Second Captains

On your Monday football show, we talk about why Liverpool deserved to win at Anfield yesterday, and whether Ken is still billing Arsenal as the title favourites. With the Isak saga finally at an end, we survey the credits and debits.  Miguel Delaney and Barney Ronay join us to talk about the weekend's football. With three points against Arsenal and now Isak confirmed, can anyone stop thi...

We had more midweek football excitement than we had any reason to expect this week, given we're still in August. Welcome to our "best of" show which features reaction to two unbelievably entertaining matches, the Isak derby on Monday night and Man United's loss to lowly Grimsby in the League Cup last night.  We also had the league of Ireland academy development manager Will Clarke in studio a...

The women's Rugby World Cup has come a long way in a short space of time. The opening game of the 2025 World Cup between England and USA had a higher attendance than the whole of the 2010 World Cup put together. At the 2017 event in Ireland the pool games were played in the UCD Bowl. This year there will be 82,000 at the final in Twickenham, and the Ireland V NZ game in Brighton is expected to be...

From Napoleon II to Evan I. A new star blazes in the sky of Rome. Did Evan Ferguson score? No - but that, initial reviews maintain, is a mere detail. Are we getting carried away after one game? There will be none of that talk aboard the Trenitalia hype train. From there we look forward to tonight’s hate-fest at St James’ Park, and apportion blame for how this whole sorry situation has arisen. We h...

This week we went from zero to 100 on the wholesome-o-meter, from the local kid that taught his town to love again, to the bitter Newcastle - Isak war of words…. it’s been a roller coaster up in here. Question is, are you brave enough to jump on for the ride? It’s a great time to join with The Premier League season up and running, Arsenal plucking Eze out of Spurs’ grasp, VAR energising the base,...

''The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function''. Did you know F Scott Fitzgerald was actually referring to Ken Early? After breaking the minds of many of our members with Friday's Oasis podcast, Ken and Branno today react to the backlash. Is it ok to have fun? Did Branno consume 2.5 pints? Who...

Not for the first time this weekend, Ken wonders if he is going insane, as English football shows once again that it can never forgive a goalkeeper for getting fouled at a set-piece.  We discuss Keith Andrews' harsh introduction to life as a head coach, the varied fortunes of a raft of new super-striker signings, and the Friday night match that led to Arne Slot having to negotiate a grilling...

Hold onto your britches folks, cos things went a little wild on the world service this week what with the Premier League hype machine in full flow, daily Isak transfer tittle tattle, Shels getting their hearts broken and most importantly, the official launch of Kencall. And after a weird summer of club world cup dystopia and Ken getting high on X it is finally time for some good old fashioned actu...

After a month of All-Ireland finals, we finally got a close one - and in the end, we got a surprise winner, too.  Cork were going for three-in-a-row, had beaten Galway by 11 points in the League final earlier this year, but had no answer to Galway's fast start, relentless physicality and last-minute heroics.   Dublin camogie captain Aisling Maher has had an eventful year, which started b...

Jack Grealish has gone to Everton on loan. We hope he finds meaning there. We try to understand why it never worked for him, with reference to some of the things Guardiola said in a surprisingly candid recent interview with GQ.  Dion Fanning joins us to talk about the Community Shield, which saw the team with no new signings look more organised and dangerous than the team with €300 milli...

The momentum behind "No Prem Ken" is building as our football correspondent put in another stonking performance this week on the world service. Welcome to our best of show! We had Shels' shock win against the champions of Croatia, Man United rolling the transfer dice, football twitter madness, Son’s public display of emotion, the latest instalment of Inside Sir Big Jim, Infantino’s friends in high...

The Lions return triumphant from the 2025 tour of Australia with a 2-1 series victory... but was that the bare minimum?  Shane Horgan and Gareth Rhys Owen of the BBC's Scrum V are on the show this Bank Holiday Monday to review why the Lions ran out of steam on Saturday's third test.   We discuss whether Andy Farrell returns to Ireland with his reputation enhanced, which Irish players hav...

Welcome to our world service best of show, and what a humdinger of a week it was with Tom Brady and Keith Andrews getting the reality tv treatment at Birmingham and Brentford, Ken chatting to QPR and Ireland's soundest man, Jimmy Dunne, the Lions tour exploding into life, and Jonathan Wilson taking the gloves off for some cricket chat. Plus there's question marks around the whole Newcastle/Sa...

