The Football Collective Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Football Collective
The Football Collective is dedicated network of people who wish to bring critical debate to football – for those interested and involved in building football for the future. Through sharp analysis and research informed original reporting, we aim to provide a platform for thought provoking critical debate in football.
An interview with Lee Nash, the co-founder and Creative Director of Gløry magazine, and Andy Lawn, Gløry’s Head of Copy - by Dr Joel Rookwood (University College Dublin)
Like a team with an evolving and revolving roster that comes together for international friendlies, the BGs (The Beautiful Game Basel Group) are a loose affiliation of scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds who assemble to investigate the relationship between beauty and soccer. Beginning with the Beautiful Game conference at Basel in July 2016, then subsequent workshops and conferences in Wake Forest, Dortmund, and Dublin, as well as the publication of the edited collection, The Aesthetics, Poetics, and Rhetoric of Soccer, David Kilpatrick moderates a discussion with Ridvan Askin, Aline Bieri, Catherine Diedrich, Adam Kadlac, Michael O’Hara, Cyprian Piskurek, and Connell Vaughan on the birth, growth, and future of the BGs.
Joel Rookwood interviews UCLan SU President and Sport Business Management graduate Zuleikha Chikh about Preston’s refugee and asylum seeker football project. Around 40 participants take part each week in free football coaching led by the Sir Tom Finney FC, a non-profit community football club in Preston – coached by UCLan students. This interview explores the lived realities of refugees and asylum seekers, the meaning of football in this context and the approach and impact of the project.
In this episode, we speak with Dr Dan Parnell & Dr Danny Fitzpatrick about the evidence and recommendations in their submission to the DCMS Select Committee call for evidence 'Sport in our community' on behalf of The Football Collective.
Dr Joel Rookwood of University of Central Lancashire outlined the multitude of issues surrounding Project Big Picture for his students. It is such a brilliant summary that we thought we would put it out on the Football Collective podcast feed. The talk is followed by questions from students and other people on the Zoom call. We hope you enjoy and might use it in your teaching, studies or journalism.
Among the key points discussed are: - The roots of Project Big Picture in the 39th game proposal by the EPL - Fan culture in the 1970s/ 1980s and policing and the route to the establishment of the Premier League - Financial structure of EPL and increased role of domestic and global TV revenues - Covid as a Trojan horse for globalisation of TV coverage - The history of Project Big Picture and how the deal(s) work out of financially for all clubs - The financial effects of Project Big Picture and how they might play out in British fan culture
In the fourth episode of Season 3, Sarthak Mondal sits with West Ham Academy coach, Ross Brooks to discuss his journey in the world of football coaching
Follow The Football Collective on Twitter: twitter.com/FB_Collective Connect with Ross Brooks on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbrookscoaching/ Follow Sarthak Mondal on Twitter: twitter.com/sm_speaks
In the third episode of Season 3, Sarthak Mondal sits with Gavin Price to discuss more about sport diplomacy..
Follow The Football Collective on Twitter: twitter.com/FB_Collective Follow Gavin Price on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GavinMPrice Follow Sarthak Mondal on Twitter: twitter.com/sm_speaks
In the second episode of Season 3, Sarthak Mondal sits with former Indian international footballer, Jules Alberto to discuss more about the current situation in Indian football.
Follow The Football Collective on Twitter: twitter.com/FB_Collective Follow Jules Alberto on Twitter: twitter.com/jules_alberto Follow Sarthak Mondal on Twitter: twitter.com/sm_speaks
In the first episode of Season 3, Sarthak Mondal sits with sports data scientist, Laurie Shaw from Harvard University to discuss more about the advent of data science in sports and the so-called magic pill known as expected goals.
