These Football Times

On to Old Trafford - yes, really - for the 1970 FA Cup final replay and Chelsea and Leeds are about to produce another game for the ages, one of the most enduring cup finals of all time, while simultaneously doubling as a useful handbook on guerilla warfare. Steven Scragg and Dave Bowler take you through the game and do work of vital national importance by concluding how we can return the Elgin Marbles, yet still be a country with a greater cultural bank balance.

Jonathan Wilson joins Steven Scragg in the centre circle to discuss his monumental new history of the World Cup, in all its glory and in all its gory detail. What further persuasion to listen could you possibly need?

It’s the turn of the ESPN documentary The Two Escobars to feature in our Reel Football series. It explores how the very different lives of Colombia international Andrés Escobar and drug baron Pablo Escobar became inextricably linked by the 1994 World Cup. Matthew Gibbs and Dr Pete Watson pick apart an extraordinary and tragic tale.

Our Reel Football series alights upon Asif Kapadia’s 2019 documentary about Diego Maradona, revolving around his time in Naples and the 1986 World Cup. Matthew Gibbs, Dr Pete Watson and Steven Scragg revel in one of the great football films.

Less Citizen Kane, more 'Citizen Harry Kane', Matthew Gibbs and Rob Fletcher alight upon the cinematic treasure that is the Goal! trilogy. Whether treasure in this context means it’s full of gold, or that it should simply have stayed buried forever, we’ll find out by the end of the pod.

Donning the mantle of Mark Kermode, Matthew Gibbs sets sail on a new series delving into the world of football on film. In this first episode, he’s joined by Rob Fletcher and Chris Lepkowski to take a closer look at The Damned United. So the first thing you can do is chuck all your medals and all your caps and all your pots and all your pans into the biggest dustbin you can find and pay attention to this.

We return to the Centre Circle with our guest Dominic Hougham to talk about his new book Veni Vidi Vici: When Italian Football Ruled Europe. If you are a fan of the golden age of Serie A in the 1980s and 90s, this is the book – and podcast – for you. Rob Fletcher and Steven Scragg, cappuccinos in hand, are along for the ride.

Our 70s series returns and not with a mere bonus track but a supplementary book of learning that brings you everything you needed to know about each of the decade’s FA Cup finals.

We start at Wembley, where there’s barely a blade of grass to be seen as Leeds and Chelsea join battle in a final that sets the tone for the rest of a golden decade in the FA Cup. Steven Scragg and Dave Bowler take you through a truly magnificent 120 minutes of football and ask the eternal question: what would Norman Hunter make of pickle juice?

Rob Fletcher is joined by Ivan McDouall who talks about his excellent new book Only The Real Thing, which charts Aston Villa’s glory days in the League Cup from 1993 to 1996, as they carried off the Coca-Cola sponsored trophy twice in short order. Coke floats all round.

The latest club magazine from These Football Times explores Aston Villa, from the days when they were central to forming the Football League through trials and tribulations in the third tier, on to winning the European Cup, and the current resurgence piloted by Unai Emery. TFT’s resident Villan, Ivan McDouall, joins Aidan Williams to discuss all the goodies you’ll find inside.