England have won their second consecutive Euros, a Lionesses XI built out of different types of rocks and hard places ultimately proving too tough for Spain to break down. Today we learn about the lighter side of Sarina Wiegman, look at what England's win signifies in these exciting days for the meaning of Englishness, and reflect on the overall impact of Euro 2025.  We also discuss...

The 2025 All-Ireland senior football championship is finished and Kerry are worthy champions, again.  Two of the great GAA pundits, Paul Flynn and Oisin McConville, are in studio to discuss this magnificent season of gaelic football 2.0.   How did Kerry defuse the Donegal zonal defence? Where did they find their energy after losing to Meath 8 weeks ago? Is David Clifford even human?&nbsp...

Welcome to our world service best of show, and what a romper stomper its been this week with the Premier League transfer market getting red hot, Ken's north star, Eamon Dunphy, featuring heavily throughout, there's a much anticipated All Ireland football final match-up, the Lions are meowing their way to victory, and Ken has been meeting people in Tolka Park .... and the gym.... and in saunas. Sig...

Tipperary are the 2025 All-Ireland hurling champions, and their victory was as dominant and deserved as it was unexpected. As they’ve done all summer, Jamie Wall and Liam Rushe are on hand to pick through the bones of an unforgettable second half. Cork’s inability to adapt to the tactical picture Tipp presented them will haunt them forever. For Tipp, giving your perfect performance on the biggest...

Evan Ferguson has joined the flood of under appreciated young Premier League players seeking to transform their careers in Serie A.  James Horncastle joins us to talk about what awaits Ferguson in Rome - where he will be working under one of Italy's most respected coaches - what a young player like him should be doing (and not doing) to succeed in Serie A, and how Italian football keeps going...

Welcome to our World Service taster which this week included Ken and Scottie Scheffler on the meaning of life, Patrice Evra brings you inside the dark culture of winning, Tom English of the BBC chasing Lions Down Under and Nicky English remembers his iconic ''soccer style'' goal in that hot summer of '87. Click the player at the top of the page to play the show. Monday’s shows are free to all. To...

Chelsea are the new FIFA world champions after destroying PSG in another one-sided CWC knockout game. Johnny Infantino's long servile campaign paid dividends as Donald Trump showed up and dominated the extended post-match proceedings.  The entire occasion was as though someone had started with the basic concept: imagine the Americans had invented football. To which we can only respond: w...

If the price of one absolutely mega All-Ireland football final showdown is two pretty pedestrian semi-finals, then that’s a price we’re happy enough to pay. Paul Flynn and Oisin McConville are on hand to look back at Kerry’s composed win over Tyrone, and Donegal’s devastation of Meath in the weekend’s games.  Will this final be a showdown between David Clifford and Michael Murphy, or will Don...

There was a period of a few hours over the weekend when it looked as though Mikey Johnston might be going to Brazil to teach them how to dribble. Even Robbie Keane's intervention could not save the move.  We talk about the Club World Cup, where Jurgen Klopp's direst predictions of injuries came true for Bayern's best player, Jamal Musiala. Should he even have been playing? And does Gianluigi...

The Cork hurlers have built up a following which some commentators are comparing with Heffo’s Army or, say, the Pope's visit to Ireland. They travelled from Kent station to Heuston on Saturday with, let’s be honest, a certain cockiness and Dublin’s quick capitulation made for a good day out for the red shirted horde.  And then came "its a madhouse at Croker" on Sunday - our senior analyst Jam...

Murph and Mark headed off to Croke Park together yesterday for the MARPH derby. Murph's initial arrogance slowly curdled into horror as he and everyone else in the stadium witnessed the return of the Royals; Meath are back! Mark is on the show today to celebrate on behalf of his people, but otherwise, it's wall-to-wall losers as Dublin and Armagh's Paul Flynn and Oisin McConville join Murph's Galw...

Friend of the show David Sneyd sent US Soccer into a tailspin over the weekend with his exclusive report that Brentford interviewed Mauricio Pochettino for the job they ended up giving to Keith Andrews. But doesn’t Poch already have a job? In Ireland we can empathise with the American soul-searching. Meanwhile, certain senior German grandees been engaging in the favourite activity of their kind: l...