Game's Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast

A momentous day for Royal Oak FC as veteran right back Parksey hangs up his boots after a glittering 29-year Sunday League career.

A founding member with 742 appearances and more own goals than goals, Parksey's knees have finally called time. Steve is in bits, and he has big plans to mark it: a blue plaque in the Peace Gardens, a retired number two shirt and a third testimonial, with Dion Dublin at centre back and Angry Ginge's Winton United firmly in his sights.

Elsewhere, the lads weigh up the state of Man City's appeal, salute England's 7-0 demolition of Croatia, judge whose international farewell was better (Messi's or Ronaldo's), and hear how Steve's streaming career is going after Dele Alli takes the plunge.

Plus listener questions on first football loves and pet hates, and a tease of a mystery guest for next week. Jude Bellingham, Alex Scott, Harry Kane and (of course) Sir Bobby Charlton all get a mention in another jam-packed edition.

You can also watch the YouTube premiere of each episode on the Game’s Gone channel, every Thursday at 7pm with Bob and Steve in the live chat.

Send your questions and voice notes to [email protected] or via whatsapp 0800 7831997

Marching on, together as one. Steve.

Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure and is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds

Credits

Series Producer: Ad Ahmed

It's been a monumental week in football, as Royal Oak FC have finally won a game! Buoyed by their recent clear-the-air talks and Steve's trip to Turkey, their fortunes are on the up.

The only cloud on the horizon is Parksey, who went off at half-time (he's asked for a pro-rata deduction in his subs), while the lads discuss his future role at the club.

In the wider football world, the lads drill down into the breaking news that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules. Steve, Paul and Bob take a fan's-eye view of the fallout.

Elsewhere, Andy Townsend weighs in on pub toilets, and the lads ponder whose life they'd most like to live as a footballer.

Erling Haaland, José Mourinho and Hakan Şükür all feature in another packed edition.

You can also watch the YouTube premiere of each episode on the Game’s Gone channel, every Thursday at 7pm with Bob and Steve in the live chat.

Send your questions and voice notes to [email protected] or via whatsapp 0800 7831997

Marching on, together as one. Steve.

Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure and is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds

Credits

Series Producer: Ad Ahmed

D-Day arrives for the Royal Oak as Steve, Paul and Bob gather the team for a much-needed, clear-the-air meeting. But with many of the players AWOL, a tarot card reader in the pool room, and the players mutinous over an increase in subs, it's never going to be simple.

In this special episode, we see all the action as the air is cleared and the gloves come off: Carpet Dave makes a impassioned plea, Parksey is annoyed at Paul, Tommy bemoans the weight of the captain's armband and Wynney props up the bar.

Never one to waste an opportunity, Steve also funds a series of Tarot readings from the Oak's own version of Eileen Drewery, Spooky Susan, which reveal more about the deeper issues in the squad.

In wider footballing news, the lads also rip up the rulebook and discuss the contenders for the Ballon d'Or (Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane) in another packed edition.

You can also watch the YouTube premiere of each episode on the Game’s Gone channel, every Thursday at 7pm with Bob and Steve in the live chat.

Send your questions and voice notes to [email protected] or via whatsapp 0800 7831997

Marching on, together as one. Steve.

Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure and is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds

Credits

Series Producer: Ad Ahmed

The Royal Oak is on the brink. Beaten again - this time by ten men of Packhorse - the tough questions are getting harder to dodge. Steve and Paul stare into the abyss and ask: is any of this worth it? Is the Meadowhall Premier League dream dead? Was it ever alive?

With the club on life support, the lads take a long, hard look in the mirror, and Bob calls for a clear-the-air meeting at the Oak that could decide everything going forward.

Elsewhere, we cover the fallout from a chaotic Manchester Derby, Oasis Live 27, Mikel Arteta's pre-season mind games, and a look at this season's promoted clubs to the Premier League.

Phil Foden, Bruno Fernandes, Roy Keane, and Liam Gallagher all get dragged into another packed episode.

You can also watch the YouTube premiere of each episode on the Game’s Gone channel, every Thursday at 7pm with Bob and Steve in the live chat.

VAR. XG. Inverted wing backs. The game has well and truly gone. Via his very own podcast, Steve Bracknall, Sunday league assistant manager and viral sensation will bring it back.

Direct from the dressing room of his team, Royal Oak FC, Steve is joined by gaffer Paul Sampson and physio Bob the Bucket. Every episode, they’ll make sense of all the week’s footballing news and bring you updates from the Oak…

Send your questions and voice notes to [email protected] or via whatsapp 0800 7831997

Marching on, together as one. Steve.

Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure and is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds

Credits

Series Producer: Ad Ahmed

The new season has kicked off. Unfortunately for Steve, Paul and Bob there's a recruitment crisis, with Spooner stuck in Ireland and only 9 players on the pitch for the Oak. Luckily, loyal viewers have sent in their videos for the lads to review - is there a hidden gem in the pile of video tapes? Or will they need to delve into the free agent market and look again at Wynney?

Kevin Keegan, Elvis Presley and Andi Peters all feature as the Royal Oak march on...