Follow The Football Collective on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB_Collective Follow Laurie Shaw on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EightyFivePoint Follow Sarthak Mondal on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sm_speaks
Follow our other hosts on Twitter: 1. Paddy Hoey: https://twitter.com/paddyhoey 2. Danny Fitzpatrick: https://twitter.com/DFitz_Politics 3. Josh Dean: https://twitter.com/joshbrdean
Thousands of students will be starting university for the first time in the next few weeks. But, for many the transition from school and college to university will be fraught with worry.
These worries initially surround how to make first impressions with new friends and tutors in a strange new world sometimes hundreds of miles away from home but they also encompass how to build productive, respectful and meaningful relationships with these people. Also, how do you use email and online communication effectively and respectively?
But, there are other concerns that new students worry about: how do you get a balance between work and enjoying what should be a hugely transformative period of your life? How should you behave on social media, how should you project yourself and how can you use social media as part of your studies?
And, on a day-to-day basis, the challenges can be huge. For example, how do you approach beginning to read academic texts and integrate them into your research journey? How do you plan and complete assessments? And, the six million dollar question: how can this work be integrated into getting work experience and placements and starting your transition into the job you really want.
In this podcast Dr Joel Rookwood, course leader in Sport Business Management at the University of Central Lancashire speaks to fellow Football Collective members Dr Alex Culvin (University of Salford), PhD researcher Connor Penfold (Ulster University), Professor Peter Millward (Liverpool John Moores University), Dr Dan Parnell (University of Liverpool) and Dr Paddy Hoey (Edge Hill University) about how to start university and how students might negotiate their way through their time in academia.
In this special episode of the Football Collective Podcast, our host Sarthak Mondal sits down with Dr. Daniel Plumley, who is a senior lecturer in Sport Finance at Sheffield Business School, to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on football finance, and the decision by CAS on Manchester City's UEFA competitions' ban.
NOTE: As responsible individuals of the society, the podcast was recorded over video conference maintaining the social distancing norms and avoiding in person face-to-face interaction.
Follow The Football Collective on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB_Collective Join The Football Collective: https://footballcollective.org.uk/join-the-collective/
To celebrate the 4th of July, Professor David Kilpatrick brings together a panel of experts to discuss the state of soccer in the USA today. David, who is a very active member of the Collective, has brought together academics, authors and football industry professionals to do a SWOT analysis on where the beautiful game finds itself stateside - as he says, this their 2020 vision.
Joining David for a fascinating discussion are:
Journalist and author Bo Dure of USA Today, ESPN, the Guardian and many other outlets and the author of a number of brilliant books including 'Why the U.S. Men Will Never Win the World Cup: A Historical and Cultural Reality Check' available at all good books shops.
Dr Tom McCabe of Rutgers University Newark is the joint producer of the really remarkable documentary 'Soccertown USA', a study of the football culture of Kearny, New Jersey. You can watch the documentary on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=havPy5C2XIU
Maggie Ntim, a football agent and owner of the agency Trinity 3 who has worked in a number of different capacities in both the entertainment and professional sports industries in a marketing and management capacities.
Dr Zac Smith of Penn State Harrisburg is interested in the ethnography of sport and religion, and has also written about supporter ownership in the USA. He supports Grand Rapids FC and is also, for his sins, a Leeds United fan.
You can also follow our guests on Twitter: @duresport @TomMcCabe5 @agentMaggieNtim @zsmith78
Dr Jonathan Ervine of Bangor University has written highly acclaimed books about French film and French comedy. He is also a stalwart member of The Football Collective and is a keen observer of football culture in France. In this podcast he talks about the origins of professional football in France and Paris, the perennial Parisian underdogs Red Star FC, the influence of Paris St Germain on the French game, Zinedine Zidane and the continuing significance of the 1998 World Cup winning side on the nation. It's a brilliant show with which to wrap up the second series of The Football Collective Podcast. Many thanks to all our loyal listeners and we will be back towards the end of the summer with Series 3. Merci bien et Allez les Bleus!
