Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast

Mexico '86 - Part Fifteen: The Draft

01 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The easiest draft in football history? Let's see.  Reigning ND World Cup Draft Champion Dominic Hougham returns to compete with Mac, Michael Hamlen ...

Mexico '86 - Part Fourteen: The Final

24 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We started back in January with the qualifiers and now we are at the Azteca, bursting with 114,000 people for the World Cup Final of 1986. Aidan Willi...

Mexico '86 - Part Thirteen: The Semis

17 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

And then there were four. Mac and Martyn attempt to make sense of another French failure against their arch nemesis but give some justified praise for...

Mexico '86 - Part Twelve: The Quarters

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Martyn, Mike and Rob settle down to revisit one of the great weekends in World Cup history. France and Brazil produce a classic and a goal that would ...

Mexico '86 - Part Eleven: 17th and 18th June

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

World Cup author Dominic Hougham joins Martyn to see France break a bit of a hoodoo, West Germany bore their way past Morocco, Bobby's boys march on d...

Mexico '86 - Part Ten: 15th and 16th June

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

It's knockout time! Michael Hamlen from the brilliant 80s&90sFootball is here to look at the first two rounds of Last 16 matches including the first c...

Mexico '86 - Part Nine: 12th and 13th June

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Gary and John return to wrap up the group stages of the 1986 World Cup. Ian St John has a meltdown watching Scotland somehow managing to miss out agai...

Mexico '86 - Part Eight: 10th and 11th June

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Mac Millings makes his tournament debut as England's hopes hang by a thread. Bobby Robson is forced into some changes and, although familiar issues ar...

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

06 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 wi...

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

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Nessun Dorma Special - Euro '96: The Full Story

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

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

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 U...

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

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 bef...

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

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 C...

Mexico '86 - Episode 2: The Preview

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Mexico '86 - Episode 1: The European Qualifiers

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 Mexic...

Nessun Dorma Archive - 17 August 1996

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 a...

Nessun Dorma Archive - 17 November 1993

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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, Ro...

A Festive Q&A

01 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Martyn and Gary are mostly full of glad tidings as they try and tackle the brilliant Patreon questions. Winter signings, best festive fixtures, the my...

Season 1985/86 Episode Nine - Stein, Scottish Managers and the Microphone

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The 10 September 1985 was a night where tension never dropped within Ninian Park, Cardiff. On the pitch was a controversial World Cup qualifier betwee...

Season 1985/86 Episode 8 - Blackout

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 a...

Season 1985/86 Episode 7 - European Roundup

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Hamlen from the brilliant 80s&90s Football account returns to look at the rise of Eastern Europe in intercontinental competition. Steaua Buc...

Season 1985/86 Episode 6 - Two Tribes

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 loc...

Season 1985/86 Episode 5 - Iron and Alchemy

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

Season 1985/86 Episode 4 - Milk and Maxwell

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Season 1985/86 Episode 3 - A Funny Old Game

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Season 1985/86 Episode 2 - El Tel and Archigoles

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 Mar...

Season 1985/86 Episode 1 - Broken Hearts

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 unex...

The Black Ball Final of 1985

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The sporting interval between football seasons this time is more of a bridge than a break. With football descending into depression, the British publi...

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

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

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

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"A slum sport played in slum stadiums and increasingly watched by slum people". So went the infamous Sunday Times editorial in the weekend following t...

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

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

23 years from their last major honour, Norwich City found themselves parading the League Cup around Wembley Stadium. With mid-table safety a seeming c...

The Sport Draft - 1985

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Season 1984/85 Episode 4 - European Roundup

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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. Bi...

Season 1984/85 Episode 3 - Verona Campione!

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 i...

Season 1984/85 Episode 2 - Everton's Greatest Season (Part 2)

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With points being dropped, red cards being shown and injury hitting their lethal strike partnership, Everton's dreams looked to be in serious jeopardy...

