The Football Pink

And now, the end is near, and so we face, our final podcast.

Yes, we have reached the end of the 1990/91 season and this series. And what an adventure it's been. In this episode Steve and Mark are joined by writer and journalist Matthew Crist to look back at May 1991; the month when Arsenal clinched the First Division title, Manchester United conquered Europe (well, the Cup Winners Cup), and Paul Gascoigne said goodbye to his knee ligaments in the now infamous mad 10 minute appearance in the FA Cup final against Nottingham Forest. Added to all that, Matthew remembers bucket hats and baggy jeans, Steve laments the missing accolade from Brian Clough's CV, and Mark plays us out with Tottenham's typically cockney cup final single.

Oh I Say!

We have reached the penultimate episode of the series and the game, and Barry Davies' famous commentary, that inspired the name of this podcast. Joining Steve and Mark this week is author and blogger Alan Fisher as they discuss all things April 1991 including Paul Gascoigne's incredible free-kick that helped Tottenham Hotspur defeat arch rivals Arsenal in that FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

In this episode, Mark speaks to Justin Walley, who in 2018 guided Matabeleland to the finals of the CONIFA World Football Cup in London. He gives a fascinating insight into his experiences in Zimbabwe and the difficulties of managing an international team on the periphery of the game. You can read more about his story in his book One Football, No Nets.

Oh I Say! We’ve reached March 1991 and joining Steve and Mark for this episode is comedian, actor and Manchester United fan, Justin Moorhouse. The lads discuss the emergence of 17-year-old Ryan Giggs - who made is first team debut this month - the signing of Andrei Kanchelskis, and Justin’s experiences following United both then and now: including being stopped by the gendarmerie in France on their Cup Winners Cup campaign and hanging out with Eric Cantona. There’s the usual chat about football in 1991 and what was in the news, on the TV and in the pop charts at the time.

February 1991 turned out to be quite a momentous month: The first Gulf War ended; 10 Downing Street was attacked by the IRA; and in English football, ‘King’ Kenny Dalglish shocked everybody by unexpectedly resigning as manager of Liverpool. It was a pivotal moment in the season and came in the wake of one of the greatest FA Cup ties and Merseyside derbies ever seen. Everton came back four times in a helter-skelter, end-to-end classic forcing fierce local rivals Liverpool into a second 5th round replay. Joining host Mark to discuss that game, the background to it, and the fallout of Dalglish’s sudden departure from Anfield are former Everton and Scotland winger Pat Nevin, who played in that match; Gavin Buckland - Evertonian and regular on Radio Merseyside and the Liverpool Echo’s Royal Blue podcast - and writer, journalist and lifelong Red, Tony Evans - former football editor at The Times.

Welcome back to the Oh I Say! podcast series as we look back at season 1990/91 in English football. The year has turned, and to talk January 1991 Steve is joined by former Chelsea, Millwall, Gillingham and Leyton Orient defender - and also later manager of the O’s - John Sitton, who is always remembered for his famous half time team talk during the 1995 Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall documentary, Orient For A Fiver. John shares his forthright views on his time at Brisbane Road, where football has been improved upon since his days in the game, and what was happening in music, TV and the news from January 1991.

In this Christmas episode Steve and Mark talk to actor, producer and writer Jonny Owen about his memories of season 1990/91, which includes - amongst other things - the glory days of Merthyr Tydfil, music and the terraces, fan culture, the Morris Worm, and the Strangeways riots.

In our monthly look back to season 1990/91, Steve and Mark are joined this time by photographer Stuart Roy Clarke who remembers November 1990 and his capturing of the homes of football during the early 90s with his camera; a time of great change in the aftermath of Hillsborough and the Taylor Report that ushered in the era of all-seater stadia.

We talk to David Squires - cartoonist and satirist at The Guardian - about his brilliant new book, Goalless Draws - Illuminating The Genius of Modern Football, which is a compilation of some of his finest work since 2014 which covers the absurdities of the game today, including; transfer deadline day, Poppygate, the Euros and World Cup, Jose Mourinho and much more.

In this episode, editor Mark Godfrey talks to three of the magazine’s contributors.

Marc Boal kicks us off to talk about Vikingur Olafsvik from Iceland and their struggles to survive in the top flight, set against some stunning scenery as seen in his photo essay ‘Football on the glacier’.

Next up it’s Jason Venzor who brings us the fascinating story of Paulino Alcantara – as Filipino/Spaniard who set all sorts of records in the early years of FC Barcelona in what was quite an intriguing life story.

And finally, Daniel Rossbach joins the pod to talk about the increasing creep of propaganda into football and how wealthy states and corporations are using the game to further their own separate agendas.