Welcome to Episode 59 of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom

WOW, WOW, WOW.......

Have we got an episode for you.

Dom & I have just met and chatted with a genuine icon of Sports Journalism & Sports Broadcasting, who could easily be described as Journalistic Royalty.

We meet........ HARRY HARRIS

Harry has been covering English & World Football for over 50 years as a leading Sports Journalist. He has been to every World Cup since 1986.  To date he has had 99 books published including his latest;

A HISTORY OF THE WORLD CUP : ON THE PITCH & OFF THE DRAWING BOARD, Co-Authored & Illustrated by Paul Trevillion with Contributions from none other than Osvaldo Ardilles. It is a fabulous book, beautifully illustrated (and available now from Amazon & all good book stores). Buy it for yourself or any football fan in your life - they will not be disappointed.

No spoilers, but Harry gives us THE best answer to a question that Dom or I have posed in 59 episodes to date, we explore why losing out on an Award to someone employing decidedly "shady" tactics still rankles, and his Diego Maradona interview story is simply gold.

There is also a startling revelation about the sale of Manchester United that had us dropping our jaws.

Finally, as proper football fans, Harry's insights into how the game is going should be both a concern and a wake-up call for us all - very interesting.......

Harry has met and interviewed (and written a book about) many of the true greats of the game.

He is TWICE a winner of the prestigious Sports Story of the Year Award and TWICE a winner of equally prestigious Sports Journalist of the Year Award to go with his 20 plus other Awards he has received over his glittering career.

We could have chatted for hours - and he will definitely be coming back, but for now, just sit back and watch or listen to a great storyteller, sharing some of his memorable moments from an incomparable football journalist's career.

We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it - but that would be really hard as both Dom & I are still in "Fan Boy" mode - it was that much of a joy, pleasure and honour to meet and chat with Harry.

As always, the podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

We also have a growing LinkedIn group with nearly 420 members – with more exclusive content just for football fans with a LinkedIn account. Just search The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast under Groups on there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your Monday morning fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we progress through the rest of the summer, ready for the new season, which is nearly upon us already.......

A HISTORY OF THE WORLD CUP : ON THE PITCH & OFF THE DRAWING BOARD - https://amzn.eu/d/09orDvK4

Thanks for your support and your support with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 58 of the Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.

This is our last episode concentrating on the World Cup 2026 - with our observations on the Final and the Tournament as a whole.

We even have a brief little chat about the Bronze Final.

So what do we think?

And what of the overall tournament itself as a World Cup and as a global football spectacle and celebration?

And we have a monologue finish (which is a first for the podcast too).

All this and much, much more (with a little parental listening guidance) are discussed as we put the 2026 World Cup to bed….

As always, lots of opinions to get your teeth into.

What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion?  If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode more than we enjoyed the game and the "entertainment" last night.

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week.

From next week, we are back in our usual release slot of every Monday morning as we progress through the rest of the summer, ready for the new season - which is nearly upon us already....... .

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 420 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups for more exclusive content just for football fans with a LinkedIn account.

Thanks for your support and your support with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 57 of the Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.

Early spoiler alert if you have been living in a cave or under a rock and don't know the results of the 2 WC Semi-Finals - ha ha.

As the World Cup enters the real business end, we have just 2 games that decide the finalists – (and also the two who will contest the most pointless game in world sport – the laughingly named “Bronze Final").  What is the point of that?????

There were certainly a couple of shocks – well one shock and one shocker!

This is the first time ever that the top 4 nations in the FIFA World Rankings have made the final 4 in ANY World Cup competition.  That in itself is amazing, but how did it play out?

We don’t do tactical breakdowns, but as two very experienced match-going fans, we do bring our observations to bear in a podcast discussion and chat which we hope you will find interesting.

France v Spain

The Irresistible Force v The Immovable Object, except that the irresistible force was like an electric vehicle with a flat battery and it never got going.

Was it the exceptional performance of Spain, and let’s face it, they were brilliant – (if also VERY comfortable), or were France genuinely THAT poor and found out as a result?

