The Football Heritage Podcast

96. Football in Upper Silesia We're joined by PhD researcher Tomasz Kosiński to talk about the history and culture of football in Upper Silesia, a diverse cultural region with its own unique identity and language. Spread across modern day Poland but historically also split between Germany and Czechoslovakia, Upper Silesia (and Silesia more generally) has always culturally stood on its own. The...

95. Charlie Nicholas We're joined once again by Colin Whelan to cover another player from his Super Squad series. This time, we choose to focus on the life and career of Charlie Nicholas - aka Champagne Charlie. Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week. https://www.patreon.com/cw/FootyHeritage About Us Website footballheritage.co.u...

94. U.S. Clubs at the Champions Cup We're joined once again by Steven Torres, president of ANCCIF, to talk about his latest project - piecing together the scattered history of the U.S. representative clubs who competed at the Champions Cup before 1990. The Champions Cup is the equivalent of the Champions League for CONCACAF. But, unlike UEFA's premier competition, the early history of the...

93. Displaying Fan Identities We're joined by Stijn van Gerrevink, a recent MA graduate who's research centres around museums, football kits and displaying fan identity. We cover themes like club sanctioned heritage v fan-led heritage, who the true owners of supporter identity are and how they can promote it more, and the different ways that we, as football fans, show our identities on the...

92. Fan Friendships, Fan Identities We're joined by Bundesliga journalist, author and founder of the Dortmund Fan Club London Ben McFadyean to discuss fan friendships and how this plays into fan identity. Most fan friendships are the alliances we see formed by different ultras groups. But fan friendships in football extend well beyond our most zealous fans, and the connections we make with eac...

91. Kocaelispor The real owners of the club are the supporters. No one else. We're joined by Eray Cayli and Murat Odabasi to talk about Kocaelispor, the club from Türkiye who refuse to die. Surviving financial annihilation, an attempted takeover by Türkiye's state and a devastating earthquake, Kocaelispor have stood as İzmit's true representative, giving its people a place of community...

90. Football and Myth: The Orient Game We're joined by lecturer David Moreton to discuss the myths created in football and how they relate to the beautiful game. We do this by looking at a cast study: Burnley's match v Leyton Orient on the last day of the season in 1987, where the club came from within an inch of falling out of the football league and falling out of existence. Subscribe to...

89. Who's Your Club? We're joined by author and journalist Ryan Foley to delve into the different reasons why we might support our football clubs. Growing up in the USA, Ryan had to pick his club - and so his experience of supporting football becomes more of a fandom as opposed to being surrounded by any kind of football culture. We talk about the reasons why we support who we do, as well...

88. Celtic FC We're joined by author and historian Matt Corr and founder of The Shamrock Paul McQuade to talk about the comprehensive history and heritage of our favourite club - Celtic. From the origins of the club to the reason it exists and how we express our identity through the club in the modern day, we cover everything that makes Celtic, both the club and the support, what they are. Sub...

87. CR Flamengo We're joined by Emmanuel do Valle, founder of FlamengoAlternativo and Flamengo History in English, to talk about one of Brazil's - and the world's - most decorated football clubs. 39 Cariocãos, 8 Brasileiros, 5 Copa do Brasils, 3 Copa Libertadores and 1 Intercontinental Cup. Even then, you're not scratching the surface of what Flamengo have achieved since their foot...

86. Bengaluru FC We're joined by author and journalist Sandeep Menon to cover the odyssey of Bengaluru FC, a club founded in 2013 but who have already made waves both on and off the field. While winning six trophies and appearing in the final of a continental competition final all in the space of 12 years is impressive, Bengaluru FC have also had a huge impact on their community and built a vi...

85. The Marshall Islands National Team We're joined by Justin Walley, Assistant Manager and Comms Director of The Marshall Islands National Team, to talk about the history they created last week by playing their first ever international fixtures. The Marshall Islands Soccer Federation were founded in 2020 with one purpose in mind: to bring organised soccer to The Marshall Islands for the first...

84. The Return of the New York Cosmos We're joined by New York Cosmos historian Dr. David Kilpatrick and New York Cosmos CEO Erik Stover to talk about one of the biggest comebacks in football history - the return of the New York Cosmos. We cover everything from the culture surrounding the Cosmos, the impact of their return and what they plan to do for the community around their new home, Hinch...

