107. Narcoball: Football in Pablo Escobar's Colombia

We're joined by author David Arrowsmith to talk about the history of football in Pablo Escobar's Colombia - an era known as Narcoball.

Throughout his life, Pablo Escobar had a deep love for football, especially the team he supported, Atlético Nacional. However, he also knew the power that it could bring him, and at his peak as a Narco-terrorist, he used football as a means to launder his dirty money.

We discuss the defining events of the Narcoball era, as well as the legacy of Narco-terrorist involvement in Colombian football.

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About Our Guest

David Arrowsmith

David is an author who’s writing focuses on the intersectionof organised crime, politics and football in South America. His first book, Narcoball, put the spotlight on football in Pablo Escobar’s Colombia, while his upcoming book,Killing Maradona, tells the dark story of Maradona’s relationship with criminals, cartels and cocaine.

Author Profile:

https://www.theportobellobookshop.com/contributed-by/david-arrowsmith?srsltid=AfmBOootT5vWlj-xzKcgucBdPUXHw_Gfy3qZTMnxXtzei3ldozdOZu81

106. Utah, Soccer and the Third Reich

We're joined by Brock Mildon to talk about the history of organised soccer in Utah and its origins in Nazi Germany.

A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Helmuth Hübener, was active in the resistance against the Nazi's in Hamburg, and became the youngest person executed for being a member of the resistance against Nazism.

Arthur Zander was the bishop of Hübener's congregation. He was a polarising figure who publicly opposed Hübener's resistance.

Zander eventually fled to Utah, where he set about creating a soccer infrastructure which still lasts today.

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

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About Our Guest

About Our Guest

Brock Mildon

Brock Mildon is an all-around football enthusiast from Syracuse, Utah. He received a BA in German Studies with an emphasis in Culture, Literature, and History from Brigham Young University. Brock currently works as director of Administration and Operations for a local football club in Utah.

105. The Arsenal Women's Archive

We're joined by Adam Salter, founder and curator of the Arsenal Women's Archive, to cover the history of England's most successful women's club and the efforts he makes to ensure the history of the club is preserved.

Creating archives of women's football has always been difficult due to the ban on women playing football which existed for 50 years. In many ways, Adam and other archivists of women's football have to rely on the community to come forward with information when they can't find it themselves..

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

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footballheritage.co.uk

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About Our Guest

Adam Salter

Adam Salter is the founder and curator of the Arsenal Women's Archive, and an ardent follower of women's football in England. His passion is archiving the history of Arsenal women and making it accessible at the point of use.

104. Football Tourists

We're joined by Hijab Shah, a PhD student from the University of St. Andrews, to talk about the 'issue' of 'football tourists' and the connotations behind using those two words.

Though it may seem and be innocent, anger often directed at so-called 'football tourists' is a facade for racism and xenophobia.

We unpack all the issues surrounding problematic terminology such as this and how it is impacted by the erosion of our connection to our football clubs. We do this through the lens of Hijab's experiences of supporting Manchester United while growing up in Pakistan.

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

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About Us

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footballheritage.co.uk

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About Our Guest

Hijab Shah

Hijab Shah is a PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews, studying the role of sports in radicalisation and counter-radicalisation. Although her current academic interests lie in the intersection of sport and politics, Hijab has over a decade’s experience as a defence research analyst in the academic, think tank, and the multinational sectors. She is a diehard Aston Villa fan.

103. Fan Culture in Japan

We're joined by freelance journalist Dan Orlowitz and Yokohama F. Marinos stalwart Stuart Woodward to talk about the vibrant, passionate and unique supporter culture in Japan.

Outside of watching Japan supporters at the World Cup, football fans in Europe and elsewhere have likely saw little of the fervent football culture sweeping Japan.

We take a whiste stop tour around Japanese fan groups, supporter culture from the J1 League to University clubs, and the modern history of football in Japan.

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

https://www.patreon.com/cw/FootyHeritage

About Us

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footballheritage.co.uk

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About Our Guests

Dan Orlowitz

Dan is a freelance journalist who has written about Japanese football for more than 15 years. He has covered a number of major international sporting events including the 2019 Rugby World Cup, 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.Stuart Woodward

Stuart is a veteran groundhopper based in Japan. He is a fervent supporter of Yokohama F. Marinos and FC Ryukyu. He is also involved in organising the Tokyo Celtic Supporters' Club.

102. Saving the Accies

We're joined by Rob Edwards, founder and CEO of Morley Sports Management and the new owner of Hamilton Academical Football Club.

