Life Goals with Theo Delaney

Theo Delaney is joined by South American football expert and broadcaster Tim Vickery from the Brazilian Shirt Name podcast, a highly respected voice on airwaves and TV screen's the world over. Tim's great knowledge and love of football is matched by his passion for music and he chooses connoisseurs' lists of goals and records including Paul Gascoigne, Roberto Carlos, Esteban Cambiasso, The Four To...

Comedian, broadcaster and author Ian Stone joins Theo Delaney to relive the eight defining goals of his life. Ian's new book 'To Be Someone' tells of his youthful love of music and football, in particular The Jam and Arsenal. These are passions that endure to this day and are manifest throughout a wide ranging discussion peppered with goals by the likes of David Rocastle, Andre Arshavin and Michae...

Theo Delaney is joined by Iain Dale, the political pundit and broadcaster, a familiar face on TV who has an influencial radio show on LBC and no fewer than five weekly podcasts. A long-standing West Ham season ticket holder at, his memories of Upton Park are misty-eyed but he has only positive things to say about the London Stadium. Among his chosen scorers are Di Canio, Payet and Alan Taylor and...

Theo Delaney is joined by one of his musical idols singer songwriter Lloyd Cole, who's band Lloyd Cole and the Commotions was one of the great groups of the eighties and who has been making excellent records and touring the globe ever since as a solo artist. A lover of all sports, Lloyd tells how he became a Chelsea fan despite growing up in Derbyshire, how he was on stage at Glastonbury when Mara...

Theo Delaney's guest is Stuart Cosgrove who is best known to football fans in Scotland as the co-host of the hugely popular BBC Radio Scotland show 'Off The Ball'. He's also a successful academic, journalist, television executive and author. (His latest books, a trilogy of soul music histories starting with 'Detroit 67', come highly recommended). Goals from a teenage Alex Ferguson, Paul Gascoigne...

Theo Delaney is joined by Bruce Crouch who is among the advertising industry's top creative talents but is perhaps better known to football fans as the Dad of former England centre forward Peter Crouch. After a brief reminiscence of working together in adland, Bruce tells Theo of his familial allegience to Chelsea and provides remarkable insight into the emotional journey of a parent of a top inte...

Theo Delaney's guests are Hollywood film director Paul Greengrass and his son, goalscoring centre half Kit Greengrass. Paul's films have big budgets, get rave reviews and attract huge audiences. They include three Bourne movies starring Matt Damon and 'Captain Phillips' and the forthcoming 'News Of The World' both with Tom Hanks. Like all good directors he has stamped his mark on the Life Goals sc...

Theo Delaney is joined by Sid Lowe of the Guardian, ESPN and The Spanish Football Podcast. Sid lives in Madrid and is a huge fan of Real Oviedao as well as maintaining his boyhood allegiance to Liverpool. The remarkable depth of his football knowledge and his passionate love for the game is manifest as he tells stories spaning Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool side, Euro 96, several World Cups and follow...

Theo Delaney's guest is former postman Alan Johnson who also had stints as the leader of the Union of Communication Workers and as as Home Secretary in Gordon Brown's government. Now a best selling and critically acclaimed author, his love of football and music is clear as he relives goals stretching from 1958 to 2014 that frame his extraordinary life story. A lifelong fan of QPR his deep affectio...

Theo Delaney is joined by top commentator Derek Rae who currently works in the USA on MLS and a range of other competitions as well as being the international commentator on the hugely popular FIFA computer game. Over a long and illustrious career his voice has been heard the world over. He is a lifelong fan of his home town club, Aberdeen and. of course, Scotland.  See acast.com/privacy for priva...

Theo Delaney is joined by the legendary Norman Jay MBE, the doyen of DJs, who has been a global superstar since the 90s and was honoured by the Queen in 2002 for services to deejaying and black music. Norman's other life long passion has been football and Tottenham Hotspur in particular. He recalls bunking into Wembley as a child, sticking around after away games for Northern Soul all-nighters bef...

Theo Delaney is joined by the broadcaster, journalist and inspirational campaigner Charlie Webster who has worked for major broadcasters the world over including ESPN, Sky Sports and the BBC and has her own investigative podcast ‘Undiscussable’ which tackles misconceptions about domestic abuse. In a wide ranging interview Charlie talks about her difficult childhood, her remarkable career, her near...

Theo Delaney is joined by one of the great football commentators, the genial Ian Darke, whose voice is currently familiar to viewers of BT Sports in the UK and ESPN in the USA. A lifelong Portsmouth fan, Ian's choices include Pompey and England goals and several he has commentated on himself including a Landon Donovan strike that changed his life and the course of soccer history in America. Along...

