This week’s Behind The Lines is a special episode as part of The42’s Genius Week, in which we celebrate the genius of the late Hugh McIlvanney. We’re delighted to be joined by Gary Lineker to do so, who became a friend of McIlvanney’s, and delivered a eulogy at his funeral.

Gary also shares his memories of McIlvanney, and his opinions on what made him the best sportswriter of them all. 

(We also learn a bit about Lineker’s fledgling sportswriting career before he got on with the business of being one of the greatest goalscorers in English football history.)

McIlvanney is the most-cited writer across our 29 episodes to date, and this episode also features contributions from Donald McRae, Alan English, Miguel Delaney and Danny Kelly. 

Behind the Lines is available exclusively to members of the42. To sign up and gain access to a host of podcast series, special offers and exclusive newsletters, insights and stories, head over to members.the42.ie. 

Get in touch with the show - email behindthelines@the42.ie, or tweet @gcooney93.

Behind The Lines: The genius of Hugh McIlvanney

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Sports

We’re back!

Kicking off a new series run of Behind the Lines is Professor of History at UCD, Paul Rouse. Get the full episode by subscribing to The42 now!

Across a sprawling, fascinating conversation, we discuss Paul’s new book, Sport in Modern Irish Life, and how he broke new ground to give sport the academic rigour and respect it warrants. Paul explains why ‘sportswashing’ does not adequately explain the involvement of nation states in modern sport, and we also discuss how the GAA adopted convenient but false stories in its early decades to align itself with political nationalism. Why did the GAA do this, what damage did it cause, and what is the legacy of this mythmaking today? Paul also lays out the difficult questions the GAA must ask itself to make itself fit for purpose in modern-day Ireland.

Paul also defends the spectacle of modern-day Gaelic football, explains what everyone got wrong about Saipan, and runs us through his lecture series on Muhammad Ali and picks the sportsperson whose career and life could be used to explain the world today.

Writing-wise, Paul recommends:
The Pursuit of Perfection: The Life, Death and Legacy of Cormac McAnallen by Dónal McAnallen
The Hurley Maker’s Son by Patrick Deeley
The Grass Ceiling by Eimear Ryan

Behind the Lines: Paul Rouse

In the fourth and penultimate episode of The42’s exclusive podcast series ‘On the Right Wing’, Enda Coll explores the role that former football hooligans played in the establishment and rise of the right-wing group The English Defence League. 

With Professor Jon Garland from the University of Surrey, they track the birth of the group, the overlap in those involved with previous football firm members, and the EDL stands out as a unique occurrence. 

Plus, Senior football news reporter with the Athletic, Matt Slater joins to discuss the improvement in fan behaviour through the 1990s and beyond, but how there was fear that antisocial behavior was on the rise in the post-COVID seasons.

On the Right Wing: The English Defence League, the Euros and the rise of cocaine use

In the third episode of the series, Enda Coll explores the world of Italian football and why the league has historically had issues with fascist showcasing inside their grounds. To do so, he goes back in time with Simon - author of 'Football and Fascism: The National Game under Mussolini' - to understand how much Italy's fascist past impacts the modern-day league.

Plus, Italian football writer Paddy Agnew explains how organised crime has infiltrated the stadiums, how they use the ultra movement to their advantage and the issues the authorities have had when trying to deal with it.

On the Right Wing - Ep3: Italy - The Phoenix of Fascism

In a special edition of Behind the Lines, The Journal Editor, Sinead O'Carroll takes over hosting duties of the podcast. She's joined in studio by journalist and broadcaster Cliona Foley, by Irish Times sports writer Mary Hannigan and by The 42's Emma Duffy. They discuss their careers working in the sports media as women, the early days of covering women's sport and how it has developed, the struggles they still face fighting for proper coverage of women's sport and they look ahead to the excitement of the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Behind the Lines - Women's World Cup Special

In the second episode of the series, Enda Coll explores the world of German football and its heterogeneous fan culture. Charting the rise of hooliganism in the country from the 1980's onwards, he looks at the clamping down on football by authorities after the World Cup in France in 1998, the rise of the Ultra scene, the role that some football hooligans played in the anti-lockdown protests during COVID and the Neo-Nazis in that group, who are training professionally in gyms.

Get the full podcast by subscribing - The42.ie/podcasts/

Behind The Lines: The genius of Hugh McIlvanney

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