International Break, Dodgy Firesticks and Death Row Meals
VAR. XG. Inverted wing backs. The game has well and truly gone.Via his very own podcast, Steve Bracknall, Sunday league assistant manager and viral sensation, is going to bring it back.Direct from the dressing room of his team Royal Oak FC, he'll be joined by gaffer Paul Sampson and physio Bob the Bucket. Every Thursday they'll make sense of all of the week’s footballing news and bring you updates from the Oak...In the first episode we'll chat about the international break, Firestick Dean (who is not in any way connected with Royal Oak FC), and death row meals.Marching on, together as one. Steve.Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is performed and written by Chris McClure, and is a Persephonica production for BBC SoundsCredits: Producer: Ad Ahmed
Video Producer/Editor: Matt Exton
Production Coordinator: Rose Wilcox
Executive Producer: Dino Sofos
Commissioning Executive for the BBC: Stevie Middleton
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Steve TrenchardBackground:
Royal Oak FC was founded in 1997 in the back room of the Royal Oak pub by Steve
Bracknall and Paul Sampson. Despite decades of effort, the team still fights for
survival in the fifth tier of the Sheffield Sunday Imperial League. When a viral clip
catapulted Steve to fame in 2024, the BBC came calling - and Game’s Gone was
born.Hosts of the podcast:Steve Bracknall
Assistant manager at Royal Oak FC, Steve Bracknall is to many the lifeblood of the
club. Having agreed to front the club in terms of marketing and PR, Steve is the link
between the fans and the club. No one cares about the Oak like Steve. Loving
husband to Our Nikki and doting father to Our Olivia, come Sunday Steve is
transformed into passionate assistant who would literally die for the cause. He cites
man management as his strong point. Paul Sampson
First team manager and lifelong friend of Steve Bracknall. Paul originally formed the
club with Steve. In recent years his commitment to the club has come under scrutiny
especially after buying a time share in Tenerife and going on multiple golfing trips
mid-season leaving Steve to hold the fort. He still has the final say over any tactical
decisions that are made much to the annoyance of Steve.Bob the Bucket
Club physio and general caretaker Bob the Bucket has been with the club for over
ten years. No one really knows why and when he joined but he did. General job roles
include putting up nets, filling water bottles alongside prevention and rehab of all Oak players.
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Welcome to Game's Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast
Steve Bracknall - the self-proclaimed saviour of grassroots football - takes a weekly deep dive into the murky world of the modern game whilst desperately trying to hold his ramshackle Sunday league team together.
According to Steve Bracknall, the introduction of VAR, billion-pound TV deals and inverted wing backs are all a product of a game that doesn’t represent the average football fan anymore. Seen through the eyes of the Sunday league assistant manager, ‘Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast’, attempts to make sense of the beautiful game and recapture the hearts and minds of the people it claims to represent.Sharp, witty, and unapologetically honest, Bracknall’s weekly rants are for anyone who longs for the days when football made sense. Set against the backdrop of a muddied changing room, and alongside first team manager Paul Sampson and club “physio” Bob the bucket, Bracknall relates the problems experienced by the likes of Pep Guardiola to that of his own in the Sheffield Sunday Imperial league. All the while the trio try to navigate the multitude of BBC editorial guidelines in an effort not to get “cancelled”. Game’s Gone has all the drama of the Premier League but on a bargain basement budget. It has ego, rivalry, corruption, and financial mismanagement - but instead of being played out in front of an 80,000-seater stadium, it unfolds in a mud-covered Sunday league changing rooms via a weekly BBC podcast.
Steve Bracknall - the self-styled saviour of grassroots football - takes weekly digs at the modern game while trying to hold his shabby Sunday league team, Royal Oak FC, together.
According to Steve Bracknall, the introduction of VAR, billion-pound TV deals and inverted wing backs are all a product of a game that doesn’t represent the average football fan anymore. Seen through the eyes of the Sunday league assistant manager, ‘Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast’, attempts to make sense of the beautiful game and recapture the hearts and minds of the people it claims to represent.
Bracknall’s weekly rants are for anyone who longs for the days when football made sense. Set in the muddied changing room, alongside first team manager Paul Sampson and club “physio” Bob the bucket, Steve will set the footballing world to rights.Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure. This is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds.
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