On this week’s Greatest Games, Jonathan and Marcus are joined by Eero Laurila to discuss what it’s like to spy on Marcelo Bielsa and the state of football in Finland via the 2012 Europa League qualifier between HJK Helsinki and Athletic.   At the time Athletic were led by the influential Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa, whilst their hosts had former Finland national team manager Antti Muurinen in charge. The Finnish side were to lose 9-3 on aggregate but the occasion proves to be a perfect...

On Greatest Games this week, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by David Diaz Bejarano to discuss the 1987 Copa Libertadores final decider between Penarol and America de Cali.   America de Cali were heading into the tie having already lost the 1985 and 1986 Libertadores final and hoped to break a long-standing curse on the Colombian club. Penarol, managed by Oscar Tabarez, were already giants of South American football and aiming for their fifth Libertadores triumph.     About the...

On this week’s Greatest Games we remember a Skol Cup Dundee Derby at Dens Park in 1987 with Alan Patullo.   Following football in Dundee is unlike no other city such is the close proximity between the two sides, whose stadiums reside just a matter of yards away from each other. Alan remembers the history of this rivalry throughout the early years of his life and the atmosphere at this League Cup fixture that’s lost in time as the game wasn’t broadcast.     About the panel: Jonathan Wilson...

On this week’s Greatest Games, Nick Ames joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to share his story from the abandoned Serbia v Albania 2016 European Championship qualifier.Eyebrows were raised when the draw placed these two nations in Group I in February 2014. Political disagreements regarding Kosovo, which culminated during the Kosovo War, meant that tensions were bound to be high when the sides came to meet. In Belgrade, when a drone flew into the Partizan Stadium carrying a nationalist...

Vithushan Ehantharajah re-joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller this week to discuss an eight-goal thriller at White Hart Lane – Spurs 3 Manchester United 5. Goals from Richards, Ferdinand and Ziege raced Spurs into a three-goal lead at half-time against the champions but an infamous Alex Ferguson three-word half-time speech was all that was needed to inspire an exhilarating second-half performance this Man United side – a vintage comeback. If you can ever spare the time to leave a...

Steve Crossman joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller on this week’s Greatest Games to discuss the Euro 2016 Group F opener between eventual champions, Portugal, and the tournament’s surprise package, Iceland.The Nordic nation had never featured at a major tournament finals before but were unfazed by going toe-to-toe with the 2004 finalists, captained by the mercurial Cristiano Ronaldo. The result, and the remainder of the tournament, would catapult Iceland out of footballing obscurity and...

This week on Greatest Games, Michael Walker joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to remember Northern Ireland’s return to Windsor Park after three and a half years of international football exile.The Northern Ireland national team had been playing their “home” games up and down England since their last Windsor Park international in October 1971 against the Soviet Union. This game against Yugoslavia brought Northern Ireland out of football isolation. If you can ever spare the time to leave...

On this week’s Greatest Games Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the 1954 exhibition match between English champions Wolverhampton Wanderers and Hungarian champions Budapest Honvéd. Under the Molineux floodlights and broadcast on the BBC, excitement swept across Wolverhampton and the entire nation for this one.  Honvéd starred many of the Mighty Magyars who finished as runners-up in the 1954 World Cup and had sent shockwaves through English...

We’re off to a cup final, everyone! Faye Carruthers joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss the 1988 Littlewoods Challenge Cup Final between Luton Town and Arsenal. Defending champions Arsenal were considered heavy favourites, but Ray Harford’s Luton Town had been performing well in the First Division and were raring for this cup final. Gus Caesar errors and Andy Dibble heroics make the difference in this frantic cup final in front of 95,000 at Wembley which features four goals...

David Jones joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to remember the second 1997 FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford.About the panel: Jonathan Wilson founded The Blizzard in 2011 and is editor of the magazine. He’s contributed to a number of publications including the Guardian and Sports Illustrated as well as having authored  Behind the Curtain, Inverting the Pyramid, The Outsider, Angels with Dirty Faces and most recently The Names Heard Long Ago, among others.  Marcus Speller is a host...

It’s a World Cup final edition of Greatest Games! Herbie Sykes joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss Italy’s first World Cup triumph on home soil in 1934.Mussolini’s Italy greeted the world for the second Fifa World Cup competition, the first to feature teams from three continents. In a tournament designed to highlight Italian superiority and values, the only team left standing in their way of lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy – then called “Victory” – was Czechoslovakia. Italy...

Back to Wembley for this week’s Greatest Games as  Maciej Iwański joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss a famous draw between England and Poland in October 1973. After suffering defeat in Chorzow in June, Alf Ramsey’s side needed to win in order to avoid missing the World Cup finals for the first time since their first entry in 1950. However, the heroics of goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski helped Poland secure their spot at the World Cup at England’s expense and managed to make a fool...

