We're still struggling with World Cup fever!

In this episode, Jack and I discuss creation myths. There's loads of them and some of them are absolutely bonkers. It's lovely stuff. However, the birth of the beautiful game in faraway lands is sometimes even weirder. Why did the Japanese shout "oooh!" every time they kicked a ball? Why are the mighty Saints to blame for the five World Cups won by Brazil (hint, it's got nothing to do with binoculars or trees)? And why, oh why, did the Egyptians want to beat the English so badly? Okay... you can probably guess the last one.

In today's episode we take you through some of the earliest accounts of football around the world - and explain why Messi should be able to beat up Ronaldo.

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

In this week's (late, I know - we're sorry) episode, Jack and I discuss the enigmatic philosopher Jacques Derrida as we hastily retreat back from any possibly pending FIFA lawsuits.

Derrida, or as we like to now call him, Toto, pulls back the curtain of time to discuss how the past constantly haunts us. Football might just be the most haunted sport of all: think about Best and Beckham's number 7 (forever haunting Beckham now considering his daughter's name); think about England's singular star on their white shirt; reflect on that absolute sitter your team's star striker spooned into the corner flag... The past never really leaves us, it's always right there along with the present.

Football's hard enough to predict with the past forever obscuring our vision of the present, let alone when we add in Derrida's understanding of ' the event', a totally unpredictable thing that defers its meaning (we'll only really know players by the legacy they leave behind), disturbs binaries (transcends the game - I'm looking at you Bobby Zamora), and reshapes the match (look no further than Wazza's bicycle shinner vs City).

Overall, Derrida's philosophy shows us the sheer chaos of our wonderful game - which has never been more on show than it is in the States right now. The greatest show on earth!

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

In this episode Jack and I discuss corruption, plain and simple.Is a cryo chamber elite recovery or just posh cheating? This week, we tackle the murky line between gamesmanship and outright rule-breaking, from the days when lifting weights was “ungentlemanly” to the small matter of FIFA, World Cups, and suitcases full of suspicious cash.

We sprint through Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Montesquieu to ask: who decides what counts as cheating, and why does it always seem to involve billion-dollar tournaments in America? Expect corruption, classic philosophy, and a few absurd detours as we try (and probably fail) to play fair. Next week: Derrida - bring a dictionary!

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

In this episode, Adam and Jack see how philosophy can helpus frame and properly discuss ‘cheating’ in the beautiful game. With Southampton interns doing a somehow worse job than Adam pantomiming as a tree in his Year 1 nativity scene, one has to ask, ‘is this really what the game has come to?’

We set the scene with Spygate and then Jack regales us withtales about  Greek gods, Immanuel Kant, Machiavelli, and one of the greatest half-French philosophers of our time, the controversial figure of Joey Barton.

The fun doesn't stop there either: we apply this all over the place Rangers vs Dynamo Kyiv, Jose Mourinho vs the world, right down to how Spurs weren't ever going to get relegated due to Adam's buy-in to a conspiracy theory originally proposed by... James Corden. Who says philosophy is only for those in ivory towers?

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

That's folks, the end of season 2. I know, I know, you're sad. But fear not! We'll be back bigger and better than ever before in time for season 3.

For now, satiate your appetite for all things FFP with this episode loosely based on reward and punishment, promotions and relegations, the Greek God Bacchus, Jack's need for therapy, and, of course, the Mighty Magyars and their legacy.

We hope you enjoy it!

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

Intriguingly, 'ultra' comes from the Latin 'ultrā', meaning 'to go beyond'. In this episode, Jack and I discuss football's ultras, from Partick Thistle through to Milan to ask the question: what is it that they do?

Jack invokes some ancient and modern philosophy to tell us why the 'ultra' phenomenon is so ingratiated into football's psyche. Can singing that Huddersfield Town fans shag dogs really provide a much-needed sense of belonging? Can you really have a party if there's no flares? Will Jack stop flip flopping on the verisimilitude of Irish bars abroad? Find out in this week's episode, our second season's penultimate!

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

Sound Effect by: https://pixabay.com/users/alexis_gaming_cam-50011695/M - Pixabay

Football just might be the greatest story ever told. However, inhis famous novel Nausea Jean-Paul  Sartre warns us of astark decision we have to make, 'We have to choose: live or tell!' His character Roquentin (admittedly a bit of a miserable bastard) says we impose a narrative on our lives which without them are chaotic, raw and meaningless. But if we are honest we should have the cojones to live truthfully, no narrative just raw chaos!

League football was set up in England in 1888 bringing ithierarchies, an order, and an endgame to football. In other words a narrative.

Now the beautiful game has been organised into the greatest story with histories, myths, legends and dramas. It also has a point, which makes it non-existentialist. But was Wham! right? Should we 'choose life' or go with the stories? At FFP we're asking a question that is at the heart of the organised chaos that we call football.  

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

Sorry we 're late everyone! In this reactive episode, Jack and I discuss the religiosity of football: just how religious is it? From Jack being a football heretic and actually being a rugby man (unbelievable, I know - you should write in and tell him) to discussing the Church of Maradona in Argentina, we go on a sprawling discussion of religion, politics and football.

What do you think? Can we keep politics out of football? Religion out of it? Are they one and the same thing? Give us your thoughts through email ([email protected]), or DM us on Instagram. You could even comment on Spotify - lots of you already have and we love you for it.

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

In this week's episode Jack and I hit upon a controversial topic: national service. No, we're not advocating for conscription, but the way we think about who players should play for is often like that. So what if you're English: why can't you play for Ireland if your granny hails from the Emerald Isle? Why can't France hoover up all of the best African talent? See, it is controversial, isn't it?

We believe philosophy might make this problem a little easier to understand. 'Imagined Communities' is a fantastic book that details how somebody might perceive themselves and, most importantly, where they fit in.

We all participate in various (sub)cultures, don't we? You might be a Swiftie, or you might play that really niche game your partner doesn't understand. It might just be that you're so weird and out there that you support Portsmouth. Either way, your imagined communities are what shapes you. It doesn't matter if you're from some Hebridean Island and you support a great club like Southampton, because we can still reminisce about the glory of Graziano Pelle's hair together anyway (yes, you should Google it).

What do you think? Should where you're from dictate who you play for? Or is it more important where you feel most at home? Let us know in the comments, on Instagram, or Youtube!

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely. 

Music: Reverie, Pt. IV by Lucjo https://soundcloud.com/lucjomusic
License: Creative Commons — Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported — CC BY-ND 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://audiolibrary.com.co/lucjo/reverie-pt-iv
Music promoted by Audio Library: https://youtu.be/V_qX3gv0XHA

In today's episode, Jack and I discuss the philosophical work of Nietzsche - the godfather of every teen emo to have ever lived. His philosophical thought was and remains incredibly influential and pervasive across the ways in which we think and live our lives, so why not apply it to English football's nearlymen?

Is Arteta really screaming into his pillow every night whilst listening to Avenged Sevenfold? Probably.

Are Arsenal going to win the league this season? Probably not.

But why? If you're interested, get listening!

Just like Financial Fair Play, we here at FFP have designed this podcast to be educational. Whether it works is a different matter entirely.