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PODCAST

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast

An in-depth, nostalgic celebration of football in the eighties and nineties, where the wider world of sport and popular culture are occasionally welcome visitors. nessundorma.substack.com

sports soccer

All Episodes

60:26

A Festive Q&A

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/01/01

Martyn and Gary are mostly full of glad tidings as they try and tackle the brilliant Patreon questions. Winter signings, best festive fixtures, the mythology of the Christmas Day truce are mixed with the greatest games of all time, biggest missed opportunities, Scottish football's best time and, a little less jolly, what players we hate.Have an excellent 2026 everyone! If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support

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46:27

Season 1985/86 Episode Nine - Stein, Scottish...

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/12/19

The 10 September 1985 was a night where tension never dropped within Ninian Park, Cardiff. On the pitch was a controversial World Cup qualifier between Scotland and Wales. Off it, a heart attack that ended the life of one of Britain's greatest managers. The legendary broadcaster Archie Macpherson wraps up our season by recounting his experience of that night, the impact of Scottish managers on British football and what made them disproportionately successful and some reflection on his own career and

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55:35

Season 1985/86 Episode 8 - Blackout

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/12/12

One theme that has been consistent throughout this season was the television blackout that dominated the first half of it. Martyn sits down with the author and academic Roger Domeneghetti to get into the detail of why it happened, how it ended and football's fascinating relationship with the medium before and after.Roger's excellent work Everybody Wants To Rule The World: Britain, Sport and the 1980s can be found here and is heartily recommended. https://amzn.eu/d/bJkufCR If you want weekly

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64:32

Season 1985/86 Episode 7 - European Roundup

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/12/05

Michael Hamlen from the brilliant 80s&90s Football account returns to look at the rise of Eastern Europe in intercontinental competition. Steaua Bucharest's win in the European Cup and Dynamo Kiev's success over Atletico Madrid in the Cup Winners' Cup are the highlights and some love for Lobanovskyi and his place in the pantheon of the great managers in history. There is also some Italian chicanery and Real Madrid's love of a comeback in retaining the UEFA Cup. Are this Real side one that we

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99:24

Season 1985/86 Episode 6 - Two Tribes

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/11/28

For all the surprises in English football in the mid-eighties, the real power still remained on Merseyside. 1985/86 saw both Liverpool and Everton locked in a battle for an historic Double right up until the final games of the season. With Everton the newly crowned champions and now with the best English striker of his generation and Liverpool still reeling from Heysel and the introduction of a club legend into an old-fashioned role, it was a season of momentum swings and sporting drama. In the

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65:28

Season 1985/86 Episode 5 - Iron and Alchemy

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/11/21

Although considered to be a good bet for the Cup each season, West Ham United's league form had been middling at best. In fact, some pundits tipped them to fall back out of the First Division when 1985/86 kicked off. But an opening day injury meant that a relatively unknown midfield signing from St Mirren had to be pushed up front to partner the club's up-and-coming young hero and the chemistry was instant. They wouldn't win the title - more of that next week - but they very nearly did and

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83:25

Season 1985/86 Episode 4 - Milk and Maxwell

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/11/14

The mid 1980s saw plenty of surprise packages making their way to collect silverware in English football but perhaps none had such a meteoric rise as Oxford United. Author Scott Walkinshaw is here to explain how it happened, relive the Milk Cup win in 1986 and discuss the influence and legacy of their notorious owner, Robert Maxwell.Scott's book on the subject can be found here https://amzn.eu/d/edxvCdK If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of

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58:48

Season 1985/86 Episode 3 - A Funny Old Game

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/11/07

It was scheduled to happen anyway but after the horrors of May 1985, the new season delivered some much needed levity to the coverage of football and a lunchtime magazine show that opened the door to a new mainstream culture. Gary and the Daily Telegraph's Rob Bagchi join Martyn to discuss the impact and legacy of Saint and Greavsie.If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to

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75:29

Season 1985/86 Episode 2 - El Tel and Archigoles

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/10/31

In the summer of 1984 Terry Venables was the third-choice for the Barcelona job and had to fight the President to choose how to spend some of that Maradona transfer money but went on to win the club's first La Liga title in 11 years at a canter.That title was only a means to an end, however. Now that they had qualified for the European Cup, the quest was now on to reach their Holy Grail. Mike joins Martyn to discuss the two seasons as a whole as a manager that few fancied and a signing that fans

