The Way We See Sport, The Way We See Life

The 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy has long been heralded as something of a 'Year Zero' moment for football.  The tournament itself set to the strains of 'Nessun Dorma' in the BBC's coverage, Gazza's tears, the emergence of 'Toto' Schillachi and the collaboration between EnglandNewOrder have all achieved iconic status in the years since the tournament.   Wit...

The summer of 1966.  England had made good on the promise that Alf Ramsey made upon his appointment as the national team manager and become World Champions.  The Beatles and The Rolling Stones led a 'British Invasion' that topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and Harold Wilson's Labour Party secured a historic landslide victory.  It seemed that Wilson's Britain was s...

In 1932, the Austrian football team had the world at their feet. A glorious victory in the Central European International Cup had seen them conquer the best teams that mainland Europe had to offer. With many South American heavyweights refusing to travel to the 1934 World Cup, it seemed highly possible that the so-called Wunderteam might soon be crowned the best football team on the planet. Yet ju...

In 1994, America stood triumphant as the world’s sole superpower. The Berlin Wall had fallen, the Soviet Union had collapsed, and 9/11 was still seven years away. Fukuyama declared the end of history, and scriptwriters began crafting a speech to be released two years down the line, through which the fictional President Whitmore would rally the human race to defend the earth against alien invasion....

In the second part of our two-parter released to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week | Mental Health Foundation , we take a deeper dive into the relationship Mental Health has with three specific sports: Boxing - Analysing how and why many fighters struggle with life beyond the ring 'once the lights go out' on their in-ring careers Cricket - An exploration into the long-standing r...

In the first of a two-part special released to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week - Mental Health Awareness Week | Mental Health Foundation - Chris and Nathan explore how attitudes towards understanding Mental Health have evolved within the world of sport over the past 30 years or so. The episode begins by analysing what constituted old-school attitudes towards the concepts of Mental Healt...

Nowadays, barely a day passes by during a transfer window without hyperbolic transfer speculation amongst both the traditional Tabloid media and 'fan media' outlets.  However, in the summer of 1989, a transfer saga ensued that was genuinely seismic.   The signing of Maurice Johnston by Glasgow Rangers turned a century of tradition upside down, led to potential boycotts amongst Rangers fa...

In the opening chapter of 'Down Under', the account of his epic journey across Australia, Bill Bryson once wrote that Europeans and Americans pay "shamefully scant attention" to their Antipodean cousins. It is hard to argue with his conclusion. While Ashes Syndrome might strike the UK every few years, and those nostalgic for teenage memories might occasionally bop along to the...

In our last episode of 'The Way We See Sport, The Way We See Life', 'Clough, Revie and The Perfect Debate', we explored how the infamous televised clash between arch rivals Brian Clough and Don Revie at the end of Clough's tumultuous 44 day reign in charge of Leeds United represented TV gold and an illustration of what constitutes a great debate. Inspired by the theme and...

On September 12th 1974, Brian Clough walked into the Yorkshire Television news studio less than 24 hours after being sacked as manager of Leeds United. What followed was 30 minutes of TV gold, as the ever forthright Clough went toe-to-toe in discussion with his predecessor at Leeds, Don Revie in a 'Calendar' Special entitled 'Goodbye Mr Clough'.  It was an interview that became...

There is little doubt that Donald Trump is a completely different President to anyone who has held that office before him. As mendacious as he is, Trump possesses a talent at hogging the limelight and an unparalleled skill for crafting his own political narrative. Attempts to explain Trump’s success in the 2016 and 2024 elections, after ricocheting through scandals that would’ve finished any other...

Sir Martyn Oliver, the Chief Inspector of Schools in England, says he wants Inspections to be “done with” schools rather than “done to” them. This suggests that the latest manifestation of Ofsted has learnt lessons, and is keen on ensuring that its most recent inspection framework is fit for the modern world. Yet, both within the teaching profession and wider society questions remain about whether...

