LOI Central

This week, with Johnny's job count at 8 (or is it 7?), we reunited two old friends who met as teenagers with no idea of the journey that lay ahead. Padraig Amond was the hurler under a different name from Carlow with football ambitions. Eoin Doyle was a ‘lunatic’ from Dublin with no idea that he could make a living from the game. But both these cats got the cream, one of them scoring versus Man Ci...

Now that we've gotten our first week of games under the belt, we tackle the sophomore episode, which can be a bit troublesome but not this time. We have two recently retired league stalwarts in studio. Barry Murphy, once keeper of both Shamrock Rovers & Bohemian goals, trades his Dundrum mailbag to give the lads a hand with a Bohs-heavy Collar & Cuff mailbag; and David McMillan, formerly of Dundal...

We are back. Seems like everyone has a fancy season launch these days so we decided to 'outstyle' the competition by recording our Season 8 opener in the salubrious surroundings of Collar & Cuff who put a roof over our head for the recording but that didn’t stop Johnny from keeping his hat on. Our first mailbag of the year seeks title race projections, Galway United mentions and the definitive ran...

Santas sack is full, Ireland isn't, but the stadiums are apparently. It's the LOI Central 2023 clip show. Remember when Dave and Maddie would spend an entire episode of 'Moonlighting' arguing about what happened in the past year and throw in 34 minutes of clips from the past season? Well we would never do that! Instead we throw in 10 mins of classics and another ten minutes of the Bootleg Series V...

In the week where the cup final became 'cool' we decamp to the kitchen to end as we mean to go on and pore over the spectacle and the season whilst bringing you the PFAI awards nominations with Stephen McGuinness. We also have a chat with Jack Moylan about leaving Duffer for Lincoln and talk contrasting cup final emotions with Jonathan Afolabi and seasoned veteran Chris Forrester. It's the longest...

It’s cup final week but there’s more than one show in town and we kicked it off with a special Episode 39 in Rascals HQ on Monday night. We brought together some of the liveliest members of the Irish football family for a show that sent producer Del into overtime in the editing chair. Our bleep button is out of contract and the F bomb count soared when Roddy Collins and Trevor Molloy arrived on st...

Welcome to Episode 38 with Johnny and Dan or is it Dan and Johnny? As Shamrock Rovers clinch their fourth title in a row, we speak to a victorious Lee Grace and Stephen Bradley, grade the Hoops season and debate the importance of winning it with kids. Beyond that, we ruminate on the standing of the league's goalkeepers and goalscorers, discuss the merits of the Bohs staredown and sift through the...

So it's official, we've sold out. Not to the man, but our live show in Rascals Brewery on November 6th has sold out. On this week's podcast you can find out how to get your hands on the last few tickets Johnny had stashed in an old overcoat at the back of the wardrobe. You can also hear from Shelbourne keeper Conor Kearns who touches on most things from Left-wing politics, to his dribbling stats t...

Last week’s trivia might have been a failure but this week we bring you Trivela, the prospective new owners of Drogheda United who give us their first big interview since stating their intention to take over the Boynesiders. Benjamin Boycott and Wesley Hill dial in from the USA to discuss their plans with Dan, a long call with investors who say they're in it for the long haul. Johnny was dining wi...

As we reach the business end of the season, we've got a cup final on the mind to distract Johnny from his title race addiction. Our hosts review the two semis and look forward to maybe a record breaking attendance at the final in the stadium soon to be known as The Dublin Arena. Dan, fresh from Switzerland has his own opinion on that and wonders if England will pay for our third tier! Guest wise,...

It's semi-final week and will Johnny build bridges with Galway ahead of their clash with Bohemians? As part of Johnny's rehabilitation we sent him on a solo mission to the stadium formerly known as Lansdowne Road to meet with his people, a 66/1 Bohemian, the not so boring Cian Coleman and Jamie Lennon. In the week where Aertel finally get's the plug pulled we reminisce about page 222 and Roddy Col...

So Galway United return to the halcyon days of Premier Division participation after a win in Kerry that leaves Johnny channelling Sylvia Plath, Leonard Cohen and even an underweight Christian Bale. In a post Rascals Rocktoberfest haze our intrepid reporters cast their eyes over the Weekend's action where UCD won our hearts but Derry failed to capitalise. Referees were under the spotlight again, Sh...

