Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast

In the last episode of our Euro 88 special, Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by Jonathan O’Brien to discuss the final in Munich and the tournament as a whole. They look at whether the suspended Oleg Kuznetsov would have changed the game, why we remember the Netherlands so fondly and whether a goal as extraordinary as Marco van Basten’s can create the illusion of inevitability. This episode was first aired on 31 July 2023 If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1988 semi finals were a clash of cultures. History provided all the backdrop required in Hamburg as the Dutch sought revenge for the 1974 and much more besides whereas the USSR and Italy played out a clash of aesthetics in Stuttgart. Martyn, Mike and Rob are joined by Jonathan O'Brien who made is ND debut on this show. This episode was first aired on 24 July 2023 If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn, Gary and Rob rave about a teenage Paolo Maldini, discuss English football's obsession with individual heroism, question an iconic hat-trick and celebrate a partnership from the future: Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten This episode was first aired on 10 July 2023 If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was jeopardy for those who still had a fighting chance of the semi finals. Spain realistically needed to beat West Germany in Munich with Italy only needing a draw against Denmark and the following day the Dutch needed to beat the Irish who knew that they probably only needed a draw as England limped to the end of their road against the USSR. This episode was first aired on 17 July 2023 If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The very modern European Championships, saved four years ago from ruin, kicked off with the experienced hosts against a vibrant young Italy, a shambolic game but a familiar outcome between Denmark and Spain, England's "FA Cup tie" against the Republic of Ireland and the mouthwatering prospect of the Dutch against the Soviet Union. This episode was first aired on 6 July 2023 If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our journey reaches the European Championships of 1988 but thankfully, we've already covered it in-depth already. For those of you who haven't already enjoyed it, we are re-releasing it this week. Episode 1 is Martyn's Nessun Dorma debut as he, Rob and Gary look ahead to a tournament that David Lacey described as one that "should set new standards on the field". He wouldn't be far off... This episode was first aired on 26 June 2023. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In what is fast becoming one of our most enjoyable shows, Aidan Williams joins Martyn to go over how qualifying for Euro '88 took shape. England look like world beaters and the Dutch could have been watching on from home. And for those who just missed out, there are signs of what was to come in the following decade. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It wasn't exactly a goal fest but the closing stages of the 1992 European Championships still held enough dramatic narrative to be worthy of a retrospective. Besides Denmark's fairy tale in the neighbour's back yard it is more the time that tells the story. Possibly the last tournament before the power of globalisation changed that summer experience, mixed perceptions for the two home nations if the same result and some big hitters in transition. Neil Frederick Jensen's Rise Of The North can be found here If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've all read tales from match-going fans where the sights and smells of the ground leap off the page from famous nights. But what about those crucial games where fans cannot make it. Ticketless, on the other side of the world, working or just too far away. These stories make for an engaging format as Gary Sherrard details 12 Newcastle United games in his adult life that he had to keep on top of from afar. Miles Away can be found here. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is new book season out there so the ND Book Club returns for a few weeks to highlight some new footballing tomes that are now hitting the shelves. First up Marc Higginson joins Martyn to talk about account of Manchester City in the 1990s. Chaotic, humiliating, entertaining and culturally resonant, this is a well-written and personal account of a decade that would test any football fan. The guys discuss boardroom instability, some missed opportunities, the cult draw of Kinkladze, the cultural behemoth of Oasis and, in light of recent events, how the more recent past compares within the support and the watching neutral, many of whom moved from fondness to bitterness. You can find the book here and in all the usual places. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sir Tom Finney described the 5-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest "one of the finest exhibitions of football" he had ever seen in his life and one that "will never be bettered". After only their second barren season in twelve years, Liverpool roared back to the top of English football with a style and elan that has arguably never been bettered. Aidan Williams joins Martyn to revisit a blistering campaign in a strange 21-team division as well as discussing Gazza's big breakout season, Fergie's first challenge, a controversial managerial change at White Hart Lane and a Chelsea relegation with accompanying rioting. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was a bonus season for works' teams as Philips and Bayer both got to revel in the reflected glory of PSV and Leverkusen in European competition. There was also the fairytale in Mechelen, some ridiculous comebacks in the UEFA Cup and Graeme Souness up to his old tricks. Martyn and 80s&90sFootball's Michael Hamlen run us through perhaps the last of this collection of chaotic seasons in European competition before Serie A restore some order soon. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a long wait, Mike, Mac and Gary return to do battle as Martyn is the ultimate judge of their sporting knowledge and strength of argument in choosing the strongest line up from the sporting year of 1986. Sportsman, Sportswoman, Team, Single Achievement, Surprise and Minute of Action are the categories. Will Maradonna be picked first? Will Gary educate us with some obscure story? And will someone please think of Fatima Whitbread? Let us know who you think should have won! If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If the 1980's was a high peak for FA Cup Finals then 1988's version arguably made the most impact. Communications Director for AFC Wimbledon now and loyal fan when the biggest waves were emanating from SW19, Marc Jones joins us to retrace the steps of a famous cup run, to argue that the 'fairytale' tag is a little unfair, how the club fostered that dressing room spirit and overcame the loss of their leader in the summer of 1987 and go on and make history. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The book club is back at the same time, by sheer coincidence, as European football. Martyn's guest this time is Dan Williamson, whose previous works have focused on South American football but this time is a lot closer to home. It is 35 years since Manchester United won the European Cup Winner's Cup in Rotterdam and the two discuss the run, its significance, the importance of the beaten finalist in mythology and why it was such a false dawn for English football in Europe in the 1990s. Dan's book can be found here https://amzn.eu/d/05GCyRX2 If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Not for the first time, Milan was the city powering change in the game of football. Did season 1987/88 see the birth of the finest club side of all time? Martyn and Dominic Hougham discuss how the shoe salesman assembled and moulded a legendary team, how the Scudetto was won - and lost - and how the impact of this season on the modern game is still being felt now. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for less than £5 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the eve of the 1987/88 Scottish season, few pundits gave Celtic any hope of having a successful year for their 100th birthday. Four of their best players had disappeared for bigger leagues and they had called upon an old hero to take the reins after getting two clubs relegated the year before. But Billy McNeill would draw upon the emotional resonance of the season, along with some clever signings, to bring their rivals down a peg or two and claim a sensational double Lawrence Donegan and Martyn relive a fascinating season in Scottish football with some highs on the pitch and some disgraceful lows on the terracing. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for only £3 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During 1987/88, the world's oldest football competition would officially turn 100. Suffering insecurity in a post-Heysel world, the Football League pulled out all of the stops to remind everyone of their prestige. A game between the champions of England and one of Europe's big names to show UEFA how well fans could behave (but not one against the champions of Scotland because they feared that they wouldn't), a convoluted mini-tournament that high profile managers could barely turn up for but before all of that the best of the Football League would take on the best of the entire world at Wembley. Could the main man be persuaded to join them? How many would turn up to boo? Mike talks us through a fascinating and telling bit of football history. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for only £3 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Graham's Arsenal seemed set to retain their League Cup under a beautiful spring Wembley sky as an interesting final reached the final ten minutes following the familiar script of the underdog going ahead, failing to get a second and getting reeled back in before the end. What happened next defied all narrative norms and created the high point for Luton Town's enjoyable stay at the top flight. Luton fan and former radio presenter Steve Moore is with us to talk about the impact of Ray Harford, the potential of an unlikely Wembley treble and how important it is to make the most of your time in the sun. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for only £3 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn and Mike get together to remember the life and impact of Kevin Keegan. Inspired by Patron Kevin Alexander's collection of questions, the guys ponder how much of his charm was linked to glorious failure, what he was like in person, how he was a second wave trailblazer in his career and how different Nessun Dorma would be without him. If you want these weekly bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month (less than 75p a week!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices