16 episodes

The best football stories you’ve probably never heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists. Spanning over 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet, the stories are narrated by leading actors and feature rich sound design and specially composed music

Forgotten Stories of Football The Guardian

    • Sports
    • 4.6 • 31 Ratings

The best football stories you’ve probably never heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists. Spanning over 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet, the stories are narrated by leading actors and feature rich sound design and specially composed music

    How the white football was dismissed as an unwanted fad

    How the white football was dismissed as an unwanted fad

    The white ball was widely disliked during trials in 1927 and one manufacturer declared it ‘practically impossible to make’. It would take another 24 years for the Football League to give it the go-ahead

    • 18 min
    The Colourful XI tragedy

    The Colourful XI tragedy

    Stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In the final episode of this series: 15 Dutch footballers were among 176 people who died in a 1989 plane crash. Edu Nandlal, one of the survivors, tells his story

    • 23 min
    The France football captain who murdered for Hitler

    The France football captain who murdered for Hitler

    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: Alex Villaplane said captaining France was ‘the happiest day of his life’. Fourteen years later he was shot dead for being a traitor.

    • 13 min
    The 1985 English Super Cup

    The 1985 English Super Cup

    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: after English clubs were banned from Europe in 1985, the Football League created a consolation competition for them.

    • 19 min
    How the white football was dismissed as an unwanted fad

    How the white football was dismissed as an unwanted fad

    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: the white ball was widely disliked during trials in 1927 and one manufacturer declared it ‘practically impossible to make’. It would take another 24 years for the Football League to give it the go-ahead

    • 18 min
    Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean – part two of two

    Dundee United's glory years under Jim McLean – part two of two

    The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: the concluding part of a feature-length story about Jim McLean, the tactical genius, bully, visionary and ‘absolute bampot’ behind Dundee United’s unimaginable success in the 1980s

    • 25 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
31 Ratings

31 Ratings

SBywater ,

Another Guardian Hit...

What we stateside football fans needed, when we needed it! The Guardian scores again!

cjhermanns ,

I love a good story

… but nothing left to talk about?

Mightyspong ,

Rerecord it!

The writing is excellent, the reading/attempted accents/"acting" are beyond cringy. It wouldn't be hard to do it again better

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