Season 1984/85 Episode 1 - Everton's Greatest Season (Part 1)

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 predi...

Patron's Q&A Part Four

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Patron's Q&A Part Three

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Two more weeks until the show returns so here is another Q&A from the Patreon vaults. Gary and Martyn deal with cult heroes, Everton in the European C...

Patron's Q&A Part Two

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The main show is still on holiday so here are some more questions from our excellent Patrons. Mike and Rob join Martyn for this one in February this y...

Patron's Q&A Part One

01 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With the regular show on a short summer hiatus until later in the month, we will share some of the excellent questions that our Patrons have been aski...

Sliding Doors - Argentina '78

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It is Gary's turn to change one moment in tournament history and run us through the consequences. This time it is the Dutch penalty against Scotland -...

Sliding Doors - France '98

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

England didn't have the best squad of the 1998 World Cup. Not even in the top four. And yet, it isn't always that simple. Martyn lays out his case to ...

Sliding Doors - Italia '90

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The 1990 World Cup is one that we know so well that we can almost say for sure where we were when we watched every game. But what if one moment was ch...

Patreon Taster - This Week w/c 7 July 2025

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As a one-off summer treat we are making our weekly Patreon show open to all. This Week is available every Monday morning and has two Nessun Dorma regu...

Euro '84 Episode 7 - La France, C'est Platini

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

And so it is time to bid adieu to Euro '84 as France and Spain meet in the final and so much of Europe craving a home victory for the good of the game...

Euro '84 Episode 6 - Danish Despair

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the European football public had caught their breath following the first semi final, most assumed that the finale itself had the potential to be...

Euro '84 Episode 5 - Tigana, Platini, Motty

20 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aidan Williams and Jonathan O'Brien return to luxuriate in perhaps the greatest European Championship match of all time. With time ticking by, it felt...

Euro '84 Episode 4 - Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The German monster has survived too long" opined Le Soir on 21 June 1984. And that was one of the more sober conclusions. After the way France's Wor...

Euro '84 Episode 3 - Sacre Bleu!

06 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If the host nation were nervy in that opening night in Paris, they quickly shrugged it off throughout the rest of Group 1. Platini's seven goals in th...

Euro '84 Episode 2 - The Qualifiers: Part Two

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Martyn, Rob and Aidan are back to finish off this memorable qualifying story. Italy were seemingly on a post-World Cup gap year, Northern Ireland mana...

Euro '84 Episode 1 - The Qualifiers: Part One

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It is tournament time again in the Nessun Dorma marathon and this time we revisit one that was, in the words of one writer, 'the greatest tournament y...

Nessun Dorma Special - Veni, Vidi, Vici: When Italian Football Ruled Europe

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Never before or since, has one league been as strong throughout European football. Author and friend of the show, Dominic Hougham joins Martyn to talk...

The Los Angeles Olympics of 1984

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With season 1983/84 all done and dusted, it is time to take a sporting break as the excellent writer David Goldblatt joins Martyn to discuss that summ...

Season 1983/84 Episode 6 - Yellow, Blue and Gray

02 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mac and Gary are suited and booted and ready to return to Wembley as they revisit the day that their respective sides went head-to-head in the FA Cup ...

The Sport Draft - 1984

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gary carries his title into an action-packed Olympic year with plenty for him, Mike and Mac to choose from. Two Olympic games, one international tourn...

Season 1983/84 Episode 5 - Glory, Glory

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Europe firmly in the grip of English dominance, it was the turn of one of the country's best cup teams to step up. Gareth Dace, historian of Tott...

Season 1983/84 Episode 4 - I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It was another season of domestic dominance for Liverpool but after two consecutive disappointments beyond the Iron Curtain, it was time to regain the...

Season 1983/84 Episode 3 - The Tottenham Flotation

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We move from the pitch to the boardroom this week as football finance expert Kieran Maguire joins Martyn to reflect upon Tottenham Hotspur's decision ...

