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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

49:43

39. Sportsmanship

Football Ruined My Life ·

2024/01/26

Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes and Patrick Barclay wonder whether the concept of sportsmanship has vanished from the game. We all remember that famous photograph of Bobby Moore and Pele exchanging sweat soaked shirts after their titanic struggle in Guadalajara in the 1970 World Cup group match. It was iconic because it symbolised and personified the concept. But is that sort of behaviour still around in today’s world of football? Or are the three septuagenarians simply on an epic journey of

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42:55

38. Print journalism v TV journalism

Football Ruined My Life ·

2024/01/19

Back in the dim and distant past of our youth, the coverage of football on television was minimal and we instinctively turned to local and national newspapers for the latest information and analysis on the game and our favourite club. In subsequent years, and particularly since the emergence of Sky Sports in 1992, we have all seen the decline of the print journalist and the seemingly unstoppable rise of the tv pundit. Patrick Barclay bemoans the decline, Jon Holmes revels in the power of TV and

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48:05

37. Has Football Become Too Big For Its Boots? (And...

Football Ruined My Life ·

2024/01/12

It’s everywhere. There’s at least one match on television every day, up to half a dozen over the weekend. The newspapers that used to devote a page to football now devote three. Radio5 Live exists, like Sky Sports, to broadcast football to the people who clearly want it. But, the panel ask themselves, is this media domination a good thing for the game and its supporters? If less is more would they really swap life in today's saturated market for the rationed football coverage in the media of

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53:12

36. The One With Andy Hamilton (Chelsea)

Football Ruined My Life ·

2024/01/05

Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes and Patrick Barclay arejoined by a long-standing Chelsea fan – the writer and broadcaster Andy Hamilton – to discuss his lifetime of support since the late 1950s. He shares his frustration that some of the less attractive developments in modern football have significantly diminished his passion for the club although, like the panellists, he remains dedicated to the game itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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29:57

35 The Postbag

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/12/29

As the first year of Football Ruined My Life draws to a close, the panel read out a selection of their favourite emails which have been received from listeners all over the world. They include trenchant observations on the panellists’ manifold failings as well as the writers’ childhood reminiscences and their reaction to the podcasts they’ve heard as well as suggestions for future subjects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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47:07

34. 1963

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/12/22

It was a most remarkable year. It started with the Big Freeze, ended with the assassination of President Kennedy and included the emergence of the Beatles and the Profumo Affair. On the football field (as soon as the ice melted in April) it was equally notable with Alf Ramsey’s first game in charge of England, Leicester City missing out on the Double (sorry, Jon), Manchester United winning the Cup but just avoiding relegation (sorry, Colin). And off the field, it the famous Eastham case which

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42:31

33. Administering The Game

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/12/15

The former Chairman of the FA, David Bernstein, joins Colin, Paddy and Jon for an honest discussion on the failings of governance in football. He tells of how his attempts at reform of the FA were constantly thwarted and how the FA lost any battle they tried to fight against the overwhelming power of the big clubs once they had divested themselves of the old Football League. The discussion ranges from the days of Alan Hardaker and the great figurehead for thirty years, Sir Stanley Rous, to today,

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44:10

32. Retirement

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/12/08

It is the moment every footballer dreads – the day when he finally accepts that his career on the field is over. Jon tells Patrick and Colin that even those who have made a spectacular success of life after football like Gary Lineker can never recreate the joy of scoring a goal. Retirement is supposed to be much better for players these days because of the money they have earned during their careers and the plans put in place by their clubs. But is it? And what happened during retirement to

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39:18

31. The Second Tier

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/12/01

All three panellists are fans of clubs that have suffered the indignity of relegation from the Premier League in the 21st century. There is a fear that the ever widening gap with the Championship will see clubs doomed to wait indefinitely in the purgatory of the footballing equivalent of Siberia. Yet Manchester City and Fulham bounced back to the top tier the following season and Leicester look as if they might be promoted spectacularly early this season. Jon, Patrick and Colin discuss their

