The Halcyon Podcast

Adam and Rob break with tradition by welcoming two guests onto the pod to tell the tale of West Ham’s remarkable 1985-86 season. They are joined by Stuart Fuller, author of two Football Tourist books, former football blogger and current chairman of Lewes FC, to discuss his chapter in From the Jaws of Victory and what it was like to be a fan during that famous season for the Hammers.

Adding colour to Stu’s story in his own inimitable style, we are delighted to welcome the undisputed star of that side, Frank McAvennie. While Stu talks of what it was like to be a teenager in thrall of his heroes on the pitch, while having to choose between a girl and West Ham, Frank discusses his experiences of coming so close to glory but ultimately just missing out.

We also cover the time Frank bumped into his pal Billy Connolly while filming Saint and Greavsie, his appearance on Wogan, the underrated talent of Alan Devonshire, almost signing for Luton instead of the Hammers, coming second in the Golden Boot race to Gary Lineker, Mexico ‘86 and more.

We hear from Stu on the rude health of Lewes FC during lockdown and his search for a new manager, a shortlist for which may or may not include Frank or another West Ham legend, Julian Dicks.

As ever, you can buy Jaws of Victory from us directly (or the ebook on Amazon if that's your thing), and follow us on Twitter @HalcyonPublish1 and @magicspongers

Adam and Rob are joined by broadcasting and football legend Barry Davies for a chat covering everything from the great man's commentating career to VAR and Monday Night Football.

Barry talks to us about notable World Cup stories and his first assignments in 1966, as well as the Euros in 1996, Gazza, and his favourite tournaments, stories and performances.

We ask Barry how on earth he managed to learn so much about ice skating and all the other sports he covered, and whether or not he still commentates either in his head or out loud when watching sport at home these days.

Barry has also had some very kind words to say about Jaws of Victory, which you can buy from us directly (or you can the ebook on Amazon if that's your thing). And if you want to get in touch, follow us or send us a message on Twitter @HalcyonPublish1 and/or @magicspongers

Adam and Rob are joined from Berlin by the brilliant Uli Hesse, writer at 11 Freunde and author of - among other things - Tor! The Story of German football and Building the Yellow Wall.

We discuss the nature of glorious defeat in Germany in relation to both the national team and Uli's club, Borussia Dortmund, as well as the relatively late-blooming Bundesliga and the remarkable fact that West Germany's 1954 World Cup win was achieved prior to professionalism in the country.

Uli also takes us through the finer points of fan ownership, so often a standard-bearing idea in the UK, and we get the full story on whether RB Leipzig broke the rules and whether it can be said that they cheated (they did, and it can).

We also talk to Uli about how he started his career, what it's like working full-time at a magazine now compared to freelancing and authoring, and his favourite football books and writers.

As ever,  you can buy Jaws of Victory from us directly (or the ebook on Amazon if that's your thing), and follow us on Twitter @HalcyonPublish1 and @magicspongers

Rob and Adam are joined by renowned football writer Marcela Mora y Araujo for a thoroughly enjoyable chat about her chapter in From the Jaws of Victory - the Argentina national team in a period of contrasting fortunes from 2006-2014, dubbed 'the Messi years' (by us) despite the Messi years being demonstrably not over yet.

We cover World Cups and Copa Americas, the philosophical question of the win vs. the journey, and the similarities and differences between Argentinian and British fans. We also discuss the state of domestic football in Argentina and whether or not it's time for supporters to take a stand and refuse to follow their teams to other continents, or indeed deserts with appalling human rights records, in protest against being held in such contempt by the powers that be.

Marcela also tells us about her route into football writing and we find out about the (Dutch) genesis of long-form anthology football writing, thereafter embraced by Marcela on the brilliant Perfect Pitch. We also add the newest nearly man(ager) to our Nearly Men XI.

Don't forget to rate the pod wherever you get your podcasts and say nice things to us on Twitter @magicspongers and @HalcyonPublish1 

This week, Adam and Rob welcome minute-by-minute pioneer, author and Guardian stalwart Scott Murray to the pod to shine a light on the Matthews final in 1953, including whether Blackpool’s 4-3 win over Bolton should actually be named after hat-trick hero Stan Mortensen instead and how you might go about getting your name on a cup final anyway.

We cover the role of television and the coronation in football consumption in the 50s, as well as the innate ridiculousness of not allowing subs on, even when players were hobbling around on one leg (or fewer). We also take a moment to celebrate the gentlemanly conduct of the olden days, despite overwhelming evidence that players were just as prone to kicking each other to pieces as they are now. 

