Your favourite football podcast returns for its 15th season. We start by looking at the season ahead as well as the summer business yet to be completed - such as Bayern's stop start negotiations with Daniel Levy for the services of Harry Kane. Meanwhile, the knockout stages of the Women's World Cup are in full swing. England have made it to the quarter finals but it took penalties for them to get the better of a resiliant and organised Nigeria. They now face the prospect of playing their remaining games without their tournament star player, Lauren James, whose frustrations against the Super Falcons led to her receiving a red card. Gary Andrews joins us after watching Australia's round of 16 win over Denmark, and assesses the co-hosts chances. For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_540.mp3 What's in the Weekend Boxset? The Premier League returns with some cracking fixtures including Chelsea hosting Liverpool. Also, the Women's World Cup reaches the quarter final stage with England facing Colombia and co-hosts Australia going up against France. Get our FREE weekly newsletter in your email by signing up to the Weekend Boxset today. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_540.mp3

With the 2023 Women's World Cup kicking off this Thursday, we look at who are the most likely to challenge the USA in their pursuit of a third consecutive title. Are Sarina Wiegman's injured Lionesses up to the challenge? This time around, the tournament has expanded to 32 teams with the hosting shared between Australia and New Zealand. We examine the pros and cons of having a tournament that is double the size of the 2011 competition. For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. Also be sure to read Terry's Women's World Cup preview on our blog, which should prove very helpful when tackling our Sound of Football Women's World Cup quiz. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_539.mp3

The three EFL play-off finals this weekend brought all the usual drama, triumph and heartache. In our final podcast of the season we discuss if something similar to the play-offs could ever be introduced into the Premier League for European qualification or even the title itself. We also look back on the season - who did well and who would rather forget 2022/23 ever happened - and then look ahead to next season and how those teams relegated from the top flight will fare in the Championship. For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_538.mp3

Manchester City are Premier League champions, again. And over the next couple of weeks they could also become holders of the FA Cup and champions of Europe - emulating the achievement of Sir Alex Ferguson's United side of 1998/99. In addition to discussing City's Champion League final against Inter, we also look at the other European finals. Jose Mourinho's Roma are the latest to try to stop Sevilla winning another Europa League, and David Moyes leads his West Ham side against Fiorentina in the Conference League final. Terry also gives us a round up of the situation in Germany going into the final round of Bundesliga games. Dortmund need just to win at home against Mainz to prise the Bundesliga shield out of the hands of Bayern for the first time since they last won it in 2012. For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_537.mp3

After a thrilling final day of the Championships, we now know the line-up for this season's Championship play-offs. Three of the sides - Luton, Coventry and Sunderland - were all playing in League One as recently as 2019. As ever, it's impossible to call. Recorded while Everton were surpringly putting Brighton to the sword, we also discuss who we think will go going down. Can Big Sam pull off yet another great escape at Leeds? For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_536.mp3 What's in the Weekend Boxset? This weekend sees the start of the EFL play-offs including Luton's trip to the Stadium of Light and Middlesbrough in Coventry. There's also the Women's FA Cup Final from a sold-out Wembley - can Emma Hayes's Chelsea deny Manchester United their first major trophy. Get our FREE weekly newsletter in your email by signing up to the Weekend Boxset today. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_536.mp3

How long can the Premier League's model of showing only a certain number of games live in the UK continue? With competition for subscription based services and the use of illegal streams continuing to grow - especially amongst under 35s - could the richest league in the world find itself pricing itself out of the market? What effect would that have on football as a whole? Could the Premier League soon ditch Sky and BT Sport, or could they be the ones doing the ditching? Either way, watching football in England could be on the verge of its biggest shake up in 30 years. For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_535.mp3 What's in the Weekend Boxset? Could we see the shape of things to come with Premier League football being shown live at 3pm on a Saturday, when Man City face Sam Allardyce's Leeds. There's also the Copa del Rey final between Real Madrid and Osasuna. Get our FREE weekly newsletter in your email by signing up to the Weekend Boxset today.

The Women's World Cup is less than three months away, England will head to Australia without their captain Leah Williamson who last week ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of her right knee, which is likely to sideline her until the new year. With her club Arsenal also missing Ballon D'or nominees Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema to the same injury, once again questions are being asked as to why this injury is so prevalent in the women's game. Also this week we look at what next for Spurs after a shamoblic defeat at Newcastle that saw their interim head coach Cristian Stellini sacked, and could Sunderland end up going back up to the Premier League by accident? For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_534.mp3 What's in the Weekend Boxset? The games don't get easier for Spurs as they travel to Anfield for Ryan Mason's first game back as caretaker. It's also Scottish Cup semi-final weekend, and there's also the final round of games in the A-League regular season. Get our FREE weekly newsletter in your email by signing up to the Weekend Boxset today.

According to the bean-counters at Opta, the average time the ball is in play for a Premier League match this season has fallen below 55 minutes. Is this a cause for concern or merely a reaction to the way the modern game is played? Last year, the football authorities took the decision to tackle time-wasting. In the World Cup this was evident by the amount of injury time that was added - almost 12 minutes per game in the group stage - but this policy of adding time has yet to be taken up all leagues. How much of an issue is time-wasting in the game? Is it only an issue when it's your opponents that are doing it? For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_533.mp3 What's in the Weekend Boxset? It's FA Cup semi-final weekend: Sheffield United have the task of trying to overcome Manchester City on Saturday, while on Sunday Brighton get the chance of taking revenge for the 1983 final defeat to Manchester United. Get our FREE weekly newsletter in your email by signing up to the Weekend Boxset today.

At a time of year when it's football that should be making the headlines, it's bizarre decisions that have dominated the narrative over the past week. Firstly we had the news that Frank Lampard was to become caretaker at Stamford Bridge - caretaker manager that is - just two months after being fired from his role at Everton. Then this weekend, we had the Premier League referee body the PGMOL having to issue yet another apology for yet another table affecting decision missed by VAR, when Brighton were on the end of a string of rough decisions in their defeat to Champions League placing rivals Spurs. At least we had the last minute heroics of a returning Ben Foster to remind us of what the game is really about. For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_532.mp3 What's in the Weekend Boxset? If you've had your fill of VAR there's plenty of Championship and Women's FA Cup action to watch, though that won't stop pundits at those games calling for it. Get our FREE weekly newsletter in your email by signing up to the Weekend Boxset today.

Over the last week Antonio Conte, Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter have all lost their jobs in charge of Premier League clubs. Potter's Chelsea exit was the twelfth sacking of the Premier League season. Are there underlying reasons for so many clubs changing managers this season? Is it indicative of the upheaval at the top of the table and how close things are in the bottom half? Will be there be any more before the season is done? For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog. pods.sofpodcast.com/sofpodcast_531.mp3 What's in the Weekend Boxset? It's an Easter weekend packed with football including two rounds of action away from the top flight. The top two in the Championship - Burnley and Sheffield United - and the National League - Wrexham and Notts County - face each other on Easter Monday. Get our FREE weekly newsletter in your email by signing up to the Weekend Boxset today.