Jasveer Singh is a journalist by trade with a lifelong obsession with football. Born and raised in London now residing in Vancouver, he has covered football at various levels as a journalist and participated in the game in all manner of ways as well. Follow Jazz on Twitter: @JazzTheJourno.

Show Notes:

* Thoughts on the European Super League attempt* The trend of modern fandom denigrating football greats of the past* Jazz supporting a national team* South Asians in football and racism* On being a Londoner supporting Manchester United* Manchester United greats* Shootout questions with Jazz:* Top 3 players ever* Who would Jazz have a conversation with in the history of the game* Top 3 matches in history to attend* One change to any match in history* What club would Jazz support if it wasn’t Manchester United* Book recommendations: Keane: The Autobiography, Corner Flags And Corner Shops by Jas Bains and Sanjiev Johal and El Diego: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Footballer * Podcast recommendations: The Peter Crouch and The Robbie Fowler Podcast

Robby Smukler is the creator of Icarus F.C., one of the most creative football kit manufactures in existence. Along with designing and producing uniforms for clubs, Icarus F.C. started a line of historical shirts envisioning what classic civilizations of the past would’ve worn, had the beautiful game been a reality for them. A few examples include the Kingdom of Kush, the Ottoman Empire and more. With these historical designs in mind, we got together to discuss their creation.You may find these shirts on their website: Icarusfc.comTwitter: @icarusfcphlInstagram: icarusfootball

Show Notes:

* Robby’s design process* Sources of inspiration* Favorite kits of all time* Robby’s least favorite kits* Underrated kits* Top Modern kits* Opinion on MLS kits* On designing kits for teams like Brazil and France* Ottoman Empire kit* Republic of Vermont kit* La Serenissima kit* Machu Picchu kit* A.S. Vesaevus kit* Kingdom of Kush kit* Future kit releases* Jordan Wiebe* Shootout questions with Robby:* Top 3 players ever* Who would Robby have a drink with in the history of the game?* Top 3 matches he would attend in the history of the game* One change he would make to any match in history* Book recommendation: Up Pohnpei: Leading the ultimate underdogs to glory* Podcast recommendation: The Ringer

Marcelo Barreto(@CeloCRF) is the creator of the @FlamengoENG, a twitter account dedicated to English speaking fans of the Brazilian club Flamengo. He is also a contributor to @Flahistoria, an account dedicated to the club’s history.Marcelo is known as an underground legend for bringing Flamengo videos and online streams to fans around the world going back years, when doing that kind of thing was still unheard of. He has amassed an insane catalog of clips which he uses to enhance his twitter account and give Flamengo’s English speaking fans and sympathizers all the updates and happenings in and around the club, helping foreign fans understand the nuances of being a Flamenguista.

Show Notes:

* Why Marcelo started @FlamengoENG* Some of the countries with most followers* Flamengo’s global ambitions and the roadblocks* Are State Championships still needed?* Biggest Flamengo rival?* How banter created the @flumifogodagama and @SaotosPalmerint parody accounts* Flamengo’s current administrative success and its sustainability/fragility* The board’s handling of the youth players’ deaths in the 2019 fire* The huge success of the club in 2019* The resurrection of the club’s attacking football spirit* How Brazilian managers see their foreign peers* The influence of Brazil’s 1982 team losing the World Cup* Domenec Torrent’s work at Flamengo and expectations* Libertadores talk* Flamengo’s youth system and the market* On being a content provider for Flamengo fans around the world* How Marcelo became a Flamenguista* Marcelo’s most memorable Flamengo squad* Shootout questions with Marcelo:* Top 3 players ever* Who would Marcelo have a drink with in the history of the game?* Top 3 matches he would attend in the history of the game* One change he would make to any match in history* What club would Marcelo support if not Flamengo?* Book recommendation: João Saldanha. Uma Vida em Jogo

Pete Watson is an academic in Spanish and Latin American Studies, who did his PhD at the University of Sheffield on the use of football for nation building in Colombia during the presidency of Juan Manuel Santos. Apart from specializing in the history of Latin American sport and politics, he also lectures on Spanish and Latin American film, Latin American history and Latin American literature and culture. He has written academic articles for the Bulletin of Latin American Research, the Journal of War and Culture Studies and has a chapter in a forthcoming book called Fútbol y sociedad en América Latina, edited by Thomas Fischer, to be published by Iberoamericana Vervuert. He has also written football-based articles in English and Spanish for Football Paradise and Razón Pública and is the resident ‘expert’ for the These Football Times video podcast series ‘The South American Files’.

Show Notes:

* How Pete developed his interest in Colombia and its football* Life in Colombia* Early days of Colombian Football* Usage of sport as a political tool* El Dorado, its teams like Millionarios and the stars it attracted such as Alfredo Di Stefano.* Colombia, their 1962 World Cup result vs the USSR and what it meant* The rise of world class Colombian football stars* The influence of Pablo Escobar and drug cartels in Colombian football* Colombia’s 5×0 victory against Argentina in Buenos Aires* Pele’s assessment of Colombia prior to the 1994 World Cup wasn’t wrong* Using football to bridge the gap between villagers, guerrillas and police* Current crop of players and how Colombia is steadily revealing new talent* Shootout questions with Pete:* Top 3 players ever.* Who would Pete have a drink with in the history of the game?* Top 3 matches he would attend in the history of the game.* One change he would make to any match in history.* What club would Pete support if not Southampton F.C.?* Top 3 football books:* Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life by Alex Bellos* ¡Golazo!: A History of Latin American Football by Andreas Campomar* Pointless by Jeff Connor* Podcast recommendations:* These Football Times Podcast* The Bugle Podcast

From winning the Golden Double to the brutality in the infamous Lubyanka prison and the GULAG. Football will reveal itself much more important to their lives than the Starostins had ever imagined. Nikolai sees hope for early freedom and makes a deal with the devil.

What we cover in this episode:

* Imprisonment in Lubyanka* NKVD process and methods of interrogation* Trial and sentence* Life in the GULAG camps* Nikolai makes a deal with the devil

Books/Sources:

Spartak Moscow: A History of the People’s Team in the Workers’ State by Robert Edelman

Stalin and his Hangmen by Donald Rayfield

The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

In The First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Starostin Brothers by Boris Dukhon and George Morozov

Soviet Sport and Transnational Mass Culture in the 1930’s by Barbara Keys

A Tale of Football by Andrey Starostin

Spring of the Patriarch by Nikolai Starostin

Stuart Horsfield is a writer and member of the Senior Leadership Team for These Football Times, where he also hosts These Football Times podcast. For his day job he lectures in sports and on a Football Coaching degree program.

He just wrote his first book, it’s about the greatest team never to win a World Cup and some would argue they were better than most teams who’ve actually won it! That magical 1982 Brazilian side. The book is titled: 1982 Brazil, The Glorious Failure.

Follow Stuart Horsfield on Twitter: @loxleymisty44

Order 1982 Brazil: The Glorious Failure

Check out These Football Times

Show Notes:

* How that 1982 Brazil side influenced Stuart.* The beauty of their game and which other sides compare stylistically.* On the atmosphere leading up to the 1982 World Cup as an England fan.* On being a football supporter vs a club supporter.* On bringing the memories of a 10 year to the book as an adult.* Mystique in old football playing styles vs modern football’s homogeneity.* How he set out to write the book.* How the book is structured.* Interviewing Abraham Klein and Alexandre Chivadze.* Shout to Steven Scragg(@Scraggy_74): A Tournament Frozen in Time and Where the Cool Kids Hung Out.* Surprises that arose from the book research.* His views on 1982 Brazil side before and after the book.* “The day football died” narrative explained.* Conversation with Patrick Barclay(@paddybarclay)* Conversation with Juca Kfouri(@BlogdoJuca)* Following the bizarre group format in the 1982 World Cup.* Thoughts as the tournament progressed and the Italian team.* Abraham Klein’s accounts.* Views on traditional World Cup winners vs challengers* What about the big clubs, big money and Financial Fair Play?* Technological changes in the game.* Shootout questions with Stuart:* Top 3 players ever.* Who would Stuart have a drink with in the history of the game?* Top 3 matches he would attend in the history of the game.* One change he would make to any match in history.* What club would Stuart support if not Hull City?* Top 3 football books: * Goalkeepers are different by Brian Glanville*

Jim McGough founded Ajax USA, a prominent unofficial supporters club of AFC Ajax Amsterdam which he operated from 1996 to 2007. Over the past two decades, he has conducted extensive research on the life of Eddy Hamel, the first American, and first Jewish player of AFC Ajax Amsterdam, for a book in progress. He was interviewed in 2019 by Sports Illustrated for an article about Hamel: Remember the Ringleader. He lives in California.

