The Second Captains Podcast

Welcome to our world service best of show, and what a humdinger of a week it was with Tom Brady and Keith Andrews getting the reality tv treatment at Birmingham and Brentford, Ken chatting to QPR and Ireland's soundest man, Jimmy Dunne, the Lions tour exploding into life, and Jonathan Wilson taking the gloves off for some cricket chat.Plus there's question marks around the whole Newcastle/Saudi project, democratic dictator debates, ageism in football, the Rooster of Barcelos, and "word of the week".Sign up for 5 euro a month to hear all our shows. It’s dead easy, just go to secondcaptains.com/join – there’s no sign up fee, no sneaky add-ons, no contracts, no minimum stay, no ads and we’re independent and Irish owned. Next week we will be reviewing the women’s Euros, Kerry V Donegal, the Lions 2nd Test, and there will be the usual avalanche of football transfers, news and drama.

England have won their second consecutive Euros, a Lionesses XI built out of different types of rocks and hard places ultimately proving too tough for Spain to break down.Today we learn about the lighter side of Sarina Wiegman, look at what England's win signifies in these exciting days for the meaning of Englishness, and reflect on the overall impact of Euro 2025. We also discuss the knock-on effects of Luis Diaz' transfer to Bayern, and whether top clubs' increasing fixation on 22 year olds is creating market opportunities for old foxes like David Moyes to exploit. 

The 2025 All-Ireland senior football championship is finished and Kerry are worthy champions, again.  Two of the great GAA pundits, Paul Flynn and Oisin McConville, are in studio to discuss this magnificent season of gaelic football 2.0.  How did Kerry defuse the Donegal zonal defence? Where did they find their energy after losing to Meath 8 weeks ago? Is David Clifford even human?  We also examine Jim McGuinness’ performance and whether he was out-coached yesterday, and we look ahead to a bright future for the sport.And of course just because Eoin was off on Friday doesn’t mean he missed his chance to pay his respects to Hulk Hogan.  The balance is redressed in emphatic style today.  

Welcome to our world service best of show, and what a romper stomper its been this week with the Premier League transfer market getting red hot, Ken's north star, Eamon Dunphy, featuring heavily throughout, there's a much anticipated All Ireland football final match-up, the Lions are meowing their way to victory, and Ken has been meeting people in Tolka Park .... and the gym.... and in saunas.Sign up for 5 euro a month to hear all our shows. It's dead easy, just go to secondcaptains.com/join - there's no sign up fee, no sneaky add-ons, no contracts, no minimum stay, no ads and we're independent and Irish owned. Next week we will be reviewing the women's Euros, Kerry Donegal, the Lions 2nd Test, and there will be the usual avalanche of football transfers, news and drama.

Tipperary are the 2025 All-Ireland hurling champions, and their victory was as dominant and deserved as it was unexpected. As they’ve done all summer, Jamie Wall and Liam Rushe are on hand to pick through the bones of an unforgettable second half.Cork’s inability to adapt to the tactical picture Tipp presented them will haunt them forever. For Tipp, giving your perfect performance on the biggest day makes this as sweet as any All-Ireland win in their history.We also discuss cancelled homecomings, Ronan Maher’s upper-arm struggles, and where Cork go from here.

Evan Ferguson has joined the flood of under appreciated young Premier League players seeking to transform their careers in Serie A. James Horncastle joins us to talk about what awaits Ferguson in Rome - where he will be working under one of Italy's most respected coaches - what a young player like him should be doing (and not doing) to succeed in Serie A, and how Italian football keeps going its own way in an increasingly homogeneous football world. We also talk about Ratcliffe’s fishing trip and the latest transfer news, including some difficult days at Newcastle United, and listen as some giants of days gone by lament the spinelessness and lack of character of the young generation.

Welcome to our World Service taster which this week included Ken and Scottie Scheffler on the meaning of life, Patrice Evra brings you inside the dark culture of winning, Tom English of the BBC chasing Lions Down Under and Nicky English remembers his iconic ''soccer style'' goal in that hot summer of '87.Click the player at the top of the page to play the show. Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to 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.

Chelsea are the new FIFA world champions after destroying PSG in another one-sided CWC knockout game. Johnny Infantino's long servile campaign paid dividends as Donald Trump showed up and dominated the extended post-match proceedings. The entire occasion was as though someone had started with the basic concept: imagine the Americans had invented football. To which we can only respond: why? Jonathan Wilson and Tim Vickery join us to look back on the final and to evaluate the tournament as a whole. Do they agree with Enzo Maresca's perhaps self-serving prediction that this competition is going to take over from the Champions League as the gold standard of club football? 

If the price of one absolutely mega All-Ireland football final showdown is two pretty pedestrian semi-finals, then that’s a price we’re happy enough to pay. Paul Flynn and Oisin McConville are on hand to look back at Kerry’s composed win over Tyrone, and Donegal’s devastation of Meath in the weekend’s games. Will this final be a showdown between David Clifford and Michael Murphy, or will Donegal’s peerless cohesion be the deciding factor?Katie Taylor made sure, just in case there was still any doubt, that she'll be seen forevermore as a superior boxer to Amanda Serrano at the weekend, while also refusing to commit to ever fighting again in the aftermath. All this while still managing to get in a trademark Taylor verbal broadside at the post-fight press conference - a solid night's work.