Is it most likely somewhere in between – and perhaps we will find out in the Final, which Spain cruised though to in second gear.

Who shone, who disappointed, who was invisible and who was in total and utter control throughout?

This was a result that many didn’t see coming, but this is also the third summer in a row that a Spain side has beaten a French side in a senior men’s football tournament – so is it really a surprise?

One thing is certain, the French lost the plot and sulked their way to the Bronze Final in a right strop!  I bet they cannot wait.

England v Argentina

Make sure the kids are not listening or watching……

The evening after the night before as we record this special episode, we are still shaking our heads as to how a team with at least some element of threat, if not total control can go from that to less than 12% possession immediately after scoring to immediately after conceding their second Argentinian goal – letting one of the world’s greatest players have the freedom of Atlanta to completely run the show for half an hour?

Baffling and annoying in equal measure.

We reveal a pre-match dark-arts stat that maybe gave a clue as to how they would play and how they would get away with their aggressive tactics.

So, did Argentina come for a game or a fight – their first have disgraceful display would certainly indicate the latter – but after England scored, they concentrated on what they are quite brilliant at – so why not from the start?

At the end of the match, several of the Argentina players unveiled a Malvinas Flag and an incendiary banner, a clear breach of FIFA rules, which usually means sanctions such as match bans.  Does ANYONE think that FIFA will issue any to their clear favourites – no chance.  

As always, lots to get your teeth into.

What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion? If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode more than we enjoyed the game last night.

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we get to the end of the WC 2026 and look forward to the new domestic season.

Watch out for our World Cup Final (and Overall Tournament) Review Episode – out on Monday evening next week.  

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 415 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups and join for additional content and background information.

Thanks for your support and your support with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 56 of the Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.

Early spoiler alert if you have been living in a cave or under a rock and don't know the results of the 4 games - we share the winners early - ha ha.

As the World Cup enters the final run-in and we have 4 games that decide the semi-finalists on the road to ultimate glory, we discuss whether over the course of the Quarter Finals, the cream has risen to the top or whether all four games on different levels were just a bit meh?

This is the first time since 1990 that all four winners of the Quarter Finals have been former winners of the trophy, and it is VERY unusual, (if not unique - we are not sure), that the four nations who are the top 4 in the current FIFA Men's World Rankings are also the 4 semi-finalists after this latest round of fixtures.

So, we can assume that they will have served up some brilliant games and excitement for us then......

Well, with skin in the game, the England game was a challenging watch, and therefore on one level, worthy of our attention, but in terms of QUALITY - not so much.

We discuss our views as two match-going football fans who watch a LOT of football, and in headline form, here is our assessment:

Once we have shared our thoughts on the games, we ask things like:

As always, lots to get your teeth into.  What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion?

If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. 

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we get to the end of the WC 2026 and look forward to the new domestic season.

Watch out for our Quarter Final, Semi Final & Final (and Overall Tournament) Review Episodes coming up over the next 10 days too.

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 385 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups and join for additional content and background information.

Thanks for your support and your support with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 55 of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.

As the World Cup continues, we have just completed the Round of 16 and as two match going football fans, we share our observations on all eight games.

Some crackers and a couple of absolute snooze-fests, but we both agree that we are now at the business end of the tournament and the jeopardy is real.

Before getting into it - a quick thanks to all of those who have recently joined our Podcast audiences - with over 2,000 new downloads in the last two days alone - maybe our posts on the whole FIFA / Trump / Balogun affair helped - they certainly struck a chord with over 200,000 impressions and loads of comments and engagement - thanks again.

So, the Round of 16 - 8 games to decide who makes the Quarter Finals and gets to be just two steps away from a World Cup Final - and potential glory.

No technical reviews, no tactics, no detailed match analysis, just things that us match-going football fans notice and that we want to share with you - our viewers and listeners.....

We also have a lame Dad joke that might just make you laugh out loud!

Lots to get your teeth into. What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion?

If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. 

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we get to the end of the WC 2026 and look forward to the new domestic season.

