These Football Times

In the tenth fixture of the season, The Beautifully Designed Game sits down with the extraordinarily talented and general all-action bundle of creativity that is Mark Johnson. From winning the prestigious D&AD New Blood award in 2009 to his current design role at Umbro, host Marcus Marritt chats with Mark about his typographic series Premiership Legends, working from screen to 3D installation...

In the ninth fixture of the season, The Beautifully Designed Game sits down with apparel designer, graphic designer, free safety, and founder of Dilley Studio, Marcus Dilley. From the start of his journey in product design to architectural design and now apparel, host Marcus Marritt chats with Marcus about the process behind a kit design brief, working with Major League Soccer, the challenge of st...

Steven Bell joins the podcast team to talk about his book which details an incredible story of meteoric rise followed by devastating tragedy and the green shoots of recovery and redemption at Chapecoense. This is Steven's story about how he came to fall in love with Brazilian football and ultimately document its biggest tragedy.

Join Gary, Steven and Stuart as the team speak to documentary maker Gabriel Clarke about his new film featuring the former World Cup winner who went on to transform the Republic of Ireland's international standing in the game, Jack Charlton. The documentary covers his time as manager at three major international tournaments as well as an incredibly poignant look at his final days at home dealing w...

In a bonus edition of Today's Football Times, the team discuss Marcus Rashford and his ceaseless endeavours to highlight child poverty and campaign for greater support from the government. We talk about how he's used his platform as a footballer for good, the impact his actions have had, how his efforts have affected the perception of him and football, and what the future holds.

In the eighth fixture of the season, The Beautifully Designed Game sits down with sports branding specialist and brains behind the most unique of kit brands, Kit+Bone, Matt Pascoe. From the start of his journey designing the official kit for his hometown club to key insights in the print and production process, host Marcus Marritt chats with Matt about the birth of Bony, sharing kit memories, and...

In the seventh fixture of the season, The Beautifully Designed Game sits down with the groundbreaking creative talent of Scott McRoy. From producing ad campaigns for football boots, the process of art directing others, how best to use social for sharing, designing kits for computer games vs the physical world, why ‘The Streets Will Never Forget’ … and the small manner of scoring three goals at Anf...

Matt Wilkerson is the men's coach at Hanover Collete in Hanover, Indiana. Prior to arriving at Hanover, he was an assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at the University of Kentucky (2003-2011), overseeing the transition of various young stars from collegiate soccer to the professional game, at Major League Soccer and beyond. He opens up on his methods, philosophy and success with host Jo...

To accompany the new PSV magazine - made alongside the club and Puma - the podcast team sit down to discuss their memories of the Eindhoven giants, from the greats of the 1970s ad European Cup glory in 1988 to the abundance of world-class strikers and recent successes. 

The podcast team discuss a number of issues brought about by the current interpretation of the handball rules, as well as the troubled relationship between the England national team and the media. There is talk too of the impact of a lack of fans at non-league grounds, plus the great Nobby Stiles, the terrific Marcus Rashford, and bits on Saint Virgil and Jordan Pickford.

In the sixth fixture of the new season, The Beautifully Designed Game sits down with the ever adaptable, and always world-class, talent of Dave Flanagan. From his days as a design director to the constant evolution of his visual style, the importance of a professional approach, and working outside of sport with CNN, host Marcus Marritt chats with Dave about his love of the game, how he develops hi...

In the fifth fixture of the new season, The Beautifully Designed Game sits down with the uniquely talented Javier Arrés. From his early days as a goalkeeper in the 1990s, to his incredibly detailed visual toys, fantastical cities, ink drawing to crypto-art, host Marcus Marritt chats with Javier about his heroes of football, how he creates his intensely elaborate art, the politics of Barcelona,  hi...