Well, we've got it all this week. Western gunslingers taking on those boys back east, Cold War double agents crossing the border by bicycle in the rain, boyhood hero worship, misquotes galore and organic sausages. If, like Alan Keane, you subscribe to the Galway United conspiracy theory then make sure you catch our mailbag which has more grassy knolls than an Oliver Stone film. As well as all this...

Alliteration is the thread on which we hang this week's show. Yes, episode 31 gets overly concerned with what type of Friday we have in store. Our two intrepid wordsmiths cajole, conjure and contrive to to describe the night on which Derry host Shamrock Rovers in the key game of the league season and four FAI Cup quarter finals are up for decision. 'Fabulous', 'Flowery' and 'Far Out', this Friday...

Episode 30 gets an early check in but will it ever leave? Johnny has more toilet encounters in Longford, Dan finally gets recognised on the 14 bus and takes in the view from the stand at Tolka Park . There's another bus of ould fellas in the midlands, and would you go all the way to Laois to see The Saw Doctors? Joining the instantly recognisable hosts this week is the solid Ian Bermingham who, on...

After being stalked at every airport in Europe Johnny evaded the air traffic chaos to arrive unscathed in Glasnevin for episode 29. On this week's show we talk to James Clarke about his route from Meath to Rovers to Bohs and how he's likely to celebrate if he scores in this weekend's big game. Dan caught up with Ruaidhri Higgins after a 2-2 draw in Dalymount and a topsy turvy season for the Candys...

We have a title race but we don't have the man who likes to call it so with Johnny AWOL in Bilbao or Belfield, we call in supersub Garry Doyle to pour over Derry's disappointments, the permutations of a fascinating race to the finish and why LOI fans should channel their inner Free Presbyterian. Dan also brought his microphone to Virgin Media studios to catch up with Graham Burke and Daniel Kelly...

It's an optimistic pod this week as August starts to slip away like a bottle of wine. Mark Connolly is on ahead of Thursday nights big game and we speak to him about his return from the great unknown against the team whose name we are struggling to remember, and stealing from his child to pass the time. Ticket prices and Cork City's college woes are topical as we delve into a mailbag filled with t...

Episode 26 in the ClaireFontaine of podcasts tackles the era defining debate on whether we need a RedZone, a DMZ zone or a demolition of the Carlisle Grounds. As we look forward to Derry's adventures in Kazakhstan, Andy Myler, who's not as knowledgable on Kazakhstani football as you might think, takes a break from party pooping and reunites with another ex student Conan Byrne to explain the future...

Back from our day trip down memory lane in Morton Stadium, Johnny wastes no time in getting Galway and climate change into the fray as we dwell on the wettest July on record and a wet blanket on Irish teams in Europe. Ireland chief scout and analyst and ex-Rovers and Bohs midfielder Stephen Rice drops by to bedazzle Johnny with his attention span and takes a deep dive into our European challenges....

On our 24th lap of the season, we reunite two old teammates in the unlikely surrounds of Morton Stadium to discuss the circle of their football life. Owen Heary talks Dream Team, Dream Managers and Dream Tacklers and his new found passion for running as he catches up with his old pal Mark Rossiter - fresh from a positive knee episode - to go over old arguments and pick through the details of the l...

Rover and out. It's a late night reaction pod to start this week as the lads pour over Icelandic disappointment for Shamrock Rovers and the questions it raises before taking a trip back in time with Sam and Al to earlier in the day to deal with your mailbag queries and emerge from the overpriced coffee houses of Inchicore to do some work. After reflecting on the enormity of turning 40, the lads as...

It's summer in Dublin and we have just the cure for those rain soaked blues. From Icelandic encounters en route to what used to be JJ Smyths, to the race between the Dalymount evolution and Armageddon. The well dressed Gary Cronin brings us some current affairs while Ciaran Kilduff delves into his bank of European memories while Johnny struggles to remember what is even happening next week. We hav...

This week we are joined by an Englishman and an English as the summer brings us to new destinations. ESPN journalist Mark Ogden tells us about his quirky trip to Iceland to find out what lies ahead for Shamrock Rovers and what Champions League football means to the minnows. Then we head west to talk with Michael English about Mayo FC’s attempts to break into the Irish mainstream. Aside from all of...

It’s a value for money virtual podcast this week as the lads mull over the purpose of their existence in journalism if chatting rubbish for an hour doesn’t entitle them to a substantial six-figure salary from licence fee payers. Georgie Kelly is a real national treasure, the late developing Donegal man dialling in from pre-season training in Rotherham to discuss his old love rival Pat Hoban, his r...