With reluctant apologies for some of the sound quality (free podcasts sometimes can't do much about technical problems - you know how it is) Football Fives is delighted to unveil its latest weekly podcast episode about football things and that. This week we're talking about Brits abroad, or at least the footballing variety thereof. The panel's down to three this week - honestly, it's been an absolute disaster - so it falls to Daniel Storey, David Hartrick and Ryan Keaney to mull over the key questions about those pioneers who board the ferry and head for the continent and beyond, the players and managers who step outside the perceived norms and create their own path. And Joe Hart. We tip our hats to our favourite travelling players and managers before going in two-footed on John Hartson's comments about Oliver Burke's move to Germany and whether English football is to blame for its players' lack of adventure. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

In a move that's almost guaranteed to ensure that the Football Fives Podcast falls flat before its time, this week's episode is a typhoon of self-referential nonsense. It's a year or two too soon for that kind of thing, but there you go. We're a man down this week, so thanks to the United Kingdom's rail infrastructure for that. In this episode Daniel Storey, David Hartrick and Chris Nee cruise back through four questions from Football Fives passim, discussing whether or not our views have changed in the intervening period. We look at the loan system, football's worst arguments, the next first-time Ballon d'Or winner and a fantasy relegation. Finally, we disappear up our own hole by asking which episode of Football Fives is our favourite so far. One of the panel did offer his resignation upon discovering this question but a huge pay rise has compromised his integrity, so we'll be back to full-strength next week. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

Yes, yes. We're a day late again. Sorry. (We're not.) It's all about international football this week and it's international football where we put our focus in this, the latest episode of the Football Fives Podcast. Daniel Storey is too busy to talk to the rest of us at the moment - although we note he's still active on the Twitters - so we're down to three. David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee tackle five questions about the international game in this week's show. We discuss the role of the captain at national team level, with a bit of a focus on Wayne Rooney and England, and ask which single change we'd make to Sam Allardyce's first England squad. Some of us even looked at the squad list first. We talk about Scotland's World Cup 2018 pressure, ask whether national team managers should have to be native to the country they're managing, and we reveal which team we'd adopt if FIFA allowed supporters to file a one-time switch. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

This week's Football Fives Podcast puts the spotlight on the serious side of the game, so we're sorry about that. The full panel is present to talk morals, standards and scandals in what begin as one of our 'anything goes' episodes but took a sinister turn when it came to actually coming up with questions. Don't worry. We're seeking help. Daniel Storey, David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee discuss the pros and cons of football fanaticism in the modern game, and get bogged down in the question of just how far a player could push the moral boundaries before becoming unforgivable. We ask whether it's okay for fans to "transfer" from one team to another and debate the virtues of Olympics football. And, because everything else in this week's episode is so bloody miserable, we reminisce about our favourite players to ever successfully switch positions. We're nothing if not laser-focused. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

All four members of the Football Fives Podcast panel regularly attend actual football matches. The smell of Deep Heat and Bovril on the wind, the creak of the turnstile, having footballs kicked at you deliberately by opposition players - it's what we all live for. But not one of us is above watching football on television. And, with thanks to listener and friend of the show Mark Booth, that's our focus this week. In our 56th show Daniel Storey, David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee are building one of our somehow-not-patented fantasy five-a-side teams, only this time we're taking our choices away from the field of play and into the TV and radio studios and gantries of the past and present. The format is simple: each of us has a choice for a studio anchor and two pundits, a commentator and a co-commentator. We make our case, argue a bit, laugh at Dan's choices and then decide on the media heavyweights to take their place in our final line-up. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

The Football Fives podcast is back to strength this week and it's just as well, because our 55th episode is a Premier League special. Part preview, part nostalgia and part chaos, this episode is our wonky way of marking the beginning of the 2016/17 Premier League season. It's heading our way this weekend and at least two of us sort of care. By 'us' we mean Daniel Storey, David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee, who this week turn their hand to five questions about the almighty top flight of the English game. We revisit our favourite Premier League seasons and look ahead to the forthcoming one, highlighting what we'll be looking out for and making a few predictions along the way. We also argue about whether pre-season gets too much coverage, talk about whether transfer fees in the elite game have become essentially meaningless, and celebrate our recommendation from Manchester City by talking quite a lot about Manchester United. Welcome to the party, City fans! Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

The English football season returns this weekend and we're all over it like a cheap suit. The FA Cup Extra-Preliminary Round begins on Friday and so too does the Football League Championship, one of three divisions we're probably expected to refer to as the EFL now, but won't. And it's in the second division we dwell this week. The Football Fives Podcast is a man down this week so it's Daniel Storey, David Hartrick and Chris Nee who tackle five pertinent questions loosely corralled into a kind of Championship preview. We identify our players to watch, predict our promoted trio for 2016/17 and examine some of the issues facing the division. We ask whether the Championship is a good place to send players on loan, whether it (and other divisions) should enforce a single price point for away tickets, and we discuss the few pros and many cons of the effects Financial Fair Play and parachute payments have on the level of competition. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

It's Thursday, which can mean many things. One of them is a new episode of the Football Fives Podcast, proud anthem jacket sponsor of Coventry Sphinx FC. Well, they're not really anthem jackets but that's what we're calling them because we're so thoroughly modern. We digress. This week's episode is our fourth pub quiz, a now-traditional abomination headed up on this occasion by Daniel Storey, who got so carried away that he forgot that FIVES is kind of in our name, and came up with seven rounds. His victims on this occasion are our regular panelists: David Hartrick, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee. So sit back, relax and tolerate 55 minutes of umms, aahs and swearing as three men expose their lack of football knowledge, laying themselves bare for the listening public. But whose lack of knowledge is smallest? Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

One year down and another begins. The Football Fives Podcast begins its second season this week, and we've taken the typically obtuse approach of putting out an episode that was recorded before the end of the last one. Yeah, we know. On this occasion it's one of our occasional blind episodes, in which one of the panel sets the topic and questions without the other three knowing in advance what they'll be talking about. It's Chris Nee's turn this time around, and Daniel Storey, David Hartrick and Ryan Keaney are tested with five questions on the subject of fair play. We debate whether it's okay to cheat, how highly we should value fair play and whether fair play should be rewarded with real sporting advantages. We talk about the change to the law regarding red cards for DOGSO in the penalty area, and we reveal whether or not we'd ever miss a penalty on purpose. Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes

So, UEFA EURO 2016, eh? Good or bad, dull or exciting, we can all agree that this was indeed a tournament of football. In order to wrap up the Football Fives Podcast's run of European Championships shows we're leaning on an old favourite: the major tournament review show. We've done World Cup 2014, World Cup 1998 and EURO 2000 but this time we're only going back a week. With David Hartrick sidelined this week's show is manned by Daniel Storey, Ryan Keaney and Chris Nee, who pick through the standard five tournament review questions, beginning with an indulgent examination of the performances of England and Northern Ireland. Sorry, other British Isles teams - this one's about partisanship. The other four questions give us the opportunity to talk about the rest of the tournament. What were our favourite games and goals? What will we remember above all else? And, controversially, did the right team take the tin pot? Submit a question: show[at]footballfivespodcast.com Listen to the show: Click to play / right-click to download (MP3) Import to podcatcher of choice (feed) Subscribe in iTunes