Hamilton Accies and their supporters have been through the ringer over the last few years. The way the club was ran by the previous ownership groups was amateurish, and little infrastructure was put in place to show that the club was in any way modern.

Last year, Hamilton Accies made the decision to move away from Hamilton and instead play in Broadwood, a stadium in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. With tensions increasing with supporters' and an owner who was becoming aggressively hostile towards the existense of the club, it was announced that Hamilton were hours away from liquidation.

Rob and MSM stepped in officially in January 2026, but it's been far from smooth sailing, and the existence of Hamilton Accies still very much hangs in the balance.

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

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About Our Guest

Rob Edwards

Rob Edwards is the head of Morley Sports Management, who specialise in full ownership and consultancy projects. They have previously worked with Chelsea, Fulham and AS Roma, while they also own Haverfordwest County in Wales.

101. Ultras: A History

In this podcast, we're joined by Chris Lee from Outside Write and Alex Wilson, a Board Member of the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Trust, to talk about the past, present and future of Ultras and the culture surrounding them.

From the origin of fanatic supporters to the alternative organised fan movements we see today, Ultras culture is a fluid and evolving phenomenon which surrounds our game.

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

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About Us

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About Our Guests

Chris Lee

Chris Lee is a football historian, author, and podcaster. He runs a podcast and Substack called Outside Write, which explores football’s off-field stories, including history, politics, culture, and groundhopping.

He has also published three books, which you can purchase at the link below.

https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop?combine=chris%20lee&category=All

Alex Wilson

Alex is a Board Member of the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Trust and an active member of their supporters' movements. He can often be found hauling a drum around at Dulwich Hamlet and co-ordinating fan chants and activities.

100. Inside Hibs: Heritage and Brand

We're back with our first podcast of 2026.

More importantly, we're back with our 100th podcast episode. We're so happy we've made it this far, and we're equally as grateful for the support and love our listeners have shown us.

This podcast is for you.

On our 100th podcast episode, we're joined by Edd Norval alongside Greg McEwan, former Commercial Director and interim CEO of Hibernian Football Club.

We pull on Greg's experience and talk about how heritage and club identity can be used in brand and marketing campaigns to strengthen the connection we feel with our football clubs.

We talk about everything from commercial deals and sponsorship to kit design and advertising.

It's always a pleasure being able to speak with people who have worked at the highest level of the game. We hope you all get as much out of this podcast as we did.

Thank you as always for your constant support. Here's to our next 100 podcasts!

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

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About Our Guests

Edd Norval

Edd is a creative director and brand strategist who has worked across the world on award-winning projects with brands ranging from Hennessey to Hibernian Football Club.

Greg McEwanGreg is the founder of McEwan Marketing Group and has over 20 years of experience in the sports and entertainment industry. He has previously worked for Lead, The R&A, The University of Edinburgh and Hibernian Football Club.

99. The Kernow Football Alliance

For our last podcast of 2025, we're joined by co-founder of the Kernow Football Alliance, Jason Heaton.

Like other Celtic Nations who have formed national teams, Kernow are the representative national team of Cornwall.

Sadly though, unlike Alba, Ellan Vannin or other language-centred nations, Kernow aren't able to use their language as a central philosophy to their football.

Instead, they choose to do their talking on the pitch to give Cornish people empowerment, inspiration and to raise awareness of Cornish culture and language throughout the world.

Our podcast will return on 9 February 2026. We would like to thank all of the guests, supporters and listeners who have played a part in making the podcast so brilliant in 2025.

We've got lots planned for 2026. See you all then.

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

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About Us

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About Our Guest

The Kernow Football Alliance

https://kernowfa.co.uk/

98. More Than A Shirt

We're joined by author and journalist Joey D'Urso to talk about the relationship between football kits, power, marketing and geopolitics through the lens of his recently published book.

With huge commercial value and unlimited marketing opportunities, football kits have become the most popular way for brands to gain exposure to new audiences and demographics.

But football kits often become central to other issues surrounding money and power, and sometimes not all is as it seems.

Subscribe to The Footbal Heritage Extra on Patreon for £3 per month and get an extra podcast every week.

https://www.patreon.com/cw/FootyHeritage

About Us

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About Our Guest

Joey D'Urso

@josephmdurso

'More Than A Shirt: How Football Shirts Explain Global Politics, Money and Power'

https://stanchionbooks.com/products/more-than-a-shirt-how-football-shirts-explain-global-politics-money-and-power