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PODCAST

Football Ruined My Life

Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes, Paul Kobrak (and the late Patrick Barclay)

When Football Ruined My Life started back at the beginning of 2023 it was the new podcast about old football. In it, distinguished football journalist Patrick Barclay joined with Colin Shindler, author of the best selling Manchester United Ruined My Life, and the Super Agent Jon Holmes (think Gary Lineker, Peter Shilton, Tony Woodcock etc.) to talk about football as it used to be in the days before the invention of the Premier League. For over 80 weekly episodes, the podcast viewed those days

sports football

All Episodes

44:44

97. The One With David Pleat

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/07/11

David Pleat has been in football so long that most supporters have forgotten that he started out as a player for Nottingham Forest, Luton and Shrewsbury Towns, Exeter City and Peterborough United. He has been a sensible pundit on radio and television for many years following a successful managerial career at Luton Town, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday and Nuneaton Borough. David has now published his very interesting autobiography Just One More Goal whichreveals just how

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46:00

96. Pundits

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/07/04

Andy Hamilton returns to join Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes as they discuss the contentious subject of football pundits. By pundits, they mean those know-it-alls who are either very wise after the event, are outstanding at stating the bleeding obvious or are as clueless as the rest of us when it comes to predicting the future. Yet somehow, they have become increasingly important in the broadcasting of football on radio and particularly television. Indeed the BBC Director General, guided by the

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39:09

95. Is English football still recognisably English?

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/06/27

This week Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler are joined by Omid Djalili to ask the question, “How English is the English football pyramid?” Of course, football reflects society and since we all began watching football, British society has changed out of all recognition. If you look at old football matches on The Big Match Revisited on ITV4 on Saturday mornings and other archive film programs you can see how different it was 40 years also ago and how widely British society has changed since then - not

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52:36

94. England Managers After Sir Alf Part 3

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/06/20

Jim White returns to contribute to the last in our series of podcasts about the England managers which takes the panel from Sven to Thomas Tuchel and the glories that lie ahead for the England football team - which is usually a reminder that they haven’t won anything since 1966. In the name of Allah go, they said to Bobby Robson. Yanks 2 Planks 0 the Sun helpfully pointed out to Graham Taylor. We know that the press, not just The Sun, can be very hostile and extremely rude to England managers

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40:46

93. Onfield Behaviour

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/06/13

In this edition of the podcast, Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes are joined by Andy Hamilton to talk in a very headmasterly tone about Onfield Behaviour which quite frankly is bringing the good name of the Football Ruined My Life school into disgrace. In a Champions League quarter final this season two Real Madrid boys in the Lower Sixth, Rudiger and Mbappe, were shown on television after a fortunate win over their rival boys school Atletico Madrid making obscene gestures. Rudiger was appearing to

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55:10

92. Fan Sentiment

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/06/06

We’re all fans. That’s why we make this podcast and that’s why presumably you all like listening to it. Fan sentiment is something we suspect we all feel strongly about but probably in our different ways. It’s not just foreign owners, ludicrous transfer fees, and (present company excepted) cynical agents taking money off both their clients and the clubs. Today’s panel (of Jon Holmes, Colin Shindler and Jimmy Mulville) consider how fans like all of us are being slowly alienated from the clubs to

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54:18

91. England Managers After Sir Alf Part 2

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/05/30

In the first podcast Football Ruined My Life has done since the untimely demise of Patrick Barclay, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler are joined by the Daily Telegraph sports columnist Jim White. Forced to restart the episode because the Producer had failed to press the record button first time round, eventually the panel turn to the “the poisoned chalice”. They consider the story from the sad night of defeat on penalties in Turin to the singularly appropriate day in 2000 when Kevin Keegan resigned

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38:47

90. England Managers After Sir Alf Part 1

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/05/23

It’s commonly known as “the poisoned chalice”. The only England manager to win the World Cup was Alf Ramsey in 1966. Nobody has done it since though a few have come close. In this, his last ever podcast, Patrick Barclay, along with Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler, analyses why that has been the case. Paddy and co. take the story from 1974 when Sir Alf was dismissed by the FA to the end of Bobby Robson’s unlucky regime after the defeat by Germany at Italia 90. Gazza cried, we all cried but we

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42:48

89. 1968

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/05/21

This is the penultimate podcast in which Patrick Barclay appeared. In it the original Football Ruined My Life panel of Paddy, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler analyse the year 1968, as the latest in their periodic examinations of one particularly memorable year. In football terms 1968 was the year that Manchester United followed Celtic to become the first English club to win the European Cup but even that landmark occasion was only one of many. It was also the year of the Tet Offensive, the

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52:15

88. The One With Omid Djalili (reposted episode)

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/05/19

This is the first of the last three episodes recorded with Patrick Barclay. We are re-releasing the podcast he made with the original Football Ruined My Life team of Patrick Barclay, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler because it was previously published the day we heard of Paddy’s tragic death and we removed it out of respect as soon as we heard the news. Stand-up comic Omid Djalili was born in Chelsea and has been a passionate and regular spectator at Stamford Bridge from an early age. Forced out

