Footy On The Med

Sanremo, the City of Flowers. Home of Sanremese Calcio, on the Riviera dei Fiori. It's hot. Scorchio. In the name of podcast freedom John, Alex and Young Trafford eschew shade and fry themselves alive in the south stand of the Stadio Comunale, as the home side take on Castanese in Serie D, Girona A clash. Have a listen for trademark meandering FOTM chat, the debut of The Rifleman, a worldie by Sanremese and John, the Entertainer, morphing into the David Blaine of the train and helping to conjure an entertaining 1-1 draw. Oh, and a rap by Voiceover Guy. Recorded at the Stadio Comunale on Wednesday 27 September.

It's two trips to the Stade Louis II on the bounce as John and Alex roll up for Monaco v Ferencváros in the Europa League. With them again is Young Trafford, youthful vim and energy clamouring for a decent game of football. Will this clash with Hungary's most successful club side deliver the goods? With Henry Wingo not on the wing and an impressive band of noisy fans, the away side took the sting out of Monaco from early in the match - and came away with a famous 1-0 victory. Sadly the game wasn't up to much but with Alex as quiz master John and Young Trafford went head-to-head in a Fact Off. Would age triumph over youth? Have a listen for a battle that was as good as anything on the pitch. Monaco 0, Ferencváros 1 (Young Trafford 3, John 8) was recorded at the Stade Louis II on Thursday, 15 September 2022.

Footy on the Med is back for Season 2 with a strange old opener at the Stade Louis II. Monaco took on Troyes, wth neither side having much to show for their efforts so far. Monaco were a lacklustre 12th in Ligue 1, Troyes, from north-east France, three places below them. But with a 1-1 draw away to Paris Saint-Germain in their previous game, would the Monégasques hit form? Or would Troyes push on from their rousing 3-1 win at home to Angers? It was a difficult game to call but John and Alex's guest, Plumber Paul (aka, Young Trafford) was spot on. Young Trafford predicted a Troyes win, and the away side ran out comfortable 4-2 winners, a Monaco sending off helping them along the way. The Troyes support numbered less than 12 in the away end, Monaco's mini-Ultras made a racket, John became obsessed with curtains and there were no hot dogs. Some Monaco fans asked the police to eject a family from Troyes, for the crime of smiling. The police did as asked. The football had the air of a training match and Voiceover Guy said he'd be back. Monaco 2, Troyes 4 - one of FOTM's more surreal games - was recorded at the Stade Louis II on 31 August 2022.

Footy on the Med is back for Season 1. Well, almost. Before John and Alex set off on another round of Mediterranean meanderings they were interviewed by Stan Bunger, a legendary US West Coast broadcast journalist. Turns out that Stan, morning co-anchor at KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM in San Francisco from 2000 until his retirement in 2021, is a big fan of FOTM. Whether he really flew all the way from California to talk to the hapless intrepid FOTM duo is not certain. It is true that Stan has a place in Menton. In fact, his pad is in the same building as Alex's. Perhaps, then, Stan was really just on holiday in France. Either way, John and Alex enjoyed recounting Season 1's highlights to Stan the (very fluent) Man - and they'll be back at the mics for Monaco v Troyes on Wednesday, 31 August. Interview with Stan Bunger recorded at R-Bike Menton. Grazie mille Luciano and, of course, Stan.

Footy on the Med's final game of the 2021-2022 season was on the Med, but not as John and Alex have come to know it. Alex's obsession with QPR and Stan Bowles saw him travel solo to Greece for AEK Athens v Olympiacos, by way of a reprise of the Rs' great UEFA Cup run of 1977. "I'm sorry, what UEFA Cup run? Anyway I can't make it, I have to watch some paint dry," said John, but he missed a treat. Playing their last game in the Olympic Stadium before next season's return to their spiritual home (the new Nikos Gomas stadium), AEK confounded a poor season and their furious fans with a decent display against Olympiacos, this year's Greek Super League champions. Thanks to the wonderful Paola Menachem, it wasn't all Greek to Alex. Recorded at the (rather tired) Olympic Stadium in Athens, with varying sound quality, Tuesday May 17th 2022. It ended AEK Athens 2, Olympiacos 3.

It's taken all season but, at last, John finds his vocation on a trip to Cagnes-sur-Mer. There, on a sunny Mediterranean day while watching AS Cagnes-Le-Cros take on FC Carnoux, all becomes clear. John 'Entertainer' O'Hare has always existed, but now exists formally. Informally, too. To be fair, despite Carnoux winning 4-2, this wasn't the most exhilarating game Footy on the Med has seen. John's entertainment skills were much needed, as Alex burbled on about QPR, Stan Bowles and how Heineken can refresh the anecdotes other beers cannot reach. A book, too, and how his forthcoming A Season on the Med will feature... an Entertainer. Who raps. Cagnes-Le-Cros 2, FC Carnoux 4 was recorded at the Stade Pierre Sauvaigo on Sunday 15 May 2022.

Spezia is not a leviathan of Serie A. Atalanta may be the Queen of the Provinces but is not a club known as a Serie A heavyweight. And isn't the Cinque Terre all about ambling amiably from village to village, not calcio? True on all counts but in Spezia v Atalanta John and Alex caught a cracking game in surely one of Europe's most scenic grounds. It ended Spezia 1, Atalanta 3 - but the passion of the home fans was undimmed. Recorded at the Stadio Alberto Picco stadium on Sunday, May 8th 2022.

With the Special One and Roma in town, how could John and Alex resist a trip to the City of Beautiful Confusion? Answer: they couldn't. The fearless duo were once again Genoa-bound, for a game that relegation-threatened Sampdoria needed to win. They needed their playmaker, 35-year-old Antonio Candreva, to conjure some magic. They needed their players to find the fire with which they'd vanquished Genoa in the Derby della Lanterna. They needed cohesiveness, resolve, guile. Alas, cometh the hour, cometh Jose Mourinho. His Roma team aren't the best he's ever managed but they comfortably out-classed Sampdoria. As ever in Genoa, the noise was deafening from start to finish. Cue an energy-packed outing for Footy on the Med, including the revelation that every QPR player from the mid-70s could do Cruyff turns on the half-volley (while no one else in England could), and a masterful performance in Three Facts Mastermind by a disturbingly well-prepared John O'Hare. Recorded at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday 3 April 2022.

It's a sparkling affair when John and Alex hop on the train at Menton-Garavan and find themselves in Sanremo for a Serie D clash between high-flying Sanramese and relegation-threatened Asti. The home side had the ball fizzing about, the referee's decisions coruscated in the Mediterranean sun, and the visitors kicked lumps out of everyone. Bizarrely, though, it was Sanramese who were a man down at half-time thanks to a red card; amid all the excitement, Alex decided Asti were a goal up. They were, but later, to John and Alex's distress: the ball was in the back of the net after a howler by their favourite keeper, Sanramese's no. 12. Thankfully for him, and for the excitable home fans, it ended 1-1 after what was possibly the only decision given to Sanramese, a penalty. A cracking afternoon's entertainment. Recorded at the Stadio Communale on Wednesday 30 March 2022.

It’s John’s birthday, and how better to celebrate it than by nipping along the Riviera coast from Menton to watch Monaco V Paris St Germain? Most observers had PSG down for a routine win, and no wonder, given a 15-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 going into this game. But John and Alex have not been roaming the Med, watching football, for nothing. Uncannily, they predicated a rousing, sensational 3-0 win for the home side, with Ben Yedder bagging two goals in a textbook display of lone striker brilliance. Monaco may not win a trophy this season but this was a victory to cherish. Recorded at the Stade Louis II on March 20th 2022.