The Second Captains Podcast

The Premier League season labours past week 4 with a sense that things are yet to fully ignite - but the recently rebranded Pro Ref, formerly known as PGMOL, has hit its stride by issuing their first apology of the season. After a weekend dominated by the referees, it seems a good moment to welcome to the pod William Ralston, author of a new book about refereeing: "The Impossible Job - The Truly Unbelievable World of Football Referees."What kind of person becomes a referee? Why do they do it? What makes a good one? And how has VAR changed what it means to be a ref? 

From the Air Force One fly-by to the Chinook helicopters to the talk on Irish unity to chants of "four more years" in the Doonbeg clubhouse, it was as strange a weekend as Irish sport has ever seen.None of it bothered Shane Lowry, who put in a stunning 4 days of golf to beat the field by a record margin of 11 shots. Gavin Cooney was there to witness the chaos and the golf and he joins us in studio today.Plus there's whiskey-washing, empty promises, Solheim celebrations and golf loves Trump.

The English teams have been tearing it up in the Champions League so far this week. We chatted to Lars Sivertsen about Martin Ødegaard’s blistering early-season form and signs that adoption of tactics long-favoured at Arsenal and Manchester City might be helping Liverpool turn a corner under Andoni Iraola?The Parrott theme was strong throughout the week given he's scored the winner in the last two game. Ken was irked by some beak/peck errors on Real Betis' social media accounts and the commentary of TNT's Jonathan Pearce.We also covered Mary McAleese going nuclear on the GAA, Trump's Doonbeg trip, Erling Haaland’s able deputies at Manchester City (there are none), and Souness destroying Declan Rice.To listen to all our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series’  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’ and Stakeknife.

82,000 in the stadium and 1.6m watching on RTE - there's never been an event like this in Irish sport.We look back on a mesmerising but surreal evening in Croke Park with Sinead O'Carroll and Malachy Clerkin. We discuss Katie's insights on Katie', grabbing the mic, how boxing was always the easy bit, and if she is 100% definitely retiring.Plus there's Westlife, the Croker crowd, seeing both sides of boxing, walk-on music and doing it her way.Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to all our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series’  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’ and Stakeknife.

For players new to La Liga, there's no better way to get people's attention than scoring the winner against Real Madrid. Betis Troy has lift-off - but did he really RAM Jose Mourinho's historic quotes back down his throat, or is it possible that the interpersonal rivalry element of this story has been exaggerated for dramatic purposes? We talk about Arsenal's dominant victory against Chelsea, and why, despite Michael Carrick's words, it shouldn't be much consolation for Manchester United that Everton's two goals were miracle-strikes. Miguel Delaney joins us to talk about Arsenal-Chelsea and related issues. Did we see new layers to Mikel Arteta's side? Should they have done the deal for Morgan Rogers or will it ultimately prove wiser to wait? And can the PL cash bubble really keep inflating forever?

It’s been a hell of a week on the World Service - Ken is  back - Katie build-up has been emotional - And on top of all that, we’ve made friends within Hector Bellerin!Plus there was transfer window madness, and today one of Germany’s most respected football writers, Christoph Biermann, joined us to talk about his new book: Game Theory: How Luck and Analytics shape football.Next week we have the Champions League, we will review Troy V Jose and Katie's fight, plus there's Trump's trip to Doonbeg and a few big GAA and rugby stories coming to the boil.Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to all our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series’  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’ and Stakeknife.

We welcome former world champ and one of the best coaches and boxing analysts in the world, Andy Lee into studio. Andy has coached Katie, has fought on the same card as her, and was in London for her moment of Olympic glory.Ken took a look at who has moved, and more importantly, who hasn’t, on the final day of the transfer window, and how a butterfly flapping its wings creates an angry fan on the other side of the world.To listen to all our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series’  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’ and Stakeknife.

Week two of the Premier League season has concluded - and SC’s football correspondent has finally deigned to check in. Ken explains his absence and reports on his activities. We follow Troy Parrott’s quest to establish himself at Ireland’s new pet club, Real Betis. Some unduly harsh reviews of his full debut remind us that Spain is traditionally a difficult feeding ground for number 9s. We talk about the spiralling inflation in the Premier League transfer market. How can this be explained? Is it new accounting rules? Too much money chasing not enough talent? The level of computerised games? Sheer rank stupidity? Chelsea under Alonso, Pep's message, Cherki's laces, John McGinn and Cosette-Gakpo feature along the way.

It’s been a daft week here on Second Captains with a stonking opener to Premier League season, Troy Parrott making his La Liga debut, the biggest, fastest, strangest sale in sports franchise history, and Glasgow Celtic flaming out of the Champions League.Next week is even tastier with Katie Taylor's historic fight in Croker and more importantly, the return of Ken Early!To listen to all our programming, go to secondcaptains.com/join There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, and you’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series’ ‘Where Is George Gibney?