Season 1983/84 Episode 2 - 25 April 1984

04 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rob and Martyn bring you a bumper episode this week as they relive the events of one of British football's most remarkable days. On the morning of Wed...

Season 1983/84 Episode 1 - Trebles, Saints and Scottish Strikers

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gary and Mac join Martyn to kick off our 1983/84 series with a roundtable discussion on the First Division season. Three in a row for Liverpool, a sur...

Nessun Dorma Special - Gary Lineker: A Portrait of a Football Icon

14 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As we have a break in between seasons, Martyn sits down with the football writer Chris Evans to chat about his current book, a biography of one of Eng...

The Sport Draft - 1983

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It is Draft time again as our valiant trio fight it out in the sporting year of 1983. From Seve Ballesteros and Carl Lewis to Marjolein Eijsvogel and ...

Season 1982/83 Episode 6 - The Retirement of Bob Paisley

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We finish our six part look at 1982/83 with a look back at the career of one of English football's greatest managers as Bob Paisley left Anfield with ...

Season 1982/83 Episode 5 - Hamburg and Juventus

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With the European Cup approaching its 50th anniversary, there were still some members of the footballing aristocracy who were aching to join the ranks...

Season 1982/83 Episode 4 - Watford and Luton

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

All the focus this week is on the unlikely footballing counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire as Mac Millings takes us back to the season when his...

Season 1982/83 Episode 3 - Origin Story

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Forget local derbies. Forget even the 'Derby of England'. Arguably the most compelling story of rivalry, bitterness and drama in the modern era of Eng...

The Sport Draft - 1982

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mike, Gary and Mac are back to provide a little sporting palate cleanser in the middle of our footballing feast. What was the biggest surprise in the ...

Season 1982/83 Episode 2 - The New Firm

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From 1979 to 1986, life was very different in Scotland. Instead of Glasgow's big two slugging it out, the centre of power was wrestled north east towa...

Season 1982/83 Episode 1 - And Smith Must Score...

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gordon Smith joins us this week to kick off our run through the season of 1982/83. He talks honestly about his experience at Brighton as a whole, the ...

World Cup 1982 Episode 8 - The Draft

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We finish our series on the 1982 World Cup in true Nessun Dorma fashion by subjecting the tournament to a draft. Rob, Gary and Mac are joined by Domin...

World Cup 1982 Episode 7 - The Round Up

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan, Rob and Martyn sit down to round up the other stories from a remarkable World Cup. How Italy won, what happened to Spain and Argentina, did ...

World Cup 1982 Episode 6 - The Two Greatest Games

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Part of the enduring legacy of these finals is in part due to it playing host to two of the finest football matches to have been been played. Differen...

World Cup 1982 Episode 5 - Brazil '82

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Just why do men of a certain age devote such space in their heart for a side who didn't make the semi-finals of the World Cup? Do they deserve the wor...

World Cup 1982 Episode 4 - Algeria and Cameroon

03 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

982 was arguably the year that the continent of Africa first made its impression at the World Cup. African football expert Paul Doyle joins Rob and Ma...

World Cup 1982 Episode 3 - Northern Ireland

27 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

They might have exited the tournament at the same stage as England but Northern Ireland's World Cup experience was very different indeed. Not fancied ...

World Cup 1982 Episode 2 - Scotland

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Scotland travelled to Spain with arguably their strongest ever World Cup squad desperate to atone for the humiliation of Argentina but with a devilish...

World Cup 1982 Episode 1 - England

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the nights grow longer and colder, settle in with some blistering Spanish sun as Nessun Dorma goes back to the 1982 World Cup for eight episodes. T...

Season 1981/82 Episode 4 - The Spanish New Firm

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Between 1981 and 1984, something odd was happening in Spanish football. You wouldn't find either Barcelona or Real Madrid at the top of La Liga at the...