You can also watch the YouTube premiere of each episode on the Game’s Gone channel, every Thursday at 7pm with Bob and Steve in the live chat (Paul is at Padel).

VAR. XG. Inverted wing backs. The game has well and truly gone. Via his very own podcast, Steve Bracknall, Sunday league assistant manager and viral sensation will bring it back.

Direct from the dressing room of his team, Royal Oak FC, Steve is joined by gaffer Paul Sampson and physio Bob the Bucket. Every episode, they’ll make sense of all the week’s footballing news and bring you updates from the Oak…

Send your questions and voice notes to [email protected] or via whatsapp 0800 7831997

Marching on, together as one. Steve.

Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure and is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds

Credits

Series Producer: Ad Ahmed

We're back. Fresh from the changing rooms of the Royal Oak FC, Steve, Paul and Bob return for another season of chaos from Sheffield's Sunday Imperial League.

It's been a summer of extremes: Paul's been on 15 holidays, Steve's patched things up with Nikki, and Bob's been quietly planning his own funeral.

Pre-season hasn't exactly gone to plan - the pitches are scorched, there's been a wave of player departures, corruption is still running rampant between Marshall and Merchant, and Firestick Dean's devices are, yet again, on the blink.

Elsewhere, we're making our early predictions for the season ahead and celebrating a huge trophy win at the Edinburgh TV Awards. Plus - Lionel Messi, Steven Gerrard and Roy Keane all get a mention as Sunday League's finest return for another go.

Game's Gone is well and truly back.

VAR. XG. Inverted wing backs. The game has well and truly gone. Via his very own podcast, Steve Bracknall, Sunday league assistant manager and viral sensation will bring it back.

Direct from the dressing room of his team, Royal Oak FC, Steve is joined by gaffer Paul Sampson and physio Bob the Bucket. Every episode, they’ll make sense of all the week’s footballing news and bring you updates from the Oak…

Send your questions and voice notes to [email protected] or via whatsapp 0800 7831997

Marching on, together as one. Steve.

Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure and is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds

Credits

Series Producer: Ad Ahmed

As another season winds down, here's a selection of highlights from the Royal Oak dressing room.

Steve went for the Man United gig and gave us his final verdict on who's better - Arctic Monkeys or Oasis. He also encountered Premier League legend Thierry Henry, but fared less well with Noel Gallagher, after an ill-judged voicenote left him looking back in anger.

Elsewhere, Bob showed us why he's the rain man of pies, and the lads settled the debate on their dream dinner party guests.

We'll be back next season with more from the fifth tier of Sheffield's Sunday Imperial League.

Thanks to everyone who watched, listened, commented and stuck with us throughout the season - it means a lot. Together as one. Steve.

00:00 Intro

It's been quite a season. Wynney's shock departure to the other side. A bruising, ill-tempered derby against the Nags Head that saw a painful defeat and left plenty of scores unsettled.

Steve, Paul and Bob have been there for all of it, in the dressing room and out of it, week after week. Here's all the best bits.

We'll be back next season with more from the fifth tier of Sheffield's Sunday Imperial League.

Thanks to everyone who watched, listened, commented and stuck with us throughout the season - it means a lot. Together as one. Steve.

00:00 Intro

Steve's back in Sheffield - jetlagged, heartbroken over England's exit and locked out. Our Nikki's furious, Bob's sofa is the only offer on the table, and Steve's got some serious grovelling to do.

We've got the result of the Royal Oak sweepstake, Steve's delayed return to Sampson Electrics, and a full World Cup post-mortem - the final, Argentina's full-time antics, our verdict on the half-time show, England's third-place playoff and Thomas Tuchel's future, all given the Game's Gone treatment.

Erling Haaland, Jay-Z, Jude Bellingham, Justin Bieber, Rodri, Madonna and Harry Kane all get a mention in another jam-packed edition; we'll see you next season for more from the fifth tier of Sheffield's Imperial League.

Send your questions and voice notes to [email protected] or via whatsapp 0800 7831997.

Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure and is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds.

Series Producer: Ad Ahmed

The dream is over. Steve's American adventure comes to an end as England fall to Argentina in the semi-final, and the wait for a first World Cup since 1966 rolls on. Was it Tuchel's tactics that cost them, or did the players bottle it? Paul, Bob and Steve deliver the full post-mortem.

In the rest of the episode, we look at Infantino's rumoured 64 team expansion to the World Cup, Jurgen Klopp's imminent appointment as the new Germany manager and Roy Keane reigniting his war of words with Alf Inge Haaland.

Back at the Oak, Firestick Dean's business is down, Parksey is in hot water and rumours swirl that Steve's marriage to Nikki hasn't survived his time Stateside.

Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal and Harry Kane all feature in a bittersweet episode of Game's Gone.

Join us for our final World Cup episode next Thursday with a look at the World Cup final, race for the Golden Boot and review of the tournament...

Send your questions and voice notes to [email protected] or via whatsapp 0800 7831997.

Game’s Gone: The Steve Bracknall Podcast is written and performed by Chris McClure and is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds.

Series Producer: Ad Ahmed