It’s the final episode of the series and Sachin is very much going out with a bang given he’s joined by brilliant author, scriptwriter and podcaster John O’Farrell for a chat about Fulham. 

John is at his engaging best as he reflects on following a club that boasts many well-known supporters. In part that is down to Fulham’s rather nice location but that’s not the case as far as John is concerned, as he explains via one of the most unique and interesting origin stories in FANS history. 

From fighting mergers to coping with relegations, celebrating promotions and seeing an awful statue of a legendary musician built outside Craven Cottage, John has seen and done it all as a Fulham fan. And that includes being there when they pulled off a remarkable victory over Juventus en route to the 2010 Europa League final. As John explains with great warmth and wonder, it was an unforgettable occasion, as was the final itself. 

Not surprisingly, John tells a host of amusing stories, including one about the time a Fulham player swore at his young nephew and another involving a Hollywood superstar’s less-than-impressive footballing ability. 

John also talks about modern-day Fulham and why he fancies them to make a positive impact in the Premier League next season before going through his all-time Fulham XI and providing an answer to the final question. 

So download, listen and love. And after you have, please Rate and Review. It would mean a lot. 

Cheers!

Hallo alle. 

Yes, that's right, it's time for Sachin to type a greeting into Google Translate and copy and paste the German version into these episode notes as a way of introducing his chat with the award-winning author and journalist Uli Hesse about being a Borussia Dortmund fan.

Uli is a hugely respected and revered voice on German football and from his kitchen in Berlin he speaks with great authority and passion about Dortmund, the club he was pretty much destined to support. Location played a significant role in that, as did family. Speaking of which, Uli tells a very amusing story regarding what happened when his sister took him to his first ever Dortmund game.

That game, against Karlsruhe in January 1977, was held at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund's home ground and one of the most spectacular stadiums in Europe. Uli speaks about how it has changed over the years and why it's such a brilliant place to watch live football, which leads to a discussion about the 'Yellow Wall', the Westfalenstadion’s stunning terrace. Uli is a long-standing season-ticket holder there so knows it well. In speaking about it he also talks about German fan culture in general and why English fans are right to be envious of it. 

It's then onto memories of Dortmund's most notable games during Uli's time supporting the club, with few sticking in the mind quite like the 1997 Champions League final. Dortmund ripped up the script by beating Juventus in Munich and Uli was there. He shares his memories of that incredible night, which included being the designated driver for a group of oddly-underwhelmed teenagers.

There then follows a discussion about a man Uli and Sachin adore in equal measure - Jürgen Klopp. The former speaks about his seismic impact at Dortmund before the latter does the same in regards to his time at Liverpool. Warning listeners: this part of the podcast gets very emotional. 

Finally, there is a chat about Erling Haaland and just how impactful he could be for Manchester City before Uli talks through his all-time Dortmund XI. It contains a Scottish midfielder NOT called Paul Lambert. 

So download, listen and love. And after you have, please Rate and Review. It would mean a lot.

Cheers!

Reading Football Club. Discuss. It’s not the easiest of tasks given their lack of notable history and success. But do not fear because the brilliant comedian Anthony Richardson is here to give the lowdown on life as a Royal.

Anthony is best know for being one half of The Exploding Heads, the internet-based comedy act he and the equally brilliant Mark Davison launched a decade ago and which has brought us such masterpieces as Bohemian Rhapsody with Footballers and Colin from Portsmouth. Anthony chats about how both came about and how in the case of the former it led to a rather awkward exchange with Danny Baker.

It’s then onto Reading - the club Anthony pretty much stumbled into supporting as a child and has had a curious relationship with ever since. There was his first game at Elm Park, Reading’s original ground, which he remembers most for leaving early, and the subsequent trips to their modern home, the Madejski Stadium, of which he speaks with great humour and a gripping sense of regret. The experiences have broadly not been enjoyable. The sense of belonging clearly not there.

On a far happier note, Anthony recalls the great, history-making Reading side that achieved promotion to the Premier League in 2006; what made them so good and why they were able to do so well in the first of their two successive top-flight seasons.

Anthony also discusses the difficult direction his relationship with Reading has taken since he became a father before going through his all-time XI and providing an answer to the final question.

So download, listen and love. And after you have, please Rate and Review. It would mean a lot.

Cheers!