Show Notes:

* Remember the Ringleader by Sports Illustrated.* Video of Eddy Hamel playing for AFC Ajax.

Eddy as Coach of De Kennemers

This is the only known picture of Eddy’s wife, Johanna. She is wearing a beret and glasses.

The home where Eddy Hamel was born in the upper east side of New York City.

Photos courtesy of Jim McGough.

Jordan Florit is a freelance writer currently writing ‘Red Wine and Arepas: How Football is Becoming Venezuela’s Religion.’ The book uses football as the lens through which areas of Venezuela’s culture, society, and politics are explored. Jordan’s work has been featured on These Football Times, Pundit Feed, The Terrace, and more.

Show Notes:

* What inspired Jordan to write this Rivaldo article? * What it was like growing up as a Southampton FC fan, favorite Saints jersey, favorite player.* Foobtall: Entertainment vs Sport.* Supporting local and foreign football clubs.* How did Jordan become a writer?* Jordan’s preference for non-fiction and his dislike of fiction explained.* What inspired him to write “Red Wine & Arepas: How Football is Becoming Venezuela’s Religion”? Deciding what goes into the book and his writing process. Dealing with constant changes in Venezuela while writing the book.* Interviewing a football agent and meeting shady characters with dodgy backstories.* Stumbling upon fascinating but unrelated material through research and procrastination.* Jonathan Wilson(T:@jonawils) and James Montague(T:@JamesPiotr) as inspirations.* Finding a fixer and getting help from @oncefutve‘s Kevin.* Adventures getting around in Venezuela like hitching rides with professional footballers and sketchy times up in the Andes.* What Jordan would like for people to get from reading the book.* What to do when there’s no live football?* How he was surprised to learn what Venezuelans think of the country’s politics.* Favorite chapter so far? Daniuska Rodriguez(IG:@daniuska0507), Deyna Castellanos(IG:@deynacastellanos T:@deynac18)* Book recommendations: Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You: The Biography by Jonathan WilsonWhen Friday Comes: Football, War and Revolution in the Middle East by James MontagueRed or Dead: A Novel by David Peace* Podcast recommendations: Under the Skin by Russell Brand and The Jordan B Peterson Podcast.

From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. The Starostin brothers and Spartak Moscow achieve unprecedented success on the pitch. They earn recognition from the public as well as the State for their accomplishments, receiving the highest honors in front of Joseph Stalin himself. As one Lavrentyi Beria ascends to the top of the NKVD and rivals Dynamo, off the pitch they will face their darkest days yet when the iron fist of the Secret Police comes swinging at full force against them.

What we cover in this episode:

* Spartak vs Basque Select* Physical Culture day parade* Face to face with Stalin* Family and friends disappearing* Lavrentyi Beria gets involved* No more help from Alexander Kosarev* World War II starts* Spartak and the Golden Double* The end of the line?

Books/Sources:

Spartak Moscow: A History of the People’s Team in the Workers’ State by Robert Edelman

The Starostin Brothers by Boris Dukhon and George Morozov

Soviet Sport and Transnational Mass Culture in the 1930’s by Barbara Keys

A Tale of Football by Andrey Starostin

Spring of the Patriarch by Nikolai Starostin

In this episode, we talk to the guys at Saltair FC, Andy and Josh about the history of this very “real” and legendary club from Salt Lake City, Utah. I know it sounds weird, but it was a great time and hopefully fun for you listening as well. Make sure to check them out on Twitter and Instagram, their handle is @Saltairfc, they just released a dope jersey that only the cool kids will have. You can get yours and find out more on saltairfc.com.