S2 E19 Steve Menary discusses match fixing in friendlies with Josh Dean by The Football Collective
The University of Liverpool's Kieran Maguire produced a book earlier this year which blew open the doors of the previously hidden world of football finance. 'The Price of Football' has become such a phenomenon that it has been reprinted twice with all the profits from the last reprint going to the food bank charity the Trussell Trust. Kieran, along with legendary stand-up comic and TV presenter Kevin Day, have also turned it into an unlikely podcast success story with tens of thousands of downloads every week. So why did a book and podcast produced by a middle-aged chartered accountant with a love of spreadsheets and annual reports become an overnight success? Kieran explains its success, why football fans have become so interested in finance, money laundering, and why he is the 'sand in the vaseline' of the football authorities.
In this episode Josh Dean speaks with Fabian Fritz about his research, involvement with St Pauli, the return of the Bundesliga and life in Germany during COVID-19.
In the week of the 53rd anniversary of Celtic becoming the first British side to win the European Cup, Dr Joe Bradley of the University of Stirling and Dr John Kelly of the University of Edinburgh discuss the continuing political and social significance of the Lisbon Lions. Joe and John recently published an article on this subject in Soccer & Society which is published here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14660970.2019.1680502.
Dr Lee McGowan of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia makes a welcome return to the podcast for his 10 x 10 discussion of Robin Jenkins's wonderful football novel 'The Thistle and the Grail'.
The 10 x 10 series started off asking for 10 football scholars to speak for 10 minutes each on their favourite football books and it has grown wings. This episode is unmissable.
Lee, whose monograph 'Football in Fiction' is published by the Football Collective's own Routledge series, is the world's leading expert in the evocation of the beautiful game in literature.
This podcast sees Lee persuasively argue that 'The Thistle and the Grail' should be seen as one of the great Scottish novels of the 20th Century and that football fiction should be seen as a means of exploring deeper social issues.
WARNING: Two Celtic fans make the mistake of agreeing that Kenny Dalglish played for Cambuslang Juniors. It was actually Cumbernauld United. Shame on us.
Mr. Peter Drury delivered the keynote session to kick-off The Online Football Collective Conference 2020 on May 12, 2020. The link to the keynote session is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCu3YVFNDtw
Here is the question and answer session with Paddy Hoey after the keynote.
Professor Paul Whitty has been capturing the sounds of amateur and grassroots football for many years. He records the sound of lines being drawn on pitches, goalies kicking mud off their boots on goal posts and the incandescent rants of outraged touchline supporters. Interspersed with the pings of balls against posts and shouts of "MAN ON!!", he captures the sounds of birds and traffic that surround football on parks and recreation grounds. It's a terrific way to spend half and hour.
Liverpool fan Peter Hooton is perhaps best known as the lead singer of The Farm who are famous for their hit records 'Groovy Train' and the timeless socialist anthem 'All Together Now'. Peter is a central figure in the rise of football casual culture in the 1970s and the fanzine movement in the 1980s through his work in the seminal magazine 'The End'. He is also an important touchstone to 21st Century fan activism through his involvement in the Spirit of Shankly group at Liverpool FC. In a very special podcast recorded at the Liverpool community bakery, Homebaked, which sits in the shadow of the Kop, Peter reveals a life in football, music and working class popular culture. He also lifts the lid on how Rafa Benitez and fan activists brought down a reviled ownership of Liverpool. CAUTION: There are repeated references to the greatest band in the world, The Clash.
