Football's Greatest
Welcome to Football's Greatest with Jeff Stelling, a weekly podcast where the legendary host sits down with icons of the sport to talk about those who made a difference in the beautiful game from a players’ perspective: the top keepers, the toughest defenders, the silkiest midfielders and the deadliest strikers. The show will also look at those who had great influence off the pitch too - the successful managers, the funniest team-mates and the most impressive leaders in the dressing room - and pay homage to indelible moments from the biggest matches in the Premier League, Champions League, the World Cup and more. Broken down into two individual episodes with each guest, Football’s Greatest will take you inside the dressing rooms of some of the best soccer teams the world has ever seen. You will hear stories that surprise you, that make you laugh out loud and that you will be thinking of and telling people about for days after. Football's Greatest is a Folding Pocket production with BBC Studios. Follow Football's Greatest: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@footballsgreatestpod Instagram: www.instagram.com/footballsgreatestpod Twitter: www.twitter.com/ftblsgreatest TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@footballsgreatestpod Facebook: www.facebook.com/footballsgreatestpod
Episodes
May 21, 2024 • 25 mins
Australian football legend Mark Schwarzer joins Jeff once again on the pod, this time to pick his Top 5 Australian men’s players ever. Some top names from the Premier League era are discussed including Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill.
Which of his five does he suggest could have played for any of the top clubs in the world?
Who, according to Mark, was the most talented player his country has produced?
Whose move to one...
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May 14, 2024 • 49 mins
What makes a great leader in football? Thats’s the question Jeff is asking former Liverpool captain Phil Thompson on this week’s episode of the pod. Thommo was himself a born leader, who lifted the European Cup as captain in 1981.
He talks about how Bill Shankly mapped out his entire career and the time Bob Paisley gave him his biggest rollicking, the best leaders he played with and why captaincy seems to matter more in the UK. He...
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Who were the top 5 British players of the 1980s? Arsenal, Celtic, Aberdeen and Scotland legend Charlie Nicholas discusses his picks with Jeff on the latest episode of the pod.
Who was so good that even Diego Maradona was impressed?
Which opponent used to encourage you during a game?
Which defender used to pull your ears off the ball?
Along the way he explains how joining Arsenal stopped him being picked for Scotland, reveals who ...
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April 30, 2024 • 64 mins
This week’s guest joining Jeff Stelling is the former Coventry, Celtic and Scotland manager Gordon Strachan. They look back on his career as a player with Aberdeen, Manchester United and Leeds United and he gives us plenty of stories about managerial legends like Sir Alex Ferguson, Jock Stein, Howard Wilkinson and Ron Atkinson including:
How Fergie scared the Aberdeen players into winning
Why Jock Stein could be brutal with his ...
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April 23, 2024 • 28 mins
Kane, Gascoigne, Greaves, Klinsmann, Modric, Bale, Mackay, Waddle, Ardiles, Son, Lineker, Sheringham.
Tottenham have had some great players down the years but who would be in your top 5? That’s the question Jeff Stelling asks Spurs legend Glenn Hoddle in this week’s episode of the pod.
Which forward glided across the pitch?
Who played football like it was a chess match?
Which legend was partly responsible for Glenn being picke...
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April 19, 2024 • 7 mins
Matt Le Tissier may not have been a great goalscorer like Alan Shearer or Harry Kane but he was a scorer of great goals. In our latest REPLAY with Jeff Stelling, Le Tiss talks through some of those that have gone down in Premier League folklore and why he was able to often produce brilliant moments.
Which was the best goal from his canon?
Which goals were a turning point in his football career?
What’s his favourite of his strik...
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April 16, 2024 • 55 mins
Jeff is joined by Joleon Lescott to discuss Manchester City’s Premier League title win in 2012, one which some believe to be the greatest ever.
Big names and big characters are brought up, including Roberto Mancini, Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and Mario Balotelli. They discuss:
THAT game against QPR: the comeback, Aguero’s goal and Joey Barton’s red card
The most influential player in that City squad
Why many of City’s players wer...
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April 12, 2024 • 8 mins
In our latest Replay, former Arsenal, Aston Villa and England forward Paul Merson talks about the impact of Harry Redknapp on his career from our Greatest Mavericks episode. The two men had a memorable season together at Portsmouth in the Championship, winning the title and gaining promotion to the Premier League.
This bonus episode also includes unheard material, including a brilliant story where Merse recalls the time he took an...
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April 9, 2024 • 23 mins
Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Germany legend Michael Ballack joins Jeff Stelling to discuss his Top 5 Bundesliga players.
Which midfielder was the best player Michael Ballack played with during his career?
Who has seen off all-comers at Bayern Munich?
Who has changed the way his position on the football pitch is played?