Watch out for our Quarter Final, Semi Final & Final (and Overall Tournament) Review Episodes coming up over the next 10 days too.

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 370 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups and join for additional content and background information.

Thanks for your support and your support with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 54 of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.......

Continuing our bang up to date World Cup 2026 review episodes, this is our review of the WC 2026 Round of 32, which concluded in the early hours of this morning.

As we say, this is "not quite the business end of the tournament - YET!"

16 games - some decent, some better than that, the odd magic moment, quite a few forgettable games, and some horrendous VAR and refereeing decisions - and more....

No technical reviews, no tactics, no detailed match analysis, just things that us match-going football fans notice and that we want to share with you - our viewers and listeners - and all after we start with a public reprimand of Mark Pugach!

Lots to get your teeth into. What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion?

If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it. 

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we get to the end of the WC 2026 and look forward to the new domestic season.

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 370 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups and join for additional content and background information.

Thanks for your support with this and with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 53 of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.

Following the release of Episode 52 yesterday, in which we discussed the logistics, merits and otherwise of the 48 team structure, 72 games to get rid of 16 teams, (12 or 13 of whom were very predictable before a ball was kicked) and everything around the format of the group stages, including letting 8 teams who finished THIRD go though, on this episode, we focus on the on field and off field football matters by way of some observations……

SO, TWO EPISODES – RELEASED BACK-TO-BACK.

Don’t forget to check out BOTH!

On Episode 53, what are we covering?

We did cover our concerns on the Americanisation of Football all the way back on Episode 3 of the podcast back in August 2025, and sadly we were very insightful and correct with many of our concerns – just use the same links and search by episode number if you fancy hearing or seeing our insights on that too.

Lots to get your teeth into. What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion?

If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we get to the end of the 2025/26 season.

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 370 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups and join for additional content and background information.

This Episode is again brought to you in association with our EFL & National League Fan Welfare & Mental Health Partners huddleUp. If you have any influence in a club, in a supporter’s group, as a sponsor or in a commercial role - they want to hear from you.

To contact Adam Franklin or Conner Botterill at huddleUp, you can an email them at - [email protected] or if you are a business or representing a business on LinkedIn, you can connect and follow the business at - https://www.linkedin.com/company/huddle-up-uk

Thanks for your support with this and with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 52 of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.

Two match-going fans, two teams, never on the same scarf – and as we have the World Cup in full swing, we have a special treat for our listeners & viewers.  Not one episode this week, but TWO EPISODES – RELEASED BACK-TO-BACK……

Episode 52 released today looks at the whole World Cup Group Stage – 72 games to lose 16 teams, with at least 12, possibly 13 of them being predictable departures before a ball has been kicked.  And yes, given the group they were in, Scotland would be included in that 12 o 13.

On Episode 53, released tomorrow we share our on field and off field observations from a footballing perspective.  We really have this covered and hope that you will enjoy the two episodes…..

So, Episode 52, what are we covering?  

Well, as mentioned, has it all been just some glorified waste of time to cover global football inclusiveness, inviting nations with ZERO chance of progress, clearly designed to just tick a box and get us to the knockout phase with the usual teams involved?

We did cover how bad Gianni Infantino is for the game and how we would have thought it impossible to compare unfavourably to Sepp Blatter on Episode 16 of the podcast back in October 2025 – just use the same links and search by episode number if you fancy hearing or seeing our earlier insights on that too.

Lots to get your teeth into. What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion?

If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we get to the end of the 2025/26 season.

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 370 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups and join for additional content and background information.

This Episode is again brought to you in association with our EFL & National League Fan Welfare & Mental Health Partners huddleUp. If you have any influence in a club, in a supporter’s group, as a sponsor or in a commercial role - they want to hear from you.

To contact Adam Franklin or Conner Botterill at huddleUp, you can an email them at - [email protected] or if you are a business or representing a business on LinkedIn, you can connect and follow the business at - https://www.linkedin.com/company/huddle-up-uk

Thanks for your support with this and with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 51 of the Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.

