Football Ruined My Life

• 98. 1985

  Was 1985 English football’s darkest year?  There could be a number of nominations for this much coveted title but 1985 contained the tragedies of Heysel Stadium and the Bradford City fire.  Weeks before these events the sixth round FA Cup replay between Luton Town and Millwall degenerated into a shocking riot.  The average attendance at a Division One match in 1972 had been over 30,000.  By 1985 that had slumped to just 18,374.  No British team had qualified for the Euros in France in 1984 so no British television channel bothered to cover it, so low was the interest in the game.  Football in 1985 said the Sunday Times was a slum sport played in slum stadiums and increasingly watched by slum people.  Jim White, Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes discuss whether or not that withering verdict was justified. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• 97. The One With David Pleat

  David Pleat has been in football so long that most supporters have forgotten that he started out as a player for Nottingham Forest, Luton and Shrewsbury Towns, Exeter City and Peterborough United.  He has been a sensible pundit on radio and television for many years following a successful managerial career at Luton Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday and Nuneaton Borough.  David has now published his very interesting autobiography Just One More Goal which reveals just how dramatically the game has changed since he began his life in football when Harold Macmillan was still the Prime Minister. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• 96. Pundits

  Andy Hamilton returns to join Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes as they discuss the contentious subject of football pundits.  By pundits, they mean those know-it-alls who are either very wise after the event, are outstanding at stating the bleeding obvious or are as clueless as the rest of us when it comes to predicting the future.  Yet somehow, they have become increasingly important in the broadcasting of football on radio and particularly television.  Indeed the BBC Director General, guided by the new BBC Head of Sport, recently told us that audiences would prefer to listen to the pundits rather than watch the highlights of the match.  Contentious?  We should say so.  In the days of Kenneth Wolstenholme and David Coleman, John Motson and Barry Davies there were very few pundits besides Jimmy Hill and we related largely to those commentators unless there was a World Cup panel.  Why have the pundits become so important in recent years? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• 95. Is English football still recognisably English?

  This week Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler are joined by Omid Djalili to ask the question, “How English is the English football pyramid?”  Of course, football reflects society and since we all began watching football, British society has changed out of all recognition.  If you look at old football matches on The Big Match Revisited on ITV4 on Saturday mornings and other archive film programs you can see how different it was 40 years also ago and how widely British society has changed since then - not just off the field but also on the field.  There is no question that many of the imports into the game from the rest of the world have been a blessing, not least skilful players who have added to the pleasure of the crowds who went to watch them.  However, the sheer number of players playing in the English football game who are not English, Welsh, Scottish or Irish might be to some a cause of concern.  The idea of the one club man who spent his entire career with his local club has passed into History.  Is the globalisation of the game something to celebrate or regret? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• 94. England Managers After Sir Alf Part 3

  Jim White returns to contribute to the last in our series of podcasts about the England managers which takes the panel from Sven to Thomas Tuchel and the glories that lie ahead for the England football team - which is usually a reminder that they haven’t won anything since 1966.  In the name of Allah go, they said to Bobby Robson.  Yanks 2 Planks 0 the Sun helpfully pointed out to Graham Taylor.  We know that the press, not just The Sun, can be very hostile and extremely rude to England managers.  Are the national managers judged by a different yardstick from ordinary club managers?  Are the press just waiting for England managers to fail so they can pile in on them?  Jim White tries to defend his profession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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