Season 1981/82 Episode 3 - Sven, Göteborg and the UEFA Cup

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Before England and Serie A, before Ulrika and Nancy and before "Life Kaiser, life" there was winning the UEFA Cup with IFK Gothenburg. Rob and Martyn ...

Nessun Dorma Special - Interview with Elton Welsby

28 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Martyn sits down with the legendary Elton Welsby and Gary Cook of Retro Football Network fame to discuss a fascinating career anchoring English footb...

The Sport Draft - 1981

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Gary, Mac and Mike are back to do battle to try and convince Martyn how well they know the sporting year of 1981. The year of Ian Botham and Steve Dav...

Season 1981/82 Episode 2 - Go To War!

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With the Spanish World Cup on the horizon and the Argentinian flag being raised in Port Stanley, fears were high that England may not even get to go. ...

Season 1981/82 Episode 1 - Sporting Gravity and Rising Stars

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After the Christmas freeze of 1981, Liverpool sat 12th in the First Division table with John Toshack's Swansea City leading the way. How they reeled i...

Botham's Ashes?

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After every football season deep dive we will take a short break into the wider world of sport and in 1981 there really was only one story for us to p...

Season 1980/81 Episode 6 - The Sacking of Dave Sexton

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With a schedule so in keeping with recent events, this week's episode is about the sacking of a Manchester United manager in 1981 but with so much rel...

The Pop Culture Draft - 1980

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In order to add more colour and cultural relevance to our trip through footballing history, the Draft has been applied to popular culture. Lawrence Do...

Season 1980/81 Episode 5 - The Return Of The Kings

25 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

1980/81 was a very poor domestic season for Liverpool by their own high standards but, even though they were a side in transition, they were still abl...

Season 1980/81 Episode 4 - The 'Team of the Eighties'

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Crystal Palace side that was promoted to the First Division in 1979 under Terry Venables had so much youthful promise that some considered the com...

The Sport Draft - 1980

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Draft is back on Nessun Dorma and this time with a sporting twist. Gary, Mac and Mike join Martyn to try and convince him and then you the listene...

Season 1980/81 Episode 3 - Ipswich, Villa and Spurs (Part Two)

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It is April 1981 and Ipswich Town look set for a historic treble. With a talented English manager blending the best of British with Dutch flair, it al...

Season 1980/81 Episode 2 - Ipswich, Villa and Spurs (Part One)

04 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

At the start of April 1981, it looked likely that Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town were going to win an incredible treble of the league, the FA Cup and the...

Season 1980/81 Episode 1 - Euro 1980

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The West Germans called the European Championship of 1980 'a hideous disfigurement of football'. And they won the bloody thing! Martyn is joined by J...

Sven Remembered

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Following last weekend’s sad news of the passing of Sven-Göran Eriksson at the age of 76, Martyn is joined by Rob and Mike to discuss a career that...

Chaos, Controversy and that Kung-Fu Kick - 1994/95 with Rob Fletcher

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Premier League season of 1994/95 had so much going on that there could be multiple volumes covering it. Rob Fletcher has distilled it all into one...

USA '94 - Part Eight

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

And so, we reach the end. A stellar cast gathers around the microphones as Rob Smyth returns to join Gary, Mike, Jonathan and Martyn to debate whethe...

USA '94 - Part Seven

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As we approach the penultimate hurdle it is time to take a wider view of the two main protagonists at this World Cup. Dominic Hougham, author of ‘50...

USA '94 - Part Six

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There is another bumper episode for you all this week as we reach the quarter finals. Gary and Mike are back to discuss four excellent football matche...

USA '94 - Part Five

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Pundits and commentators were forced to admit that the Group Stages of USA ‘94 had delivered. But would that attacking and entertaining football con...

USA '94 - Part Four

20 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Group stages come to a close this week with the punishing Orlando heat, Houghton’s volley, Sacchi’s gamble, the transitional Dutch and a wonde...