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4:46

The Return of Football Ruined My Life

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/05/16

Back in February, when we learnt about the tragic and shocking death of our friend and colleague, Patrick Barclay, we suspended the podcast and took time to consider if and how it can continue. Replacing Paddy is impossible; the breadth of his knowledge and his infectious (and mischievous) sense of humour made him unique. But here we announce our return with roster of stars who will make irregular appearances to join the regulars Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler. Also, we reveal a special week-long

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4:41

Patrick Barclay

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/02/14

It is with deep sadness that Jon, Paul and I have to tell you all that our friend and fellow podcast host Patrick Barclay died suddenly on the morning of 12 February. All of us and no doubt many of our listeners who responded to Paddy's cheery Scottish burr over the course of 80 or so episodes will have cause to feel his loss. Out of respect we have removed this week's edition. We are obviously talking among ourselves as to if and how the podcast can continue. For the moment we feel that a brief

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43:23

86. Home Internationals vs. Nations' League

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/02/07

This week the panel (and their producer) are bitterly divided on the contentious issue of the Nations League and its value compared to the old Home Internationals when England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland played with themselves. One side sees a desperation of the television companies and UEFA to ensure that no summer passes without an international tournament, leading to player burnout and spectator indifference. The other side sees a sensible arrangement that abolishes pointless

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43:14

85. Penalties

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/01/31

Twelve yards away, the keeper can’t move off his line until the ball is struck. How does anyone ever miss a penalty? Well, as we all know they do miss and frequently it’s crucial in a match. So it can be too for the award in the first place of a penalty for handball with no intent to handle by the defender and for fouls when the forward has cleverly tripped himself up but made it look like it’s a deliberate foul. Plenty for Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes and Patrick Barclay to get their collective

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49:40

84. Those We Have Lost In 2024 (and also remembering...

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/01/24

A change of pace for Football Ruined My Life this week. In this podcast we’re looking back at football players and managers who died during 2024. Clearly we can only deal with a handful of the many who left us last year but what follows is the choice of Jon Holmes, Paddy Barclay and Colin Shindler as they discuss the lives and careers of the football men who meant something to them and whom they wish to honour in this brief tribute. Not so much a eulogy but a celebration… so still pretty upbeat.

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42:26

83. The One With Ian Storey-Moore

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/01/17

The prolific goal-scoring winger Ian Storey-Moore turns 80 on the day this episode was published... and Football Ruined My Life has chosen to mark the occasion by giving him the greatest present a footballer of the 1960s and 1970s could possibly want - a guest appearance on the podcast with Paddy Barclay, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler. A star forward in the nearly great Nottingham Forest team of the late 1960s but forced into early retirement by a bad injury shortly after his controversial transfer

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52:51

82. Centre forwards vs False 9s

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/01/10

Real centre forwards were old fashioned battering rams like Nat Lofthouse, Ted Drake of the great Arsenal side of the 1930s and Bobby Smith the rampaging leader of the Spurs double winning attack. As football has become more skilful, they have largely been replaced by False 9s as they are now called or deep-lying centre forwards as they were in the days of Don Revie and the Hungarian Hidegkuti. Jon Holmes, Patrick Barclay and Jon Holmes panel discuss the impact on the game of the change and

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54:30

81. The One With Michael Rosen

Football Ruined My Life ·

2025/01/03

He’s a well-known and much liked voice on Radio 4’s Word of Mouth programme as well as Professor of Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London. But Michael Rosen is this week’s guest on Football Ruined My Life because he is a genuine Gooner - as visitors to the Emirates Stadium can see when they observe him depicted on the famous mural next to his late son Eddie and Gunnersaurus. First introduced to the game by his father, a fan from the Herbert Chapman glory days, Michael has been a

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38:10

80. Our Third Postbag

Football Ruined My Life ·

2024/12/27

As a New Year’s gift, the panel come bearing the bulging postbag containing our listeners’ emails. Once again we can report a high standard of literacy and a comfortingly accurate recallof matches and teams from the dim recesses of all our childhoods. One correspondent, the self-styled King Arthur, a Liverpudlian now living in Malibu California, has written enough emails to fill three editions but he is joined as ever by the reminiscences of our widely diverse (though principally over the age of

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45:40

79. Yuletide Matches

Football Ruined My Life ·

2024/12/20

Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes and Paddy Barclay wish all our listeners a very merry Christmas and we do so by recalling Christmas time matches from long ago. With far less choice on offer, both on television and on the dining room table, football at Christmas provided a fabulous feast of entertainment, the climax to which came on Boxing Day in 1963 when to everyone’s astonishment a record number of 66 goals were scored in the 10 First Division fixtures alone. Has the mass globalisation of the modern

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