These Football Times

It was a tournament like no other, called the awkward sibling of the European Cup and the UEFA Cup. These Football Times' Steven Scragg talks about his brilliant debut book chronicling the history of the Cup Winners' Cup, and the wonderful randomness that made it such an engrossing, unpredictable and much-missed tournament. Head around Europe as he takes you on a tour of unrelenting nostalgia.

Tom Scholes talks to us about how Pep Guardiola's Barcelona plan was crystallised into a single season which saw them finish above José Mourinho's Real Madrid in the league, as well as defeating them over two classic semi-final fixtures to set up a date at Wembley against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United. It was a season of domination from a team that continued to refine the modern game.

Jimmy Greaves is arguably the greatest goalscoring talent English football has ever known, a precocious teenager at Chelsea who endured a doomed transfer to AC Milan but who later became a legend at Tottenham, battling alcoholism after retiring. We talk to David Tossell about his book on Greaves, Natural, and the striker's life.

Alcohol and football are strange but longstanding bedfellows. From the earliest origins of the game, the financial support of brewers and distillers has driven development. However, this relationship has hardly been chronicled. Bottled, by Ben Roberts, fills that gap and he joins us to discuss how alcohol has been and remains an important, divisive and tragic element in football.

An in-depth discussion and misty-eyed reminisce about one of the most exciting and exhilarating team's to ever play the game. Scoring 15 goals in five games, with each one a work of art, Brazil were the world's favourite side and seemed destined to win the World Cup playing a unique brand of Futebol Arte. Then they played Italy in one of the greatest World Cup fixtures of all ...

In what must be the most powerful and poignant episodes of the Political Football to date, Uri Levy takes us into the conflicted world of politics and football in Palestine. We discuss how the seemingly intractable issues of sovereignty, security, independence and liberty play out within the game across what is perhaps the most chronically troubled area of the globe. We look at players, clubs, gov...

Searching for games that offer the warm glow of his years spent watching Salisbury with his late grandfather, we caught up with author Mat Guy to discuss his fantastic book, Another Bloody Saturday, which delves into the essence of football away from the clean, crisp, wealthy world of the Premier League. Just why do people head out on windswept Saturday afternoons and wet Wednesday evenings to wat...

In the Basque city of Bilbao, supporting Athletic is less a sporting affiliation than an act of faith. Their policy of Basque-only players is a badge of honour, one that has cemented the club in the affections of the proud locals. Talking about Athletic without involving the politics of the region is a forlorn task, so we enlisted the help of Dan Parry, who's lived and taught in Bilbao for years.

The history of football in Northern Ireland is cross-cut with societal divides defined by religion and politics. Throughout the nation's turbulent history, the game has been buffeted - at times engulfed - by the waves of passion. It has also provided an arena where reconciliation, as well as rancour, can be displayed. Ben Roberts discusses his wonderfully empathetic book, Gunshots and Goalposts, w...

Political Football heads back to South America to take a look at one of the lesser footballing lights of the continent. Political turmoil in Venezuela is nothing new, but how that impacts on football may just be. A country of 32 million had, until the 2019 Copa America, struggled to make any meaningful impression on the continent's biggest sport, but that's now changing. Baseball's supremacy is be...

The Women's World Cup gave another boost to the growing momentum in women's football, as the success of the Lionesses captured the imagination of so many football fans, both male and female. Indeed, the semi-final between England and the USA produced the BBC's best viewing figures for the year so far. With women's football on a steep upward trajectory., Lynsey Hooper joined us to discuss how the g...

Some lost limbs, even heads; others just pride. Subbuteo was far more than just a game: it was a defining memento, a living organism, for a generation of children long before FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer.

Every club can boast one: the gifted youngster who defied expectations by not becoming the next George Best or the next Paul Gascoigne. Fated for greatness, only to fall by the wayside. On the latest episode of The Lob, we speak to author and journalist Ryan Baldi about his book The Next Big Thing, where he collaborated with a number of current and former players to tell the story of football's lo...

Professional football in Indonesia may be relatively new, but its impact on society and politics has been immediate and far-reaching. Clubs owned by the elite in search of a laundered image, violent ultras that have come to dominate, and rampant corruption all form part of the game. Throw in a government that sees football as a diversion from its ills and you have a heady brew.

Author James Hendicott, the man behind the excellent CONIFA: the untold story of the alternative World Cup, joins Stuart Horsfield and Jordan Florit to discuss one of the game's most intriguing tournaments, bringing together displaced people and teams in a show of solidarity and opportunity markedly different from the world of FIFA.

An in-depth discussion with Steven Scragg and Jeff Goulding on how reigning champions Liverpool - led by Bob Paisley and featuring a star-studded line-up - overcame defeat in the first round of the European Cup to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest to produce a domestic season of such quality that it remains one of the greatest in English football history.

Senior writer Paul Mc Parlan, who watched Everton all season, discusses how Howard Kendall’s Toffees progressed from surprise FA Cup winners in 1984 to dominating the First Division, winning the Cup Winners’ Cup and narrowly missing out on the treble. A side full of youth and talent, spearheaded by the irrepressible And Gray and Graeme Sharp, this is the story of an Everton team like no other.

Academy Award-winning director and the man behind Senna and Amy joins the Lob to discuss his new film Maradona, and in-depth insight into the Argentine's turbulent time in Naples with Napoli.

After previously focusing on World War One, author and journalist David Díaz Bejarano returns to the series to discuss the interaction of football and politics before, during and after World War Two. We examine how the changes in the game in the inter-war years made football a potent political tool for the different ideologies as war approached, the way the football and footballers were often mani...

The 1982 World Cup was a tournament of legendary highs, great games, wonderful goals and endless controversy. From Brazil's Ginga and Italy's catenaccio to the swagger of France and the machine of West Germany, for those who watched it, it remains a finals that England, too, should have excelled at, boasting a superb squad. Join Stuart Horsfield and Steven Scragg as they talk to Gary Jordan about...

The FA Cup final, once the centrepiece of the football season and the game kids dreamed of scoring the winning goal in, was a unique match for many in the UK and beyond. Now largely an afterthought, join Stuart Horsfield, Steven Scragg, Aidan Williams and Dan Williamson as they recall their favourite finals and where the competition lost itself.

Author and journalist David Díaz Bejarano focuses on the interaction of football and politics before, during and after World War One. How did the global game continue, and progress, during the greatest conflict the planet had ever known? From women's football and the heroes who died in conflict, to using the sport as a propaganda tool, this is how the game remained relevant during the devastation.

With history weighing them down and defeat in the opening game, the world's best team, Spain - champions at Euro 2008 - were expected to crumble at the 2010 World Cup, the first in Africa. But they would rise to the challenge, becoming one of the greatest modern winners, cementing a generation of brilliant stars into folklore. Journalist and author Euan McTear recalls Spain's greatest vintage for...

An in-depth discussion on Ajax's third successive European Cup-winning campaign for My Side, a celebration of the best teams we've ever seen. What impact did the departure of Rinus Michels to Barcelona and the arrival of Ștefan Kovács have on Europe's best team? How good was Johan Cruyff and his support cast? This is the story of how Ajax completed their domination of the continent in the early 19...

The Political Football podcast launches into series three with a look at contemporary Spain and, in particular, the issue of potential independence for Catalunya. Expertly guided and advised by Madrid-based journalist and author Euan McTear, we discuss how current affairs have affected Spanish football and, should the independence movement triumph, what the implications may be for Barcelona and ot...