It's still early summer, the World Cup has just kicked off but the early summer Managerial Merry-Go-Round has already started revolving - and it will only get quicker as the summer evolves and we approach the start of the new season across the Premier League, The Championship, League One & League Two, and what about at Rangers too?

As Boro fans, we have a certain view on the sacking (yesterday at the time of recording) of Rob Edwards at Wolves.

How it happened, why we have zero sympathy, what might be next for the ultimate football narcissist, including what he is bound to say at any future press conference - and does he need to buy a Road Atlas with some of his pay-off money?

Where should he go next - we have a view......

What the hell are Leicester thinking in even talking to Russell Martin. Seriously, what are they doing?

What will happen at Ipswich, Fulham and Man City and is there even a vacancy at Crystal Palace?

In the Championship, welcome back Tony Mowbray, but please keep your hands off one of Boro's assets.

Is Chris Wilder already at Defcon 6 with the sacking of his long-term Assistant, Alan Knill?

Will John Mousinho still be at Pompey for the first game of next season?

Do Chris Davies at Birmingham and even Kim Hellberg at Boro HAVE to have a big summer and a great start to next season?

And how many permanent Watford Managers will there be in the 2026/27 season?  What would you put £10.00 on?

We also discuss some League One and League Two clubs as well as the status of Danny Rohl at Rangers. Is he on his way out before the longest day of the summer is upon us?

Oh, and don't forget to check out our Daily World Cup Quiz in our exclusive LinkedIn Group - Test your knowledge here:

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13295573/  

Lots to get your teeth into. What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion?

If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we get to the end of the 2025/26 season.

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 360 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups and join for additional content and background information.

This Episode is again brought to you in association with our EFL & National League Fan Welfare & Mental Health Partners huddleUp. If you have any influence in a club, in a supporter’s group, as a sponsor or in a commercial role - they want to hear from you.

To contact Adam Franklin or Conner Botterill at huddleUp, you can an email them at - [email protected] or if you are a business or representing a business on LinkedIn, you can connect and follow the business at - https://www.linkedin.com/company/huddle-up-uk

Thanks for your support with this and with our YouTube channel too.

Welcome to Episode 50 of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom.

As we said last time, we don't do awards, we don't do tactical reviews of games and we don't do banal chat - there are plenty of other podcasts for that, but..... As it is season end, we have however, created a Plaudits & Barbs list for the Premier League and the Championship on Episode 49 and on this episode, we consider;

Again, as with last week, this episode was recorded back to back so with Dom having been away until the morning of recording, this list was again created by Nick and dropped on him live.

So, did he agree, how much was he caught off-guard and which teams and Managers made which side of which list?

If you support any of the following - have a watch or a listen and see if you agree, or if we have boiled your P with our assessment of your 2025/26 season:

League One

League Two

The SPL

Bundesliga

Serie A

We watch a LOT of football - a lot of it LIVE. So, we think we have opinions that many might agree with - if they are open and objective, but let's see....

What do you think? Are we right, are we wrong, do you have a different view or opinion? If you want to comment or reach out, please do. We would love to hear from you......

We hope that you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it

The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms - just search: "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast with Nick & Dom" on whichever platform you normally listen to your podcasts on and we will be there.

Don't forget to give us a nice 5 star rating and a like, and please subscribe and share from your favourite podcast platform too - to help us to grow our audience and also to automatically get your fix of The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast every week as we get to the end of the 2025/26 season.

We also have an open Group on LinkedIn with over 340 members and rising - just search "The Half & Half Scarf Football Podcast" on LinkedIn Groups and join for additional content and background information.

This Episode is again brought to you in association with our EFL & National League Fan Welfare & Mental Health Partners huddleUp. If you have any influence in a club, in a supporter’s group, as a sponsor or in a commercial role - they want to hear from you.

To contact Adam Franklin or Conner Botterill at huddleUp, you can an email them at - [email protected] or if you are a business or representing a business on LinkedIn, you can connect and follow the business at - https://www.linkedin.com/company/huddle-up-uk

Thanks for your support with this and with our YouTube channel too.