It's the hope that kills you - Football History Podcast with a Scottish Angle

Like our podcast around the Haiti game, this pod is split into pre and post match sections. Nick called the team selection correctly and was far more accurate in his scoreline prediction as well. As Nick appears to be a footballing Svengali, I for one, would like him to predict an upset against the Brazillians...from his lips to God's ears!

The 2nd episode in our coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026. In Episode 1, e travelled as part of the Tartan Army to Boston to watch Scotland struggle to a 1-0 victory over Haiti. Still, a win is a win and we were grateful for the 3 points. In this episode, we look through the opening set of fixtures to discuss who caught our eye and to review the England performance against Croatia.

This episode is split into two parts, the first being recorded pre-kick off when we (and especially me!) are full of boundless enthusiasm; the second, being recorded post-match. ..when we're still fairly enthuiastic. We watched a nervy performance in a wonderful stadium and we discuss our thoughts on the match and the forthcoming games against Morocco and Brazil. We also touch on our experience of leaving the stadium which was handly badly. Let's just say, if we need a piss up in a brewery organised, we won't be asking anyone from Gillette Stadium to make the arrangements!

Another special episode where we review the squad and the manager's new contract...very much as the title suggests! Crucially, we recorded this episode before the friendlies against Curacao and Bolivia, so it'll be interesting to see if our caution has been replaced by unbridled enthusiasm by the time we get to Boston for the opening match

We continue the story of the early years of football in the US. We learnt in the last episode about the game crossing the Atlantic as cultural baggage with the migrating Scots who were moving to the US to staff the Scottish owned thread mills and linoleum factories that were expanding there to exploit the rapidly growing new market. In this episode, we learn of the game's rapid expansion and the combination of factors that saw it collapse into obscurity.

As we build to the World Cup which kicks off in a couple of weeks, we've choosen to don our deerstalkers and unleash our magnifying glasses as we explore the history of football across the 3 host nations and were delighted to find Scottish fingerprints all over these origin stories!

We've made it to another final! It's a replay of the 86 WC but this time the protagonists are in very different form. The game itself might have been underwhelming as a spectacle but our reflections on the tournament certainly aren't...well, not in our opinion! We also stumble across some more brilliantly awful football songs. For those that listened to series 1, you'll remember our chat about the song 'Rummenigge' and his apparent 'sexy knees'....well, we found another song befitting an aural war crimes conviction.

It's semi-final time! As well as covering the two games, we manage to uncover a convoluted refereeing scandal that manages to loop Dundee United into the story...Not something that just anyone can do! We also delve into the Toto Schillaci story and discuss the human side of a man who became superhuman for a few weeks back in 1990.

Hi listeners, we intend to cover the 2026 WC in real time so pods won't be published exclusively on Wednesday's but instead will drop in and around the Scotland games and then our favourite remaining games should Scotland, inconceivable as it is, fail to make it all the way to the final. So, please follow our show to make sure you don't miss any episodes and if you could give us a 5 star review at the same time that would be magic...thanks everyone!

A break from our usual format...this is a one off episode where we discuss the title decider in the Scottish Premiership. Hearts travel to Parkhead to play Celtic to determine the outcome of the most exciting season in the Scottish top flight since God was a boy. The first 20 mins were recorded on the morning of the match...the last 10 mins were recorded the morning after when we picked throught the shattered remains of Nick's heart.