World Cup Series Ep. 2 - Origin Story

With the World Cup a little over 24 hours away, we talk about the tournament, its truly terrible format, and about exactly why it is coming home.

We also delve into the World Cup and FIFA's origin stories, about Uruguay 1930 and how the tournaments finances have evolved to today - setting us up nicely for the next episode...

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Credit: This episode contains music from Fesliyan Studios. Find their huge collection at https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/

World Cup Series Ep. 1 - The England Squad

With the club season for English teams now done and dusted, we turn our attention for the next two months to the biggest stage of all - the FIFA World Cup.

In the first part of our multi-part series, we discuss who we'd have picked for the England squad, our reaction to the selections made and our feelings about where England's strengths and weaknesses lie.

In future episodes we'll be covering World Cup history, controversies, shocks and tragedies, as well as - of course - discussing FIFA's sordid recent past and its impact on the game and the tournament as a whole.

The UEFA European Finals

With one extraordinarily happy host in Ben, who has worn nothing but Arsenal shirts since the final whistle blew in Bournemouth last week, we preview the three European finals (even the one that already happened) as he hopes to go from obnoxiously delighted to utterly unbearable with a Gunners win in Budapest.

But it's not just about Arsenal, far from it. We talk Europa and Conference League's too, about whether the former has been watered down by the ever growing number of Champions League qualifiers, and whether the latter is a tin pot or a magnificent opportunity for fans of traditionally smaller teams to experience a European run (ok, definitely option 2 on that one).

Finally, we go back to our favourite topic - has the Champions League become a closed shop for the giants of the European game, can a Crystal Palace or even arguably an Aston Villa really hope to be able to compete for it year after year, or does state investment, financial "fair play" regulations and unbalanced leagues outside of England make this an unachievable goal, even with sustained success?