In the summer of 1984 Terry Venables was the third-choice for the Barcelona job and had to fight the President to choose how to spend some of that Maradona transfer money but went on to win the club's first La Liga title in 11 years at a canter.

That title was only a means to an end, however. Now that they had qualified for the European Cup, the quest was now on to reach their Holy Grail.

Mike joins Martyn to discuss the two seasons as a whole as a manager that few fancied and a signing that fans had barely heard of would get so close to immortality and set in place a new culture that helped those who would follow.

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We start 1985/86 with a tale of heartbreak. As April turned to May of 1986, Heart of Midlothian were in the driving seat to win a sensational and unexpected league and cup double. The Guardian's Ewan Murray is here to tell us how they came from nowhere to lead the pack on a 27 game unbeaten run, how it agonisingly fell apart at the very end, how Celtic came through to snatch it and how it impacted the players and supporters years later.

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The sporting interval between football seasons this time is more of a bridge than a break. With football descending into depression, the British public were given sporting drama at its finest in a clean environment and between two likeable personalities. 18 million people could not switch off as the World Championship Snooker Final reached its climax beyond midnight on Sunday 28 April 1985.

Mike is with Martyn to go through the wild momentum swings of one of the greatest comebacks in sport and The Rest Is History's Dominic Sandbrook returns to Nessun Dorma to discuss just how snooker filled the void being left by football, the draw of personalities in individual sports and the importance of television in British life in the mid 1980s.

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The journalist and author Chris Lepkowski returns to discuss just how the English national game was allowed to become a 'slum sport'. Who was to blame, how avoidable was UEFA's hard line and how on earth was 1985 not the final straw are just some of the questions on the table.

'The Slum Sport' can be found at https://www.curtis-sport.com/all-programmes/THE-SLUM-SPORT-Story-of-95-96-p783194469

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"A slum sport played in slum stadiums and increasingly watched by slum people". So went the infamous Sunday Times editorial in the weekend following the Bradford Fire, when it was felt by some that English football had finally reached its nadir. There were further tragic depths to plummet before the month of May 1985 was out.

In this episode the journalist and author Chris Lepkowski - whose book on the subject and the season that followed is out later this month - joins Martyn to discuss three dark episodes in English football history before discussing the aftermath and how it got to this stage in next week's show.

'The Slum Sport' can be found at https://www.curtis-sport.com/all-programmes/THE-SLUM-SPORT-Story-of-95-96-p783194469

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23 years from their last major honour, Norwich City found themselves parading the League Cup around Wembley Stadium. With mid-table safety a seeming certainty, it looked as if it would be a campaign of glory and consolidation. With only two wins from their last 12 it turned to last-day despair. How it happened and how they came back is the story of this week's episode as Martyn is joined by historian and biographer Edward Couzens-Lake.

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Mac seeks to retain his Draft title as he, Mike and Gary face off again to try and capture the best of the sporting year in 1985. The Queens of tennis, Northern Irish heroes, a turning point in the Ryder Cup, the most ridiculous cycling story of all time and much more.

Let us know what you think the boys have missed and who should have come out on top!

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With so many stories from the three European club competitions being lost to time, Mike and Martyn are here to bring together some brilliant tales. Big comebacks, a UEFA enforced replay, a thunderous battle of Britain and Wrexham humbling Porto before Hollywood writers were a natural association are among the stories being given new life.

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To fair Verona this week as the most unlikely of all Serie A seasons took hold. Author and Verona resident Richard Hough joins Martyn to discuss the impact of two international signings, the goal without the shoe, a taciturn genius and just how this most provincial of Italian football clubs ended up defeating the giants just as the league itself was turning into the continent's powerhouse.

Richard's book can be found here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Verona-Campione-Miracle-Richard-Hough/dp/1836801211 and here https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/verona-campione and is well worth the read!

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With points being dropped, red cards being shown and injury hitting their lethal strike partnership, Everton's dreams looked to be in serious jeopardy as Christmas 1984 approached. Step forward a fans favourite as the Toffees put their foot down towards the finishing line of a potential treble.

Gary Naylor and Gavin Buckland return to guide Martyn through the conclusion of a historic campaign.

If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month.

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