83. Guatemala, 1964: Alex Popovich We're joined by ANCCIF president Steven Torres and former US youth internationalist Alex Popovich to cover the story of an important tournament which has largely been forgotten in the history of US soccer. Alex and his teammates made the journey to Guatemala in 1964 to compete in an under 19s youth tournament, representing the United States. They were the fir...

82. Inverness Thistle We're joined by Robbie Mcilwraith and Erik Ellison, two co-founders of the new Inverness Thistle, the first club to compete in Scotland's professional pyramid since they merged with Caledonian to form Inverness CT in 1994. Many people aren't aware of the deep opposition and hurt football supporters in Inverness felt when it was proposed that the cities two biggest...

81. Paços de Ferreira It's not every day you get to hear from the President of a professional football club. We're joined by our contributor, Jonee, and the newly-elected President of Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira, Rui Abreu, for a chat about the history, heritage and culture of the Paços, Rui's journey from supporter to President, and how he plans to use heritage to drive the club f...

80. Dame Bola: The Language of Football We're joined by Christopher Hylland, author of Tears at La Bombonera and Dame Bola, to talk about the language and dialogue of footballusing Argentina as a case study. The way we interact with people often uses words, phrases and metaphors from football. In Argentina, this phenomenon has transcended language and become part of Argentine cultural heritage...

79. Morecambe FC We're joined by Tom McMahon and James Hoyle from MorecambeFCFeed to discuss the ongoing issues around Morecambe FC. After buying Morecambe in 2018 with the intention of 'flipping' the club, Jason Whittingham has since ran them into the ground. At the time of writing, Morecambe FC have 4 days to sell the club, or they will cease to exist. Subscribe to The Footbal Herita...

78. RWDM AKA: Daring Brussels We're joined by Scott Coyne from The Belgian Football Podcast and RWDM supporter Filip van der Elst to talk about one of the most controversial stories to come out of Belgina football this year. Having undertaken no fan consultation, RWDM owner John Textor abruptly changed the name of the club to Daring Brussels, while also changing their matricule number to 2. It...

77. Corinthian-Casuals We're joined by Chris Lee and Dominic Bliss, Head of Media and Heritage at Corinthian-Casuals, to talk about the history and heritage of England's touring amateur pioneers. Corinthian-Casuals have an incredible history, and are the football club credited with bringing football to Brazil, where they toured extensively. We speak with Dominic about how the club uses its...

76. Stan Bowles We're jouned by author of Super Squad, Colin Whelan, to talk about big Stan Bowles, one of his heroes and one of football's mavericks in the 70s and 80s. Many people view Stan Bowles as the player who could have been, which is incredible considering he still played to a very high standard. But, like many superstars of the era, he could have become so much more. Subscribe to...

75. The Alba FA We're joined by co-founder Calum Ferguson for a chat about The Alba FA, a football association which represents Scotland's Gàidhealtachd - the Gaelic speaking community. The Alba FA have held training camps in Gaelic communities around the world, inspired by Calum's experience as a professional footballer. We dive into the cultural meaning for The Alba FA and why a Gael...

74. North Jersey Professional Soccer We're joined by soccer historian Tom McCabe and CEO of North Jersey Professional Soccer Erik Stover to talk about one of the new clubs coming to the USL in 2026 - North Jersey Professional Soccer. Based in Paterson, New Jersey, NJPS have huge ambitions to pull the community together. But they're not the first club to be based in North Jersey, and the fo...

73. Bursaspor We're joined by Uygar, Cafer and Fatih, three men from Bursa, to tell us the unique story of the rise, fall and revival of their club - Bursaspor. In 2010, Bursaspor became only the second club not from Istanbul to win the Turkish Süper Lig title, a feat accomplished by fielding local players brought through their academy and with the fanatical drive of a united Bursa behind them...

72. The FA Cup We're joined once again by Finlay Stanley aka AFC Finners to talk about the history of The FA Cup, the magic of the cup and the unique culture surrounding England's premier trophy. From huddling around the telly watching with your family to going to non-league grounds in the dead of winter, the magic of the cup grabs us all. This unique, intangible culture is part of what ma...