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63:08

Season 1985/86 Episode 1 - Broken Hearts

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/10/24

We start 1985/86 with a tale of heartbreak. As April turned to May of 1986, Heart of Midlothian were in the driving seat to win a sensational and unexpected league and cup double. The Guardian's Ewan Murray is here to tell us how they came from nowhere to lead the pack on a 27 game unbeaten run, how it agonisingly fell apart at the very end, how Celtic came through to snatch it and how it impacted the players and supporters years later.If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes

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84:57

The Black Ball Final of 1985

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/10/17

The sporting interval between football seasons this time is more of a bridge than a break. With football descending into depression, the British public were given sporting drama at its finest in a clean environment and between two likeable personalities. 18 million people could not switch off as the World Championship Snooker Final reached its climax beyond midnight on Sunday 28 April 1985.Mike is with Martyn to go through the wild momentum swings of one of the greatest comebacks in sport and The

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50:02

Season 1984/85 Episode 7 - The Slum Sport (Part Two)

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/10/10

The journalist and author Chris Lepkowski returns to discuss just how the English national game was allowed to become a 'slum sport'. Who was to blame, how avoidable was UEFA's hard line and how on earth was 1985 not the final straw are just some of the questions on the table.'The Slum Sport' can be found at https://www.curtis-sport.com/all-programmes/THE-SLUM-SPORT-Story-of-95-96-p783194469 If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or

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53:07

Season 1984/85 Episode 6 - The Slum Sport (Part One)

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/10/03

"A slum sport played in slum stadiums and increasingly watched by slum people". So went the infamous Sunday Times editorial in the weekend following the Bradford Fire, when it was felt by some that English football had finally reached its nadir. There were further tragic depths to plummet before the month of May 1985 was out.In this episode the journalist and author Chris Lepkowski - whose book on the subject and the season that followed is out later this month - joins Martyn to discuss three dark

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48:20

Season 1984/85 Episode 5 - Norwich City's Bittersweet...

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/09/26

23 years from their last major honour, Norwich City found themselves parading the League Cup around Wembley Stadium. With mid-table safety a seeming certainty, it looked as if it would be a campaign of glory and consolidation. With only two wins from their last 12 it turned to last-day despair. How it happened and how they came back is the story of this week's episode as Martyn is joined by historian and biographer Edward Couzens-Lake.If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes

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62:29

The Sport Draft - 1985

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/09/22

Mac seeks to retain his Draft title as he, Mike and Gary face off again to try and capture the best of the sporting year in 1985. The Queens of tennis, Northern Irish heroes, a turning point in the Ryder Cup, the most ridiculous cycling story of all time and much more. Let us know what you think the boys have missed and who should have come out on top! If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then

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76:55

Season 1984/85 Episode 4 - European Roundup

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/09/19

With so many stories from the three European club competitions being lost to time, Mike and Martyn are here to bring together some brilliant tales. Big comebacks, a UEFA enforced replay, a thunderous battle of Britain and Wrexham humbling Porto before Hollywood writers were a natural association are among the stories being given new life.If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to

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85:16

Season 1984/85 Episode 3 - Verona Campione!

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/09/12

To fair Verona this week as the most unlikely of all Serie A seasons took hold. Author and Verona resident Richard Hough joins Martyn to discuss the impact of two international signings, the goal without the shoe, a taciturn genius and just how this most provincial of Italian football clubs ended up defeating the giants just as the league itself was turning into the continent's powerhouse.Richard's book can be found here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Verona-Campione-Miracle-Richard-Hough/dp/1836801211

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75:37

Season 1984/85 Episode 2 - Everton's Greatest Season...

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/09/05

With points being dropped, red cards being shown and injury hitting their lethal strike partnership, Everton's dreams looked to be in serious jeopardy as Christmas 1984 approached. Step forward a fans favourite as the Toffees put their foot down towards the finishing line of a potential treble. Gary Naylor and Gavin Buckland return to guide Martyn through the conclusion of a historic campaign. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or

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70:50

Season 1984/85 Episode 1 - Everton's Greatest Season...

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/08/29

After their Wembley triumph over Watford in 1984, many assumed that Everton had saved a wretched season and Howard Kendall's job. Few could have predicted the season that would directly follow. Gary Naylor and Everton author Gavin Buckland join Martyn to touch base again with English football in the summer of 1984, some early wobbles, a few masterclass performances and two important wins over Liverpool that propelled Everton to the top before Christmas.If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows,

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43:09

Patron's Q&A Part Four

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2025/08/22

It is the final look behind the Patreon curtain before normal service resumes next week. Gary and Martyn deal with results that left them scratching their heads, underachievers, soft spot teams, the best ever football season and lots more!If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad

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