The Football Heritage Podcast

71. Goodbye to Goodison It's not goodbye, but see you later. We're joined by Toffees photographers Laura Gates and Chris Wardle to talk about all things Goodison Park as one chapter closes and another opens for the Grand Old Lady. From Goodison's storied history to the unique culture which exists around the ground and the Evertonians who make that culture what it is, we celebrate Goodi...

70. Pasión: The Fan-Owned Phoenix Clubs of Spain We're joined by Alex Alexandrou, co-founder of the Football and War Network, for a conversation on football's role in war and conflict across the world, and how football can be used in post-war societies to build bridges and encourage reconciliation. Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast...

69. Pasión: The Fan-Owned Phoenix Clubs of Spain We're joined once again by journalist and author Miguel Pereira to talk about the new subculture making waves in Spanish football and the cultural phenomenon that underpins it. 'Pasión' is a concept which encapsulates the expression of extravagant, unbridled joyn and loyalty which manifests itself on Spain's terraces. It is a cultura...

68. Shades of Green: A Journey Into Irish Football We're joined once again by author and founder of Outside Write, Chris Lee, to talk about his new book which explores football (or soccer) on the island of Ireland. As much a groundhopping adventure as it is a history lesson, Chris' journey through Irish football is a great insight into a vibrant, flourishing and deeply political football c...

67. Among The Ultras We're joined by journalist and award-winning author James Montague to examine the relationship between ultras groups, heritage and identity. Ultras are the beating heart of a football club. Though there are often hooligan and criminal elements associated with ultras culture, they are the drivers of club identity. Passionate, noisy and colourful, ultras use heritage and exp...

66. Power Players We're joined by journalist and author Ronny Blaschke for a deep dive into the relationship between football and power, and how colonialism is one of the most noticeable examples of power manifesting itself within football. Power as a concept can be difficult to describe, but football clubs, supporters, associations and governments all leverage power to achieve objectives, str...

65. The Alternative: FC United of Manchester We're joined by Paul Hurst and George Baker, co-founders and board members at FC United of Manchester, the club who are fast becoming the go-to model for protest, fan ownership and matchday experience in English non-league. Founded in the wake of Malcolm Glazer's takeover of Manchster United, FC United exist to give disenfranchised supporters a...

64. Football and Cultural Heritage What is cultural heritage? How do we quantify the intangible elements of football culture? What can understanding these concepts mean for football? We're joined by PhD student Josh Bland for a conversation surrounding cultural heritage, it's relationship with football, and some of the themes we've touched on throughout the podcast. Subscribe to The Fo...

63. The Football Investigators We're joined by Steven Torres, Andy Wilson and Edwin Jusino - committee members of ANCCIF - to talk about the work they undertake across the CONCACAF region to uncover groundbreaking new information about football history in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. ANCCIF is an acronym for ' Asociación Norte, Centroamericana y del Caribe de Investiga...

62. Programmes This week we're joined by Jim Thomson, the organiser of Scottish Football Programme & Memorabilia Fairs, for a chat about collecting and what memorabilia means to football fans. We discuss the reasons why each fan has their 'holy grail' item, why we should view programmes as historic documents and the wider value of collectible memorabilia. Subscribe to The Footbal H...

61. Nottingham Forest We're joined by Matt Oldroyd of Forza Garibaldi and general Forest busybody Dave Marples for a deep dive into one of England's biggest clubs - Nottingham Forest. We cover the early days of Nottingham Forest, the club colours and identity, the 50s, and the club's downfall after their period of unprecedented success. We also discuss the Clough era and Forest's E...

60. Joe Fagan We're joined by Finlay Stanley (aka AFCFinners) to talk about the life and legacy of Joe Fagan and how we remember football's overshadowed heroes. Possibly one of football's most underappreciated figures, Joe Fagan famously won the treble with Liverpool in his first season, including the European Cup. However, his tenure as Liverpool manager was short lived, and he retrea...

59. Our Stories and Our Songs We're joined by John Williams, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Leicester, to talk about the stories, myths and historic tales which make our game what it is today. Storytelling plays a huge role within football, whether it's about the origin stories of the club your support or your grandad telling you about his favourite away day. As s...