Scott explains the birth and growth of the hugely popular minute by minutes at The Guardian and discusses his favourite things to write and read, mainly centred around the fact that – as we can all agree – football really shouldn’t be taken very seriously. 

You can read Scott’s brilliant chapter, as well as 22 more, by sticking From the Jaws of Victory in your shopping cart, direct from us at the Halcyon Publishing website, and say nice things to us on Twitter @magicspongers and @HalcyonPublish1 

Adam and Rob are joined by the multi-talented John Nicholson to talk about Middlesbrough's famous UEFA Cup run, in which Boro saw off a litany of big European names with a litany of big European comebacks.

 We talk to John about what's happened to football in the age of the Premier League, where the soul of the game is hiding these days and how we once wrote a very prescient article about Alan Pardew.

John also share some insights from his journey into writing both football and non-football titles,  and nominates a nearly man for the XI. Unfortunately we don't get time to talk about Eddie van Halen, but we'll do that next time.

John's books, in particular Can we have our football back? and Can we have our football back yet? can be found at www.johnnicholsonwriter.co.uk

And, as ever, you can get From the Jaws of Victory from us at the Halcyon Publishing website, and follow/chat to us on Twitter @magicspongers and @HalcyonPublish1

We're joined by Andi Thomas to talk World Cups, statues, conspiracies and World Cup statue conspiracies as we revisit his brilliant Jaws of Victory chapter on the Wales side of 1958. A real 'What if' story, we also talk to Andi about how imagining and engaging with what could have been is a big, if not the biggest part of supporting a football team.

We also chat about how Andi got into writing about football in the first place, notable people or stuff that he's read recently and Mel Charles misses out yet again as a fabled Welshman is put forward for the Nearly Men XI.

If you're liking the pods and want to get in touch with us about football or books, we're @magicspongers and @HalyconPublish1

Andi also mentions arguably Wales's greatest World Cup goal, scored by Ivor Allchurch, which is worth admiring ... 'the Hungarian goalkeeper wasn't amused' is a lovely touch.

From the Jaws of Victory contributor Rich Hall joins Adam and Rob to shed light on perhaps the greatest side we never saw at a World Cup. Marking something of a departure from the other chapters in the book, Rich explains how the Yugoslavia side weren’t beaten on the pitch, but were instead denied by history.

Chucked out of Euro ‘92 just 11 days before the tournament began, leading the Danish to happily throw away their beach towels and then go on to win the thing, the world of football was robbed of a ‘could’ve been great’ Yugoslavia. 

We’ll be talking about USA ’94, wonderful Yugoslav playmakers, such as Dejan Savicevic, Dragan Stojkovic and Robert Prosinečki, and whether or not kicking a policeman in the head can start a war. 

If you want to talk about geopolitical matters or just the football, hit us up @magicspongers and @HalyconPublish1

Rich also mentions a notable friendly between Brazil and Yugoslavia, played after the 1994 World Cup.

Rob and Adam are joined by Ross MacDonald, an as-yet-unknown percentage of The 1975, to talk about all manner of near misses, from being pipped at the post by David Ginola to hitting the post you may or may not have been aiming for on national television.

As one of the top three or possibly two most famous Macclesfield Town fans, we also talk to Ross about what it means when your club ceases to exist overnight, especially when it returns very soon after in a same-but-different condition.

Ross gives us his nomination for our Nearly Man XI, old Silverball(s) himself, Il Divin Codino, and admits to having read at least one chapter of From the Jaws of Victory.

Join in the nostalgia/nonsense on Twitter @magicspongers and @HalcyonPublish1

Enjoy! x

In the first ever episode of the Halcyon podcast, Adam and Rob are joined by... each other to introduce Halcyon and talk about their chapters in our latest book, From the Jaws of Victory.

First up it's the Dutch and Johan Cruyff, the embodiment of style over substance, the exoticism of a World Cup in colour, and how losing one final might be considered unfortunate, but two...

We also discuss Scotland's widely-heralded 1967 victory over England and attempt to place it in the context of a decade in which, success against the Auld Enemy aside, a vintage group of players took part in precisely no major tournaments. A different era to now, of course.

Then we kick off our Nearly Men XI with two players you'd be very hard pushed to call Nearly Men, paving the way for future contributors to completely blow us out of the water.

You can get stuck into us on social media @magicspongers and @HalcyonPublish1

Enjoy! x