man City then Morgan Rogers to Chelsea - so is £100 million now the going rate for a midfielder?  Spurs are spending big, Villa are selling big and Arsenal, Man Utd and Liverpool have done nothing big ... yet. There have been managerial c...

Well, it is finally over. World Cup 2026 didn't get the final it deserved but it was a fabulous festival of football.  Tom Clarke, Tony Cascarino, Gregor Robertson and Tom Allnutt assess the final - a disgraceful display from Argentina but a footballing triumph for Spain. Then we pick our team of the tournament, reflect on England and hear from Tom Allnutt who suggests England players could l...

Well, if the final is as much as fun as that we're in for a treat.  England beat France 6-4 in a frankly bonkers match to take the bronze medal and finish third, their best World Cup performance since lifting the trophy in 1966. Tom Clarke is joined by Matt Lawton and Ian Whittell who offer their thoughts on whether this helps ease the pain for Thomas Tuchel and what it means for France.&nbsp...

It's time, for the biggest game of the tournament, France vs England... well, we tried. But whilst the world might not be excited about the third-place play-off, we have still got loads to talk about.  Tom Clarke is joined by Jonathan Northcroft in Manhattan to discuss England's footballing DNA, what 'shocked' him about the Argentina defeat, thoughts on the final and more nonsense from FIFA.&...

Did Thomas Tuchel tell his players to sit back and defend, or were they just not able to maintain their pressing...the England inquest is gathering pace.  There seems unity of opinion that manager Thomas Tuchel has questions to answer. Will he step forward or will the FA wait until their review is complete ? Tom Clarke chats to Matt Lawton for the latest on Tuchel's future and Martin Samuel d...

In the end England fell shore, again. One up with half an hour to go England sat back, ceded ground then succumbed as Argentina seized the initiative and scored two late goals.  Where did it go wrong this time? Did Tuchel lose his nerve, was it all down to Messi do England have an inferiority complex?  Jonathan Northcroft and Paul Hirst bring immediate reaction from the ground before Tom...

Two camps, two journalists, both predicting England wins. What could possibly go wrong?  Tom Clarke is joined by Jonny Northcroft in the England camp and Paul Hirst in the Argentina camp to discuss the second big semi-final and gets the latest news and predictions.  In part two Tom is joined by Gregor Robertson to discuss Spain's impressive win against a disappointing France and ask what...

He's a World Cup star and one of the best in the world but Kylian Mbappe's leadership has shone at this World Cup, on and off the pitch.  Martin Samuel joins Tom Clarke to discuss the France forward and preview their semi-final with Spain.  Martin also offers his thoughts on Jude Bellingham, Thomas Tuchel and why he believes England can beat Argentina. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...

How do England beat Argentina? Both teams looked exhausted after their quarter final wins, will recovery be the key? Gregor Robertson thinks the battle is out wide, Tom allnutt thinks Argentina have more in the tank.  Does the post game spat between Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham really matter, Tony Cascarino thinks it is a sign of a healthy dressing room? In the first semi-final France pl...

That was tense! England beat Norway thanks to another brace from Jude Bellingham and possibly a bit of help from a spider cam. Tom clarke is joined by The Times head of Sport James Restall and Gregor Robertson for immediate reaction to England reaching a World Cup semi final. In part two Paul Hirst was there on another tough night for Argentina. They're through to face England but they made hard w...