The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered

The Beautiful Game takes a deep dive into Manchester City’s Premier League financial case , the independent commission ruling, City’s appeal, possible sporting sanctions and the potentially enormous compensation claims that could follow. Chris Horwedel walks through the case from its origins, including the financial-reporting allegations, manager and player compensation issues, UEFA compliance, Pr...

What happens when you help a club win the first trophy in its women’s team history—and 22 days later, you’re asked to manage the teammates you just celebrated with? In this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered , Chris Horwedel is joined by Jillian Leiper, player-manager of Alloa Athletic Women , for an in-depth conversation about making that extraordinary transition, building a team culture a...

Luton Town Ladies head coach Dan Bolesta and defender Ruby Heselden join The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for an in-depth conversation about Luton Town, women’s football, player development, coaching and the realities of competing in the English football pyramid. Chris Horwedel talks with Bolesta about his journey from grassroots and community coaching with MK Dons to taking charge of Luton Town Lad...

YouTube content creator Tom Kelsey (TomFM) joins The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for an in-depth conversation about Football Manager, FM26, Lincoln City, YouTube, and the world behind one of football gaming’s most recognizable channels. Chris Horwedel sits down with Tom to trace the relationship between real-world football and Football Manager that has shaped his life and career. The conversation e...

The 2026 summer transfer window reshaped world football, with record spending, blockbuster moves, surprising bargains and high-risk deals across Europe, Major League Soccer and the English football pyramid. In this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered , Chris Horwedel looks beyond transfer fees and reputation to identify the moves that could have the biggest impact on the coming season. The f...

Todd Smith, author of Relegated: One American’s Pints and Pies Journey from the Top to the Bottom of the English Football World , joins Chris Horwedel on The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for a conversation about the culture, communities and people that make English football unlike anything else in sports. Smith explains how a lifelong connection to soccer eventually became an ambitious journey throu...

Former Manchester United midfielder and Premier League champion Luke Chadwick joins The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for a deeply personal conversation about Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane, Cambridge United, mental health, the Football Fun Factory , and his autobiography, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Luke Chadwick Story . Chadwick retraces a football journey that took him from a smal...

On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered , Chris Horwedel sits down with Tom Cliffe , lifelong Northampton Town FC supporter, elected supporter representative on the club’s Board of Directors, chairman of the Fan Advisory Board and longtime matchday volunteer at Sixfields Stadium , for an in-depth conversation about the past, present and future of the Cobblers. Tom shares how his relation...

On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered , Chris Horwedel is joined by Bernard Vere of Clapton Community FC to tell the remarkable story of one of English football’s most distinctive supporter-owned clubs. Clapton Community FC was founded in 2018 after supporters of Clapton FC became increasingly frustrated with how their club was being run. After attempts to gain a meaningful voice and t...

On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel sits down with Louis Jones, founder of Surprise Shirts, to explore how a teenage football-shirt obsession became a seven-figure global business. Louis shares how he launched Surprise Shirts at 16. He explains how the company grew from Twitter DMs, Depop and a dining-room table into a mystery football shirt business carrying more tha...

On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered , Chris Horwedel sits down with Cardiff Met Football Club general manager Nick Vanderpump for an in-depth conversation about the club’s evolution, its place within Welsh football and its ambition to become the leading destination for dual-career footballers. Vanderpump begins by discussing his lifelong connection to football, his academic backgroun...

From making her senior debut for Wrexham at just 16 years old to beginning a new chapter as a player-coach, Chloe Ankers is building one of the most fascinating young careers in Welsh women’s football. On Episode 4 of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered , Chris Horwedel sits down with the new Wrexham Foresters goalkeeper and coach for an in-depth conversation about her football journey, the evolution o...

On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered , Chris Horwedel talks with Jack Worswick of Last Word on Sports about one of the wildest collapses in modern English football: Leicester City’s fall from Premier League champions to League One. Jack explains his background as a Leicester supporter and writer, and how difficult it has become to cover the club analytically while also having an emoti...

On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel sits down with Warshan Hussin of Soccer Without Borders for a powerful conversation about soccer, refugee identity, community, trauma, belonging, and the life-changing impact of the beautiful game. Warshan shares his journey from Iraq to the United States after his family was forced to flee when his father was kidnapped and tortured...

On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel is joined by The New Saints chairman Mike Harris for a wide-ranging conversation about one of the most successful and debated clubs in Welsh football. The interview centers on TNS’s rise from domestic powerhouse to European regular, beginning with Harris’ documentary, The New Saints: The Road to Europe — The Mike Harris Story, and h...

Thought for 7s 0:47 – Chris Horwedel opens The Beautiful Game, Unfiltered with an episode-zero World Cup special, introducing the new soccer podcast and setting up a full group-by-group preview using odds from oddsmakers. 1:49 – Expanded World Cup format explained, including the 48-team field, 12 groups of four, automatic advancement for the top two teams, and the importance of third-place teams i...