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43:19

30. The One With Ian McShane (on Manchester United)

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/11/24

Any devoted watcher of the BBC Television series Lovejoy would have noticed the East Anglian antiques dealer’s ubiquitous Manchester United coffee mug and Manchester United travel bag. The actor who played Lovejoy, Ian McShane was the son of the Manchester United outside left Harry McShane who won a League Championship medal at Old Trafford in the 1951-2 season. In this podcast Ian McShane explains his long commitment to Manchester United and his friendship with Alex Ferguson and many of the United

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46:10

29. It's A Rich Man's World

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/11/17

We all know what it’s like to have too little of it and though it’s probably not anything that most of us have experienced we can understand that having too much money doesn’t always lead straight to Happiness. At the top of the pyramid, football is drowning in the stuff, at the bottom too many clubs are struggling to keep their heads above the financial waters that are closing in. Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes and Patrick Barclay discuss how the game got into this mess and what, if anything, can be

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47:31

28. Goalscorers

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/11/10

When we watch football as youngsters it is the goals that catch our eye, not the vital defensive midfielders or the manager’s clever/stupid substitutions. A Gary Lineker tap in is less spectacular than a Bobby Charlton thunderbolt but in a vital 1-0 victory it counts for as much. Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes and Patrick Barclay discuss the scorers of great goals and great goalscorers from Ted Drake and Dixie Dean to Harry Kane and Lionel Messi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

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46:04

27 The One with David Hamilton (on Fulham FC)

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/11/03

He's been a disc jockey since the early days of Elvis. He's been a Fulham fan since the days of Johnny Haynes and for many years was the voice of the club. Special guest David Hamilton joins the panel to offer his recollections of his life at Craven Cottage. His unwavering support for his club mirrors so many of Football Ruined My Life listeners in that his love of Fulham FC is never affected by their success (or lack of it) on the field. A true Fulham obsessive and as you would expect from such a

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52:29

26. Scotland (& a brief tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton)

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/10/27

Time was when there was scarcely an English top flight team without a few influential Scotsmen in it. Can you imagine Liverpool in the 1980s without Hansen, Souness and Dalglish, Manchester United’s 1960s team without Denis Law and Paddy Crerand or Revie’s Leeds United without Bremner, Jordan, McQueen, Lorimer and Eddie Gray? There are almost no Scottish players in the English Premier League, barely a handful in the Scottish Premier League and the crowds are embarrassingly small outside of Celtic

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47:39

25. Fiction and Football

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/10/20

If you’re an actor or a writer and you love football, you may think that being involved in a movie or television series about football would be, in the unmistakable words of the great German forward Harry Kane, “a dream come true”. However, from ‘United!’, the 1965 BBC tv soap opera, to ‘Ted Lasso’, the current American comedy drama hit show about AFC Richmond, the many attempts to persuade the football audience to watch a drama series about the game have proved only occasionally successful. The

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47:37

24. British Clubs in Europe

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/10/13

Is the Champions League better or worse than the old European Cup? Do we all support British teams in Europe the way we did before the Bosman ruling altered the complexion of British football? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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45:57

23. Bill Shankly

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/10/06

The Spirit of Shankly seems to stand for everything that is good about football. He is still revered at Liverpool and respected throughout the world of football. What made him unique? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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59:38

22. Grounds - Old & New

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/09/29

Simon Inglis, author of books on the football grounds of Great Britain and the football grounds of Europe, joins the team to give his expert knowledge of the building of some of football's most iconic grounds - Highbury, Maine Road, Old Trafford, Craven Cottage, Filbert Street etc. Do the fans revel in the creature comforts of the new stadiums or do they still hanker for the ramshackle tumbledown grounds of their youth with their cosy sense of community? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

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45:20

21. League Domination

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/09/22

Between 1959 and 1972 ten different clubs won the English First Division. What has happened to that competitiveness? Is the much-lauded Premier League a better competition than the old First Division? Why has this pattern been repeated in so many other European leagues? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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53:36

20. Second Favourite Teams

Football Ruined My Life ·

2023/09/15

The panel are forbidden from praising their own teams and have to confess their admiration for other domestic and international teams. There are a few surprises… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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120 results

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