Mike, Gary and Mac are back to provide a little sporting palate cleanser in the middle of our footballing feast. What was the biggest surprise in the world of sport in 1982? What was the most defining minute of action? Who were the standout individuals and which was the best team? Martyn is on hand to award points for argument as the boys compete to find the strongest sporting picture of 1982 under the pressure of the draft.

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From 1979 to 1986, life was very different in Scotland. Instead of Glasgow's big two slugging it out, the centre of power was wrestled north east towards Aberdeen and Dundee with two exciting young teams and two exceptional managers. Michael Grant from The Times and Alan Pattullo from The Scotsman tell the story of the era's peak. 1982/83 saw Aberdeen triumph in Europe and Dundee United sensationally win the title on the final day.

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Gordon Smith joins us this week to kick off our run through the season of 1982/83. He talks honestly about his experience at Brighton as a whole, the deal that inspired him to get into football agency, his guitar session with Paul McCartney and of course, the famous FA Cup run, his goal and his miss.

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We finish our series on the 1982 World Cup in true Nessun Dorma fashion by subjecting the tournament to a draft. Rob, Gary and Mac are joined by Dominic Hougham to see who knows their Socrates from their Sammy McIlroy.

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Jonathan, Rob and Martyn sit down to round up the other stories from a remarkable World Cup. How Italy won, what happened to Spain and Argentina, did it lack a dominant individual performance and why it is impossible to have a tournament like it now.

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Part of the enduring legacy of these finals is in part due to it playing host to two of the finest football matches to have been been played. Different in style but never lacking a beat of drama, Brazil v Italy and France v West Germany had everything. Beauty and the beast. Poets versus anti-heroes. Images that still shine bright decades later.

Jonathan O'Brien takes us through the games as well as explaining their everlasting appeal.

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Just why do men of a certain age devote such space in their heart for a side who didn't make the semi-finals of the World Cup? Do they deserve the worship over 40 years on?

Pete Watson returns to discuss just why this football team retains such strong resonance and affection and why the political and cultural backdrop played such a huge part.

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982 was arguably the year that the continent of Africa first made its impression at the World Cup. African football expert Paul Doyle joins Rob and Martyn to discuss the exciting flair of Algeria, the Disgrace of Gijon, the indomitable lions of Cameroon and the debut of the 30 year-old Roger Milla.

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They might have exited the tournament at the same stage as England but Northern Ireland's World Cup experience was very different indeed. Not fancied to get through the first group - especially when it needed a win over the hosts in Valencia - they made history and could possibly have gone further.

Author Evan Marshall tells the story through the eyes of an 11 year-old boy who thought his country were going to be world champions. How the team was put together, how the situation against Spain was perfect and how they blended such a squad from both sides of the religious divide.

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Scotland travelled to Spain with arguably their strongest ever World Cup squad desperate to atone for the humiliation of Argentina but with a devilish group to overcome.

Author Tom Brogan joins Martyn as they find some catharsis from an interesting campaign and try and rank the five World Cup efforts from 1974 to 1990.

As of Monday 23 December Episodes 3 to 7 of this series - covering Northern Ireland, Algeria, Cameroon, the resonance of this Brazil side, the two greatest World Cup games of all time and a full roundup of the tournament - are all available to download, ad-free, at patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast for $3.99.

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