The 10 x 10 podcasts started out as 10 writers speaking for 10 minutes about their favourite football book. But, this one is our first about a film. Canadian writer, football activist and podcaster Shireen Ahmed fell in love with Gurinder Chadha's 'Bend it Like Beckham' 20 years ago. As a Asian Canadian woman of Pakistani origin who grew up playing football, Chadha's quietly revolutionary film about a young British Asian woman doing the same in London connected very deeply with her. In the first 10 x 10 about a film, award-winning football activist Shireen talks about her intense love of the film and then expands as she explores what 'Bend it Like Beckham' tells us about developing diversity in football, creating confidence and bonds of friendship and support among young players, and why we need to look after grassroots football. This is a podcast full of passion, enthusiasm and hope. You can follow Shireen on Twitter at @_shireenahmed_ and her website is http://www.shireenahmed.com/
Latin American football expert Dr Brenda Elsey of Hofstra University in New York couldn't choose between her favourite books, so she got to discuss two. In this podcast she discusses Lynne Truss' brilliant 'Get Her Off the Pitch' and Roger Kittleson's 'The Country of Football'.
Dr Paddy Hoey of Edge Hill University details how the Shoot! Annual, the end of year hardback special edition of the great British football magazine aimed at children, was his gateway drug into a lifetime love of football. It started off as a 10 x 10 and turned into a full podcast.
In our 10 x 10 series where 10 writers talk for 10 minutes about their favourite football books, Dr Kevin Moore, the former director of the National Football Museum, talks about the Ladybird Story of Football. Ladybird Books, first published in 1914, were an entry level for young British and Irish readers across a range of subjects, from folk tales to science and scholarship. Kevin talks about how this slim volume, with beautiful illustrations, awakened a love of football in him around the same time as England won the World Cup in 1966. Our conversation broadens out into a discussion into what football museums and archives should be collecting in the age of Facebook, Twitter and social media.
In this episode, Josh, Sarthak and Paddy discuss the online conference coming on the 12th May, the podcasts of S2 so far, life in lockdown and Netflix recommendations.
In part 2, Josh Dean chairs an open debate about gambling and football with guests from part 1: John Myers and Steve Sharman.
S2 E12 Betting On The Beautiful Game Part 1 - Josh Dean speaks to John Myers & Steve Sharman by The Football Collective
S2E11 Josh Dean speaks with Jon Mackenzie about furlough in football and the Premier League by The Football Collective
Stuart Cosgrove has been the co-presenter of the much beloved BBC Radio Scotland football show Off the Ball for 25 years. A St Johnstone fan, born and raised in Perth, Stuart is also a Northern Soul music enthusiast, author and former C4 television executive. Perhaps in that order. His recent Soul Trilogy, 'Detroit 67', 'Memphis 68', and 'Harlem 69' are perhaps the finest books written on soul music this century. His memoir of the British Northern Soul scene, 'Young Soul Rebels', does the remarkable job of tying his life of all-nighters to the major political and social events of Britain in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, including the Miners' Strike and the Yorkshire Ripper. At C4 he was involved with era-defining programmes such as Football Italia and Fr Ted. He was also the station's producer for the 2012 Paralympics. Before his C4 career, he wrote about black music for the NME and the Face. He has a PhD in Drama and Theatre Studies from Hull University where he tells us that he played with a decorated former Irish international winger and against a man who would eventually go on to buy Rangers FC. In this amazing podcast, recorded in February at his house in Dennistoun in the east end of Glasgow prior to me attending the Celtic Kilmarnock game at Parkhead, he talks about the difficulties Scottish football has in the shadow of the EPL, the role that football plays in Scottish cultural life, what Fr Ted told him about what the net could do for football fans and the poisonous nature of a lot of football chat online.
Football scholar Dr Christoph Wagner had been stuck in his western Paris apartment with a young family for a while before we chatted about Uli Hesse's landmark history of German football, 'Tor!' The chance to talk about football was such a relief to both of us that we let it run. Christoph, whose PhD looked at representations of the English and German national teams, details his great love of Hesse's wonderful book. It's a great chat that starts off looking at German football culture and which ultimately veers off into us addressing the subject of how embracing migrant communities has been to the benefit of German and French football and how the violent history of civil wars in Europe has driven migration and changed how we think of 'national teams'. I think this chat was therapy for both of us.