Named by The Radio Times among the ten most unmissable podcasts in the world, this edition of Life Goals sees Theo Delaney joined by novelist, award winning advertising man and some time DJ Paul Burke. Among his lauded books is 'Father Frank', the tale of a taxi-driving Catholic priest who doesn't believe in God. In a wide ranging discussion Paul talks about growing up in the Irish community of no...

Theo Delaney welcomes journalist and broadcaster Carl Anka who writes about Southampton FC for The Athletic. Carl is a Manchester United fan with increasingly strong feelings for The Saints.. He also has split loyalties at international level and has shed tears at the World Cup defeats of both England and Ghana. His deep love and knowledge of the game is on display as he describes his devotion to...

Theo Delaney is joined by Julie Welch, Fleet Street's first female football writer. Her new book 'Fleet Street Girls', published in August 2020, tells the story of the women journalists who broke down barriers in the 1970s. Julie's work has appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines. She's also written plays and the film 'Those Glory Glory Days' about her childhood passion for Tottenha...

Theo Delaney is joined by journalist, writer and broadcaster James Brown whose Loaded magazine was at the very centre of 90s popular culture. His best selling book 'Above Head Height' lays forth his life long love affair with football, both playing and watching, and he tells Theo about living next door to Leeds legend Allan Clarke,the joy of life in the lower leagues and the hedonistic excess of h...

Theo Delaney is joined by Academy Award nominee Peter Cattaneo, the celebrated director who counts 'The Full Monty' and 'Military Wives' among his dazzling array of credits. According to his wife he almost missed the birth of his first child because he was watching a pivotal Man Utd v Arsenal game in the hospital canteen. Though he denies this, his obsessional love of football in general and Arsen...

Theo Delaney is joined by comedian and broadcaster Bob Mills who has been making people laugh in live shows and across the airwaves since the mid-eighties. The first match he ever watched was the '66 World Cup Final at home in Chester and he tells us how he came to live in London, after joining and un-joing the Merchant Navy, and finally finding a football home at Leyton Orient. He also reveals ho...

Theo Delaney is joined by comedian and braodcaster Charlie Baker, a familair voice from the Talksport shows 'Glory Hunters' and the 'Game Day Warm Up' as well as his own excellent podcast 'The National Obsession' which celebrates all that's good about the National League. His eagerly anticipated stand up show 'Cream Before Jam' will premier at Edinburgh this summer. Charlie is a Torquay United fan...

Theo Delaney is joined by best selling author and scriptwriter John O'Farrell whose commitment to Fulham FC is so total that his son Fred was breastfed on the Craven Cottage terraces at six weeks old. He selects Fulham goals against a range of opponents from Hartlepool to Juventus and recalls his own appearances for the Snakepit Strollers and playing with a mixed ability group including Ralf Littl...

Theo Delaney is joined by The Guardian's parliamentary sketch writer and Spurs fan John Crace whose chosen goal scorers include Don Rogers, Ricky Villa, Robbie Keane and Mo Salah. He also tells of a life and death struggle with heroin and how football can be a salve for anxiety and depression. The joys of parenthood and falling in love with opera and Gareth Bale also feature.  See acast.com/privac...

Theo Delaney is joined by one of Britains's leading film directors Jon S Baird whose credits include 'Cass', Filth' and 'Stan & Ollie'. A lifelong Aberdeen and Scotland fan, Jon also reveals a bit of a liking for West Ham and flexes his considerable stroytelling skills with tales of Alex Ferguson, Sting, Martin Scorsese, Irvine Welsh and Mick Jagger. Goal-scorers include Archie Gemmil, Paul Gascoi...

Broadcasting legend and Manchester United fan Eamonn Holmes relives the eight defining goals of his life and tells Theo Delaney about his early days broadcasting as a teenager in Northern Ireland, befriending heroes like Denis Law and Alex Ferguson, being the MC at George Best's funeral, buying dodgy Cantona memorabilia and meeting Martine McCutcheon in Morrisons. Goalscorers include Macari, Canto...

Actor Alex Lowe - also known as 'Barry From Watford' and 'Clinton Baptiste' - joins Theo Delaney to talk about his multiple personalities and his split footballing allegiances (he is a lifelong QPR fan with a Wolves season ticket). Goals from Stan Bowles, Clive Allen, David Platt and Adama Traoré feature as well as tales from the QPR boardroom and dealing with hen and stag audiences on the comedy...