In the second of our festive double-header, Chris and Nathan investigate the history, traditions and future of Festive Football.   The inspiration for this episode came during a WhatsApp conversation between the two hosts in which Chris highlighted how this Boxing Day sees only one fixture taking place in the Premier League (between Manchester United and Newcastle United), as opposed to the usual...

What is the most famous football match of all time? Geoff Hurst's hat-trick in 1966? Pele's demolition of Italy in 1970? Huddersfield Town's 3-0 triumph over Nottingham Forest to secure their first league title back in 1924? All worthy contenders, but it is probable that they all play second fiddle to a game that took place in front of no fans, with makeshift goalposts and on pockma...

In football, much is often made of the Lisbon Lions – a Celtic side that conquered Europe in 1967, with a team in which the majority of the starting eleven were born within a mere 12 miles of their Parkhead ground (the exception being Bobby Lennox, who was from Saltcoats, 30 miles from Glasgow). Yet decades after the Glasgow side had long embraced the contributions of national and international ta...

In 1968, Yorkshire County Cricket Club were untouchable. No other team in the country could compete with their ethos, their production line of England greats, or their roll of honour. Seven league titles in the previous decade had confirmed their position as titans of the county game. Yet the next two decades would yield the most barren spell in the team's history. As other counties welcomed...

In the latest episode of 'The Way We See Sport', we return once again to the sport of Rugby League, focusing on the transformative role played by Maurice Lindsay, a divisive, yet visionary figure whose influence developed during the Thatcherite period, initially as the figurehead of 'The Gang of Four' directors who helped to transform the fortunes of Wigan during the 1980s. Emb...

In the wake of the release of 'Original Sin', a book by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson detailing the deterioration of President Biden between 2020 and 2024, Nathan and Chris explore the one opponent no sportsperson can defeat - age. This episode looks at three sporting icons who, arguably, pushed on too long beyond the peak of their powers. Michael Schumacher was the all-conquering motor...

During the 1974 World Cup, the tournament featured a clash between the hosts (West Germany) and their Communist neighbours (East Germany) during the Group Phase.  'The Bruderduel' between the two Germanys was heralded as "The most politically charged football match of all-time".  It represented a fascinating clash of cultures and ideologies, with the Communist East (appearing i...

From Martina Navratilova to Serena Williams, few sports have provided as many iconic female icons as tennis. Yet, this does not mean that the sport has been immune from criticism over the manner in which it treats its female stars. The fact that tennis Grand Slams showcase female players alongside the men makes it all the more apparent when inequity exists. In the latest episode of The Way We See...

When Merseyside's footballing titans (Everton and Liverpool) were drawn together in the 5th Round of the FA Cup in 1991, the stage was set for the latest instalment of a gripping rivalry, one that had dominated English Football for much of the previous decade, when the First Division title seemed to reside permanently on Merseyside - with Liverpool claiming six titles and Everton emerging fro...

In February 2018, double World Champion, Evgenia Medvedeva, skated onto the ice to pursue the one medal that had up to that point eluded her: Olympic Gold. What followed was a routine so mesmeric, so creative, and so moving that it astounded everyone who watched it…including one of your hosts from 'The Way We See Sport, the Way We See Life'. For one short moment, the Huddersfield Town fa...

In this week’s episode of ‘The Way We See Sport, The Way See Life’ we continue our deep dive into the sport of boxing assessing whether its historical standing as ‘Sport of Kings’ rings true in modern society. In the first part of our two-episode special, we focused on how during the sport’s growth in the early to mid-twentieth century, boxing had offered shady characters from the mob and criminal...

Following the end of our second series, we have developed another long-form special over two parts.  This time, assessing the sport of boxing and whether it is truly a ‘Sport of Kings’ or merely a brutal blood sport that has provided the platform for shady characters to make untold riches often through exploitation of fighters. The notion of boxing as a ‘Sport of Kings’ stems from the sport’s hist...

In October 1993, Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis made history when they met in Cardiff with the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title on the line.  The contest was the first time that two British born heavyweights had contested a world title, but the build-up to the bout was overshadowed by a bitter war of words between the fighters.   Bruno questioned both Lewis's legitimacy as a champio...