As well as picking his Top 5, Ballack gives his opinion on England’s Jude Bellingham, marks out what has impresse...
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April 5, 2024 • 6 mins
In the second of our 'Replays', former England midfielder James Milner discusses the impact of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. With Klopp aiming to win a second Premier League title before leaving in the summer, Milner takes us back to the start of his reign at Anfield. We go inside the dressing room and on to the training pitch as Milner provides an insight into how Klopp turned around the club's fortunes.
What was Klopp like to work ...
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April 3, 2024 • 3 mins
"We're off to Fratton Park, where there's been a red card, but for who, Chris Kamara...?"
On the 14th anniversary of that legendary moment, Chris Kamara and Jeff Stelling recall how it happened in the first of our Football's Greatest replays.
Kammy reveals how it changed his life and recounts how a series of events led to one of football's funniest moments. Happy Chris Kamara Day!
Listen to the full episode of Football's Greate...
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Expect crunching tackles, pinching and crazy eyes as Southampton legend Matthew Le Tissier reveals his Top 5 toughest opponents to Jeff Stelling on the latest Football's Greatest podcast.
Who was the most annoying player he faced in the Premier League?
Which defender had the longest metal studs he’d ever seen?
And who intimidated even Vinnie Jones?
Le Tiss also recalls the England hero who scared him early in his career, the Man...
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March 26, 2024 • 25 mins
The legend that is Chris Kamara is back alongside Jeff Stelling to discuss his top 5 unbelievable football moments.
Which World Cup goal broke his heart? Which soccer match does he watch every year? And why did he once race Jeff in Japan using only one leg?
He also states why he thinks Gazza was the best in the world in 1990, names his favourite match ever and explains why he had no idea that one of the most controversial goals i...
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March 19, 2024 • 46 mins
Sir Geoff Hurst is with Jeff on the pod this week to talk about his greatest ever England football matches.
They cover the 1966 World Cup, including the feisty win over Argentina, how he discovered he was playing ahead of Jimmy Greaves in the final, scoring the hat-trick against West Germany that made him a legend and which team-mate ended up in someone’s garden on the night they celebrated England’s men’s greatest ever success on...
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March 12, 2024 • 41 mins
Former England manager Glenn Hoddle joins Jeff to choose his greatest midfielders on the latest episode of the pod.
Which current Premier League star does he thinks still isn’t trusted by England management? Why does every team need a Declan Rice? And what was his reaction to the David Beckham documentary?
Glenn also explains why he dropped Gazza from the 1998 World Cup squad, reveals the real reason why Matt Le Tissier received ...
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March 5, 2024 • 47 mins
Who’s the most complete keeper in the Premier League: Alisson or Ederson? Did Aaron Ramsdale deserve to lose his place to David Raya in the Arsenal goal? And why did he love working for Jose Mourinho at Chelsea?
These are some of the questions Jeff puts to former Middlesbrough, Fulham and Australia keeper Mark Schwarzer on this week’s pod.
They also discuss how he was left fuming with Mark Hughes and Fulham when a potential move...
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February 27, 2024 • 29 mins
Kenny Dalglish or Steven Gerrard? Mo Salah or John Barnes? Ian Rush or Bobby Firmino?
These are some of the decisions for Liverpool legend Phil Thompson as he chooses his top 5 players in the club’s history on the latest Football’s Greatest with Jeff Stelling.
Who would regularly lose their temper in the dressing room if Liverpool failed to win in the Premier League?
Why does Thommo think it’s wrong for Liverpool fans to boo Mich...
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February 20, 2024 • 40 mins
This week's guest on Football's Greatest was a world class player in his prime. It's Chelsea, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Germany legend Michael Ballack.
He and Jeff sit down to discuss the best German players to have played in the Premier League: Was Mesut Ozil misunderstood? Why was Jurgen Klinsmann made for English football? And which former Manchester City star was sometimes difficult to manage?
He also gives his vie...
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February 13, 2024 • 45 mins
This week Jeff is in the presence of the man known as ‘Le God’ - Matthew Le Tissier - as they discuss the best set pieces takers ever on Football’s Greatest.
Who won a free-kick competition between Le Tiss, Glenn Hoddle and David Beckham? Which current Premier League star does he claim bends it better than Becks? And who else has impressed him: De Bruyne or Bruno Fernandes? Trent Alexander-Arnold or Cristiano Ronaldo?
Matt reveal...
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February 6, 2024 • 26 mins
If you had to pick your Top 5 Premier League foreign imports, who would make your list? That’s the question Jeff Stelling asks former Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Portsmouth favourite Paul Merson in this week’s episode of Football's Greatest.
Which Champions League winner did Merse originally think was a waste of money? Who was so good that they looked like an adult playing against children? And which legend on his list...
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