(Un)informed Handball Hour

Hassan Moustafa has some opposition in his hopes to extend his IHF Presidency beyond 25 years. For the first time since 2009, the upcoming IHF Congress will see him challenged by Gerd Butzeck, Franjo Bobinac, and Tjark de Lange. We spoke to the most outspoken and leading challenger Gerd Butzeck about his campaign and key points on Olympic status, women's handball and global development. And hear f...

Norway were pushed all the way by a brave and spirited Germany performance but when everyone else looked shaky, Katrine Lunde stood firm in goal with a match-winning performance to sign off on a truly legendary career. We pay tribute to her and the other heroes of the championship with our Alternative Awards and look back at the final with help from Marcio Menino and Danijela Vekic.

While the quarter-finals were fairly straightforward affairs, they bring up some interesting trends that we dive into ahead of the final weekend of the World Championship. Defence leading the way, the demise of the right back and focusing on player growth among the topics as we bask in the business end of the tournament. To enjoy the rest of our coverage of the championship before anyone else, as...

We can finally start looking forward to the quarter-finals, beginning on Tuesday in Dortmund. Co-hosts Germany are on the hunt for their first world medal since 2007 and Maike Elger, who has been covering the championship for Sportschau in Germany, speaks to us about the tournament so far, the promotion of the team in German media and what they're capable of in the knockout rounds. And Laura Agena...

We begin a new week and a new month with a real World Championship treat. Faroe Islands captain Pernille Brandenborg joins us to speak about a historic first victory at this level against 2019 finalists Spain, the long journey with this team since her debut in 2016 and the reward of taking on hosts Germany on Tuesday night in the main round. Aleksa Pavicevic, creator of the brilliant @womenshandba...

It's part 2 of our Women's World Championship preview, where we look at the standout teams and interesting stories from groups B to H before the fun begins on Wednesday.

We begin Women's World Championship week with our preview of the tournament. We discuss where the sport currently stands in the midst of a surge in popularity in other women's sports, before diving into the first of the eight preliminary round groups. And we speak to Japan's Clare Francis Gray as she prepares for her second World Championship, hearing her thoughts on the team's development, new co...

Saturday evening in the Bundesliga makes for compulsory viewing with Berlin hosting Kiel and Flensburg taking on Magdeburg. Tim Dettmar of the 3. Halbzeit (3rd half) podcast joins to help us preview this Super Saturday and the big news so far in this Bundesliga season.

Confirming the news we shared last month, the Men's Champions League will have a new look next season. We dive into the new structure, what it means and what we think of it. And over on Patreon: Filip Jicha has signed a new contract with Kiel, ending speculation about his future. Better the devil you know?

We're just a month into the new Champions League season but we're already getting a glimpse at the bigger picture as we put the spotlight on three teams which have impressed us so far and three we are worried about. Patreon subscribers got a chance last week to hear from Scott Harrington, perhaps the most-established native English-speaking coach in world handball, now you get to as well. Sitting...

As is tradition, we dive into our full Bundesliga coverage with a few rounds under the belt to get a feel for what's actually happening in handball's strongest domestic league. Björn Pazen joins us to discuss the contrasting fortunes of the league's top dogs and who might emerge as this season's surprise package.

We launch the new handball season with a celebratory episode, reaching episode 300 of the podcast! In the eight years since we began, the handball world has changed a lot, so we look back at our first episodes to compare and contrast how things were and where we are today. Plus, we welcome Brian Campion back to the mic to celebrate with us.

As if the Bundesliga needs drama like this to garner attention! In one of the sport's most shocking turn of events in years, if not ever, Stefan Kretzschmar and Jaron Siewert have departed Fuchse Berlin. We dive into the timeline, the background and plenty more as we come to terms with a this news in an emergency morning club.

With HB Ludwigsburg filing for insolvency just over a year after reaching the Champions League final, the women's handball community has been dealt another major blow. Following Tobias Reichmann's column stated that women's handball should dream less, accept the reality and lower expectations, former German international and current team manager Anja Althaus bit back and led the charge in calling...

During and after the beach handball EURO in Türkiye, Chris had the chance to speak to an array of fascinating people in the beach handball community, to get their thoughts on the latest major championship, their personal perspectives and the sport in a wider sense. We hear from Germany's gold medal winner Severin Henrich, Greece's Labrina Tsakalou, Malta's Liam Harrison and EHF Beach Handball Comm...

We're in Türkiye for the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2025 and with the tournament at the halfway mark, it's a great time to check in with a couple of the protagonists. Liam Harrison is making his EURO debut with Malta and speaks about the experience so far, how the national team and sport have developed at home and what his hopes are for the future. Gabriella Horváth is both an EHF Executive Committee...

We look back at the Men's Junior World Championship and the lessons it has taught us about the present and future stars of the sport, plus we unpack the Champions League group phase draw.

SC Magdeburg are Champions League winners and while they may have made it look easy on Sunday, they've done it the hard way this season. We look back at their triumph over Berlin in the final and how they got there, from a losing record in the group phase, squeaking past Veszprém and Barca and the subtle but massive improvements since last year.

The biggest weekend of the handball calendar is upon us and we celebrate with a big preview of the showdown in Cologne with Björn Pazen and an interview with Vincent Gerard. The Champions League winner and Olympic gold medallist retired after Paris 2024 and battling through a tough season to even get there, but accepted the call from Barça after their own injury problems between the posts. We spea...

This is a teaser of our latest Morning Club episode, which is available in full exclusively on patreon.com/handballhour It's the wonderful time of the season where we're treated to multi-game league finals in countries like Hungary, Poland and Denmark, which are serving up plenty of drama and entertainment. Ahead of their impending first league title, Berlin announced a spicy new signing but the b...

Györ are the queens of Europe once again following a weekend where they did not trail for a single minute. We look at their journey to gold and where they had the edge over their Danish opponents, bask in the brilliant glow of Katrine Lunde and wonder where it all went wrong for the two teams still haunted by the semi-final curse.

It's time to discover the best women's team in Europe and we look forward to the FINAL4 by chatting to reigning champion Bruna de Paula as she and Györ aim to defend their crown in Budapest. We get Danijela Vekic and Adrian Costeiu together for the first time on the pod to discuss the four contenders, considering what makes Györ favourites again, how newcomers Odense will be a threat and whether E...

Flensburg retained their European League title over the weekend, thanks in no small part to a dominant performance by Kevin Møller in goal. We look back at the action and where the title was won and lost. Aron Palmarsson has announced his retirement at the age of 34, is this kind of player a dying breed? We discuss this and the postponed European Cup final in Skopje.

It's a massive week in the history of MT Melsungen as they compete for a European League title this weekend in Hamburg, then head to Berlin for a Bundesliga title eliminator on Thursday, so who better to speak about it than their biggest man - Dainis Krištopāns. We speak to Dainis about his unusual journey in handball, from Latvia via Slovakia, his development as an all-round player, the greatest...

Now that we know the semi-final lineup for the FINAL4, the countdown to Cologne can truly begin. We discuss both those who made it and fell at the final hurdle, plus Chris' own injury that will require no late-season replacements.