Rory Smith joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller on this week’s Greatest Games to reflect on one of football’s most highly-anticipated fixtures to have never even happened – the postponed 2018 Copa Libertadores final second-leg between River Plate and Boca Juniors. A rousing 2-2 draw at La Bombonera had perfectly set-up a winner-takes-all Copa Libertadores superclásico final – the like of which never to have been witnessed before in the 58-year history of the competition. However, it was...

This week on Greatest Games, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller discuss a 1954 World Cup semi-final with Martin Da Cruz – Hungary 4 Uruguay 2.  Going into the match in Lausanne, Switzerland, Hungary’s ‘Mighty Magyars’ hadn’t lost a full international since 1950 – winning Olympic gold and thrashing England a couple of times in that time. But of course, Uruguay were yet to lost a World Cup fixture themselves, winning the inaugural competition in 1930 and then in 1950.  Two international...

Leon Mann is this week’s guest on Greatest Games, joining Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to remember the 1991 FA Cup semi-final North London Derby between Terry Venables’ Tottenham and George Graham’s Arsenal. Rather than traipsing the sides up to the midlands, the tie became the first-ever FA Cup semi-final to be hosted at Wembley. This meant a first Wembley trip for Leon and a grand setting to further encourage Mr Paul Gascoigne for the occasion. What followed was a clash of styles...

This week on Greatest Games, Brian Homewood joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss the 1981 Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final first-leg between West Ham United and Dinamo Tbilisi. So to the Boleyn Ground for this one, where the ardent West Ham crowd – then used to cruising second division and on the verge of promotion – warmly welcomed the Soviet Cup winners from Georgia. The reception was shortly followed by disbelief as the Georgians picked apart the FA Cup holders on a...

On Greatest Games this week, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by Cecilia Lagos to remember the 1962 World Cup group stage tie between hosts, Chile, and two-time World champions, Italy – the ‘Battle of Santiago’. David Coleman’s introduction to the BBC’s broadcast of this game is the stuff of legends – “The game you are about to see is the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football in the history of the game…” it began.  Ceci, Jonathan and Marcus...

Laurence McKenna joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to remember Liverpool's last-gasp Europa League quarter-final win against Borussia Dortmund at Anfield.

This week on Greatest Games, Paul Myers joins Jonathan and Marcus to discuss the 2012 Cup of Nations final and one of the most emotional stories in football history. Extraordinarily reaching the final meant that Zambia would compete to win their first-ever Cup of Nations in Libreville, Gabon – the city where 30 passengers and crew, including the Zambia national team and support staff, lost their lives in a tragic plane crash on the way to a World Cup qualifier in Dakar. About the...

On this edition of Greatest Games, Gary Al-Smith is on the pod to remember a dramatic Afcon semi-final which took place six years ago on Friday alongside Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller.  Tournament hosts, Equatorial Guinea, meet a Ghana side managed by Avram Grant and looking in great stead to win the Cup of Nations. The hosts’ fans weren’t short of optimism and unduly encouraged to be so confident that 2015 was their year, leading to an outpouring of emotion when their hopes of glory...

This week on Greatest Games, Richard Jolly joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller to discuss one of the Premier League’s most extraordinary results ever – Manchester City’s 6-1 win away at Old Trafford in 2011. A statement undermines quite what happened on this day. The trio looks back on how the Manchester clubs reached this point, the starring members of Roberto Mancini’s 2011-12 Premier League-winning side and much more.  About the panel: Jonathan Wilson (https://twitter.com/jonawils)...

On this episode of Greatest Games, Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller are joined by Uli Hesse as they remember the 1985-86 Bundesliga relegation/promotion playoff which could’ve seen Borussia Dortmund drop out of the top-flight. Uli, Jonathan and Marcus discuss the troubles facing of German football in the 80s, the remarkable desperate situation Borussia Dortmund found themselves in and the chaotic scenes which helped ensure their survival. About the panel: Jonathan Wilson...

In this week’s Greatest Games, Saša Ibrulj takes Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller back to Florence in 1990 for Yugoslavia and Argentina’s World Cup quarter-final.   With social instability in the backdrop of this fixture for both nations, the potential ramifications of this fixture could have extended far beyond football. Reigning champions, Argentina, hoped to reach another semi-final whilst Yugoslavia’s talented side looked to establish themselves as genuine tournament contenders for...

In this week’s Greatest Games, Paul Hayward joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller for a tactical review of one of the World Cup’s most famous matches – the 1970 Group C encounter between Brazil and England.   For holders England, the 1970 summer kicked off with controversy after the skipper, Bobby Moore was arrested in Colombia before the World Cup had even begun for allegedly stealing a bracelet from a Bogata jewellers. The preparation was far from ideal, but the meeting with Brazil set...

Maher Mezahi joins Jonathan Wilson and Marcus Speller for this week’s episode of Greatest Games to look back on the chaotic World Cup qualifying play-off between north African rivals Algeria and Egypt in 2009.   The match was the third of the year between the two sides played on neutral grounds in Omdurman, Sudan. The rivalry between the two nations resurfaced at the previous meeting in Cairo, just four days prior, as fans clashed before and after the match. The tension was paramount in...