58. Cósmico! The Inside Story of the New York Cosmos' Trip to Cuba We're back! Our fist episode of 2025 is an exclusive. For the first time, Steven Torres and Luis Yero sit down with Rory to tell the inside story of the New York Cosmos' trip to Cuba in 2015 and their roles in making this historic fixture come to fruition. In December 2014, President Obama relaxed diplomatic relations w...

Our contributors Rory, Dave, Chris, Christian and Matty come together for a look back at their years on and off the pitch, as well as discussing their plans and wishes for 2025. Thank you to everyone who has supported Football Heritage since launching this year. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We'll see you again in 2025! This is our last podcast of 2024. Our next podcast...

57. KMSK Deinze We're joined once again by Scott Coyne from The Belgian Football Podcast to cover the recently-defunct KMSK Deinze and the crisis which football in Belgium finds itself in. 12 days ago, Belgian club KMSK Deinze announced their bankruptcy, bringing an end to 98 years of history and an 18-month long circus. This is the detailed story of how, and why this continues to happen in Be...

56. Jack Kirby This week we're joined by Kal Singh Dhindsa, the person who successfully ran a recent campaign to restore the grave of former Derby County player Jack Kirby. Jack Kirby is best remembered as the player who, during a football tour of Germany in 1934, refused to give the Nazi salute, instead choosing to turn his back on it. We talk with Kal about the relevance of footballers in de...

55. Political Football We're joined by Dr. Guy Burton and Dr. Francesco Belcastro, the hosts of The FootPol Podcast, for a discussion on what makes football political. 'Politics and football shouldn't mix' or 'Politics has nothing to do with football' are thrown around quite a lot, but the fact remains that politics and football do mix, and have always been intertwined. Thi...

54. AEK Larnaca: 100 Years of History We're joined by This is Mappa Podcast host Thassos Frangeskou for a dive into the history of AEK Larnaca and a whistle-stop tour around the football culture of Cyprus. AEK Larnaca were born from the merger of 2 other Larnaca-based clubs, and recently celebrated this by promoting their anniversary as '30 Years of Life, 100 Years of History'. Subscri...

53. The Frank Soo Foundation Rory is joined by Alan Lau from the Frank Soo Foundation to talk about the life and legacy of Frank Soo, the first player of Chinese heritage to play for England, and the work the Foundation are doing to spread his story and and improve football within the community. Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week...

52. Belfast Celtic We're joined by Belfast Celtic Society board members Padraig Coyle, Frank Hennessey and Charles Tully Jr., son of Celtic legend Charles Patrick Tully, for a feature-length discussion on Belfast Celtic Football Club. Belfast Celtic are arguably the most famous lost club from the island of Ireland. Existing during some of Ireland's most turbulent and violent periods of his...

51. Edinburgh City We're joined by Edinburgh City season ticket holder and supporters' club member Ally Moncrieff to talk about the club's interesting off-field activity over the last few years which is akin to a BBC soap opera. In 2019, the owners of Edinburgh City circulated a marketing document with the hashtag #FCEdinburgh mysteriously plastered all over it. Fast forward to 2022 an...

50. The Superclubs of Communist Albania We're joined by author and founder of Fussball Geekz, Phil Harrison, and his friend Irvin Shima to talk about the Superclubs of Communist Albania. Covered extensively in Phil's latest book, we dive into the clubs formed and financed by Albania's Stalinist regime in an attempt to manufacture competition and legitimise the administration of Enver H...

49. Work and Play: The Industrial Roots of English Football We're joined by author and Football Heritage member Dave Proudlove to talk about his latest book ' Work and Play: The Industrial Roots of English Football' , available as of today. We cover the different football clubs associated with industrial communities and companies, the perceptions football fans have of works' teams...

48. Remembering Sevilla: The 2003 UEFA Cup Final We're joined by the latest contributor to join the Football Heritage ranks, Jonee, to reminisce on the 2003 UEFA Cup Final between Celtic and Porto. Instead of a tactical breakdown or analysis of the match, we instead describe our memories of watching the final, their feelings on the run up to the final and, in Jonee's case, what it was like...