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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

95:11

Mexico '86 - Part Seven: 8th and 9th June

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/03/06

Mike takes to the lectern as he guides us through the crushing beauty of Denmark's destruction of Uruguay. There's also Gordon Strachan's struggles with advertising boards, iconic branding of World Cups, Belgium get back on track while France and the USSR warm down into the knockouts.Iraq v Belgium - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liOXMZwJkF8 West Germany v Scotland - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr3WW3pjpXs Denmark v Uruguay - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdI0DbGGbJw&t=4s Hungary v

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77:23

Mexico '86 - Part Six: 6th and 7th June

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/02/27

Aidan Williams returns as England's tournament goes from bad to worse in Monterrey, lightning doesn't strike twice for Northern Ireland, the World Cup's poster boy has a major misstep, the greatest clearance of all time and much more.Hungary v Canda - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDvj08eybk Brazil v Algeria - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3qnpl9AB3c England v Morocco - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBFyPcB3sT4 Mexico v Paraguay - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9XcaTTa1Ho Spain v

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48:07

Nessun Dorma Special - Euro '96: The Full Story

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/02/23

On the 30th anniversary of Euro '96, the author Richard Chamberlain provides us with a telling reminder that there was more to this tournament that a homecoming from the sporting wilderness and an internal feel-good summer. The inside story on all the participants can be found in his new book which is out later this year. He talks to us about the project as a whole, the resonance in a post-Southgate era and how you can get

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72:38

Mexico '86 - Part Five: 4th and 5th June

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/02/20

Martyn is joined by Gary and debutant John Mackay get stuck into a bumper couple of days. Scotland make an unfortunate start against the Danes after Uruguay set out their stall against a West German side in a state of disarray. There are a couple of heavyweight clashes with some pulled punches and much more. Paraguay v Iraq - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8GCTxga8jw Uruguay v West Germany - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDOY6IR8u5Y Scotland v Denmark

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76:46

Mexico '86 - Part Four: 2nd and 3rd June

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/02/13

Mike and Martyn get set to devour a feast of World Cup action over these two days. We have Maradona and Passarella clashing over drugs and affairs before South Korea took turns in having a kick without any serious sanction, Hungary being smashed by the USSR, an early victory for the hosts amidst political turbulence and an arachnid taking over the Azteca, Northern Ireland and Algeria failing to live up to their previous exploits and missing the opportunity to get that much needed win and Bobby

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46:06

Mexico '86 - Part 3: 31st May and 1st June 1986

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/02/06

It is time to start your Mexican waves!Jonathan O'Brien is here to discuss the opening game, how the World Champions were placed, who the European Champions had turned to up front, a handball goal that was actually chalked off and Spain and Brazil remind us why we should be careful what we wish for when trying to the rid the game of technology. Italy v Bulgaria - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0eTCWLGTfo Canada v France - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIUVkVickbQ Spain v Brazil

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65:15

Mexico '86 - Episode 2: The Preview

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/01/30

We are nearly there! Martyn is joined again by the author Aidan Williams to round up the rest of the qualifiers - from Argentina to Iraq - and to take a look at the contemporaneous previews on the eve of the tournament. There were big concerns about the impact of the midday sun on the quality of football, most agreed that there was no outstanding favourite and Diego Maradona had far from convinced everyone that he was about to take the world by storm.If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows,

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83:41

Mexico '86 - Episode 1: The European Qualifiers

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/01/23

Martyn, Rob and Aidan Williams get our biggest deep-dive yet underway with a look at the European contingent and how they navigated their way to Mexico. We have that drama in Cardiff, the late arrival of Lineker, Northern Ireland doing it the hard way, one major sliding doors moment and so much 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

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90:06

Nessun Dorma Archive - 17 August 1996

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/01/16

The last of the archive re-runs is a good old deep dive into the opening fixtures of the 1996-97 season first released in September 2018. Lee, Mike and Gary consider Beckham's introduction to the wider world, Richie Humphreys' thunderbolt and decline, Super Kevin Campbell and the general pizzazz and razzamattaz that was the Premier League in the post Euro 96 miasma of self assurance. Nessun Dorma returns next week as we commence the road to Mexico '86! If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows,

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83:58

Nessun Dorma Archive - 17 November 1993

Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast ·

2026/01/09

We go back into the archives for a few weeks before our big Mexico '86 series begins on 21 January. In this excellent show from November 2018, Lee, Rob and Mike chat all about November 17 1993, the last great night of international tournament qualification; an evening that ended careers, made reputations, left a legacy a certain Welsh fullback could do without and caused David Ginola to have his parentage questioned.The exclusive Patreon show This Week will return on Monday 12 Jan. If you want

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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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