Alan Tonge of UCFB Etihad campus in Manchester discusses Oliver Kay's 'Forever Young: The Story of Adrian Doherty, Football's Lost Genius' a brilliant elegy to a uniquely gifted young footballer who fell through the cracks of the professional game. Alan, who played at Manchester United with Doherty gives firsthand insight into an enigmatic player who was more interested in Bob Dylan, playing guitar and reading books than he was with playing at Old Trafford. He also captures why Kay's extensively researched has become a modern classic of football writing.
Dr Anthony May of Coventry University discusses his love for Nick Hornby's 'Fever Pitch', the football book that kicked open the door for thousands of others that were pale imitations. As Anthony says, what separates 'Fever Pitch' is Hornby's deceptively simple style which is very difficult to imitate, and how he stands back and tries to rationally explain the largely irrational nature of being a football fan.
Professor David Kilpatrick of Mercy College in New York discusses one of the most lyrical love letters ever written to football: Eduardo Galeano's 'Soccer in Sun and Shadow'. This podcast is as much about the role that football has had in influencing David's life, from being an up-state New York child to becoming a New York Cosmos fan in the era of the NSL to picking up Nick Hornby's 'Fever Pitch' in Bayswater public library in 1994. He discovered Galeano's book in 2007 and he tells us how it changed his way of looking at football and the world. Football, philosophy and aesthetics, that's what Galeano gives us, says David.
Stirling University's Robert Kielty discusses Duncan Hamilton's eye-opening and access-all-areas memoir of 20 years covering Brian Clough and Nottingham Forest. Robert marvels at Clough's ability to lead people and places him a generation of great British managers the like of which we will probably never see again. On the way, Robert, who has an extensive career in professional football as a coach and sports scientist, outlines what he thinks the book tells us about the development of coaching in the modern era.
Stuart Carrington of St Mary's University Twickenham passionately argues for his choice of book, John Ludden's extraordinary account of Diego Maradona at Napoli, 'Once Upon a Time in Naples'. Stuart's passion for Italian culture shines through in a discussion of one of the greatest books ever written about football. Predictably though, it's Maradona who is the real star of this podcast.
Dr Danny Fitzpatrick of Aston University discusses the political and sociological significance of James Brown's lovely off-kilter memoir 'Under Head Height'. Brown, the creator of Loaded magazine and a legend in British magazine publishing, is a Leeds United fan, and lover of the Merseyside football culture that spawned the casual movement. He used playing 5-a-side in his recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. In this podcast, Danny discusses Brown's insights into the subculture of 5-a-side and concludes with a brilliant anecdote that sees former Liverpool FC captain and hard man, the late Tommy Smith, exact violent revenge on a cocky amateur who got too big for his boots. Worth it for the final story alone, but be careful that anecdote contains industrial language.
In the latest of our 10 x 10 series, where 10 writers spend 10 minutes talking about their favourite football book, forensic accountant and Collective member Christina Philippou of the University of Portsmouth tells us about her love of David Conn's 'The Fall of the House of FIFA' - the book that revealed the full extent of financial corruption in global football's governing body. Some might say we should expect some corruption in any multi-billion pound industry, Christina tells us why we should be rooting it out at all costs. A fascinating insight into football finance.
In the 9th episode of the Football Collective Podcast, Sarthak Mondal sits down with football agent, Stephen Dunham to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the football industry.
French culture and sport scholar Dr Jonathan Ervine of Bangor University talks about his love of Philippe Auclair's biography of Eric Cantona. Apologies for the poor sound quality, there are a lot of people using Skype and other video conferencing services at this time. Jonathan, a friend of the podcast, persuasively explains why Auclair's peerless biography gets to the heart of the essence of Eric and what he means on both sides of 'la Manche' (the English Channel).
A short section of Dr Jonathan Ervine's chat about why we all should read Philippe Auclair's peerless biography of Eric Cantona. Full podcast will be available tomorrow at 12pm.