Our very own Stuart Horsfield joins us to discuss his debut book looking at the beautiful idealism of the Brazil side that captured the hearts and minds of so many at the 1982 World Cup. The podcast team discuss the impact this side had on an impressionable ten-year-old, thoughts on Santana, Zico, Sócrates and co, and yes, Paolo Rossi too, as well as the lasting legacy of this glorious failure, to...

Our very own Steven Scragg joins us to talk about the follow-up to his Telegraph Sports Book of the Year-nominated Cup Winners' Cup book, A Tournament Frozen In Time. This time it is the UEFA Cup that gets the forensic treatment, as the halcyon days of the two-legged final and the different periods of domination by some of the "cool kids" of European football are explained and contextualised. This...

In the fourth fixture of the season, The Beautifully Designed Game podcast sits down with the doyen of football shirt knowledge that is Phil Delves. From his role as content creator at Football Shirt Collective to his own YouTube channel, Phil's Corner, host Marcus Marritt chats with Phil about his visual connection to the game, the magic of South America, embracing kit sponsors, the conundrum of...

In the latest Today's Football Times episode, the podcast team share their thoughts on Scotland and their decline in recent decades. They breakdown a myriad of factors that have contributed to this, how a side that once boasted the world's best is perceived now, and what can be done to address the malaise.

In the third fixture of the new season, The Beautifully Designed Game podcast sits down with the uber-talented Federico Manasse. From his home city of Milan, Federico joins Marcus Marritt, discussing life balance as a freelance illustrator and content creative at 433, why he loves the red and black of AC Milan, being influenced by the stylings of Asterix and Tintin, the challenge of reactive conte...

Our very own Gary Thacker has made his first foray into fiction and uses the beautiful game as the backdrop for his debut novel. Jon Moreton would have made it to the top-flight as a player: he had the mentality and ability, but his body let him down. An old friend, Charlie Broome, comes to the rescue and gives him a break. Managing struggling Spanish amateur side CD Retama, feathers are ruffled:...

In our second fixture of the new season, The Beautifully Designed Game continues with an-depth chat with a true trailblazer in the sporting creative world, Dan Leydon. From his base in Sligo, Ireland, Dan sits down with Marcus Marritt, discussing the events of 2012 that led him to combine his passion for football and drawing, why "it means more" to work for the club he loves, being influenced by T...

Over the past few years, we've travelled around the world and back in time to look at the inevitable links between football and politics. As the curtain falls on Political Football, we've jumped into our DeLorean and headed into the future. Join us as we venture into the murky waters and the political implications surrounding the upcoming World Cup in Qatar in 2022. 

Guided by our guest Matthew Gibbs, we trawl through the traumas and trials of the backdrop of the 2018 World Cup, the first in Eastern Europe. There are tales of deception, deceit and double-dealing, dodgy deals and dirty deeds. How did the World Cup end up in Russia? What issues were ignored, and why? We also look at the activities within the tournament itself and consider if this was the most po...

With echoes of social unrest and ethnic conflict causing tension in Germany, many thought the 2006 World Cup could be a political disaster for the hosts. After the tournament, however, the organisation, presentation and friendly atmosphere promoted made it an unmitigated success. As our guest Ewan Morgan explains, however, there were so many other things going both before and during the event that...

In 1994, the World Cup travelled to the USA. In this episode, we look at a tournament was shaped by the political climate of the time and American culture. If other World Cups had been commercialised, this was another level and would set the framework for so many other tournaments to follow.

Neville Southall was the last line of defence in Howard Kendall's wonderful Everton side of the 1980s, an iconic figure throughout the decade. His new book is an incredible insight into one of British football's all-time greats, discussing many contemporary topics which impact not only on footballers but on society. Neville joins us to talk even more sense about topics ranging from Adrian Heath to...

Kicking off the new season with an in-depth chat with sporting fine artist Phil Galloway, The Beautifully Designed Game brings you insights from a global squad of creative talent working in the football world. In this first episode, host Marcus Marritt sits down with Phil, discussing life as a full-time artist, his work in launching football kits and boots, illustrating Graeme Souness in a wig on...