In the latest instalment of our 10 x 10 series where 10 writers speak for 10 minutes about their favourite football books, Leeds fan, Sheffield Hallam PhD student, and the creator of this podcast, Josh Dean, talks about Johan Cruyff's autobiography 'My Turn'. Josh says Cruyff's life is so extraordinary that in places it reads more like fiction than real life.
A bit of internal housekeeping. Chair Dan Parnell assesses the work of the Collective over the last five years and assesses the advances made in the last 12 months. Dan explains why the board have taken the tough decision to postpone this year's conference and how the mentor scheme is just the start of things to come for the Collective.
Liverpool fan Dr David Webber of Solent University talks about his favourite football book: John Williams' 'Into the Red', the story of Gerard Houllier's re-invention of Liverpool. It touches on Houllier, Antonio Gramsci, the Manic Street Preachers and the everyday radicalism re-emerging in modern British football. Not to be missed.
Historian Dr Gary James, the author 20 books about football, including the soon-to-be published 'The Emergence of Football Cultures in Manchester 1840-1919', talks about the wonderfully off-beat 1994 novel 'Gladys Protheroe... Football Genius!' by Simon Cheetham. You can view Gary's books here: shorturl.at/EJX16 And you can buy 'Glays Protheroe...' here: shorturl.at/jntX4
In this episode, our host Sarthak Mondal sits down with Peter Drury to discuss the various aspects of life as a football broadcaster. Peter is further quizzed on FFP, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. To know his answers, listen to the podcast.
Emy Onuoura is the author of the wonderful book Pitch Black, a forensically researched history of black players in the British professional men’s game. Emy is one of the most experienced, articulate and learned people you will encounter in football scholarship. He comes from a decorated Nigerian Scouse family. His brother Iffy played for, and managed a number of football league clubs, and his sister Anyika is an Olympic medal winning British sprinter. If that’s not enough, their cousin Victor Anichebe played for Everton, West Brom and Sunderland in the Premier League. Emy talked about his book, his soon to be submitted PhD on black leadership in football, and how football needs to have a better duty of care for its players. You can buy Pitch Black here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pitch-Black-Story-British-Footballers/dp/1849548145
Dr Joe Cable, of the University of Gloucestershire starts by discussing the role that social media plays in contemporary activism and how the Internet has changed the British media’s reporting of football. Most importantly, Joe explains his fascinating research on how Manchester City and England’s Raheem Sterling has cannily used Instagram and social media to wrestle the control of the public narrative of his life back from lurid tabloid stories.
In this episode, our host Sarthak Mondal sits down with Dr. Robert Wilson to discuss the circumstances that led to the dismissal of Bury FC and the situation of Chesterfield FC, the implications of Manchester City breaching Financial Fair Play regulations and the effects of salary caps in Chinese Super League on Western European Football Industry.
Dr Lee McGowan of the University of the Sunshine Coast talks about his Football Collective book 'Football in Fiction' published by Routledge. Lee talks engagingly about his Scottish childhood, his first memories of football, the importance of supporters club buses in Scots football culture and, most importantly, his favourite books on football. It's a podcast not to be missed by anyone with any interest in football and football studies research. You can buy Lee's book for your library or yourself at: https://www.routledge.com/Football-in-Fiction-A-History/McGowan/p/book/9780367361327.
In this episode Josh sits down with Laura Finnegan to discuss her research and journey through academia.
In Episode 1 of Season 2, we go down the memory lane to understand the rise and football of Indian football with Indian football historian, Novy Kapadia
The Football Collective Podcast - Episode 12 Paul Brannagan. by The Football Collective
The Football Collective Podcast - Episode 9 Daniel Plumley And Rob Wilson. by The Football Collective
The Football Collective Podcast - Episode 7 Jonathan Ervine. by The Football Collective
The Football Collective Podcast - Episode 1 Dougie Brimson.
https://footballcollective.org.uk/2018/01/16/how-hoolie-lit-conquered-the-world-and-my-part-in-its-downfall/
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