The Sporting Almanac Podcast

World Cup Series Ep. 4 - Refereeing Controversy

It is said referees have the hardest job in football. You can do your job perfectly 99.9% of the time, and have your entire career defined by the 0.1%. You are a figure of hatred, of derision, sometimes even of violent intent. But you lace up your boots, pick up your whistle and go again next week.

As football fans, most of us can forgive minor mistakes, basic human error. But when a de...

World Cup Series Ep. 3 - FIFA's Corruption

FIFA would claim that it is individuals that are corrupt, not the organisation itself. Well, our counter to that would be that an organisation that sets itself up with such a concentration of power amid a sea of wealth, with little oversight and so much money to be made cannot deflect blame when corruption becomes endemic.

When Russia and Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in la...

World Cup Series Ep. 2 - Origin Story

With the World Cup a little over 24 hours away, we talk about the tournament, its truly terrible format, and about exactly why it is coming home.

We also delve into the World Cup and FIFA's origin stories, about Uruguay 1930 and how the tournaments finances have evolved to today - setting us up nicely for the next episode...

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Credit: This episode contains music from ...

World Cup Series Ep. 1 - The England Squad

With the club season for English teams now done and dusted, we turn our attention for the next two months to the biggest stage of all - the FIFA World Cup.

In the first part of our multi-part series, we discuss who we'd have picked for the England squad, our reaction to the selections made and our feelings about where England's strengths and weaknesses lie.

In future episodes we'll be coverin...

The UEFA European Finals

With one extraordinarily happy host in Ben, who has worn nothing but Arsenal shirts since the final whistle blew in Bournemouth last week, we preview the three European finals (even the one that already happened) as he hopes to go from obnoxiously delighted to utterly unbearable with a Gunners win in Budapest.

But it's not just about Arsenal, far from it. We talk Europa and Conference League's too, about whet...

The EFL Playoffs

The playoffs. The best, and the worst way to get promoted. A season coming down to one winner takes all match-up. The Championship final, the richest game in football, this year between Southampton and Hull City.

Or so we all thought...

The unexpected development of a football governing body growing a spine means that it will, pending appeal, be Middlesbrough playing Hull at Wembley. Couple this drama with the 40th an...

Oil, Oligarchs and the FA Cup Final

Football has changed a lot since the glory days of the FA Cup. Some things are better left in the past - muddy Wembley pitches, heavy footballs and serious injuries every other final. Other things are still sorely missed - breakfast time coverage on Cup Final morning, joyous pitch invasions, and the genuine belief that almost anyone could win it.

That unpredictability fading away has perhaps done m...

The Cheerleading Worlds with Special Guest Kelly Loughlin

The sport of cheerleading is probably a lot bigger than you think it is. In fact, for our British listeners, there is no sport growing faster amongst girls in our country, nor has there been for years. The number of competitors is now fast approaching six figures, across schools, universities and All-Star teams.

Today, we are extraordinarily lucky to have as a guest Kelly Loug...

Boston and London Marathons

490 BC. Ancient Greece. A messenger with a funny name and patriotism surging through his veins spots a Persian ship alter its course towards Athens. He is in Marathon, 26 miles and 385-ish yards away from his nations capital, but decides to do the unthinkable. He sheds his armour, his sword, and (being Ancient Greek) the rest of his clothes too. He runs, he makes it, he passes on a message of victory, and...

The Sporting Almanac Birthday: The Masters and The Grand National

To celebrate one whole year of the Sporting Almanac Podcast we go back to where it all began, ahead of the Grand National and with the Masters underway at Augusta National. We share some reflections on the year past, and a few new stories about the weekends two events too, including Larry Mize's legendary chip and the Race That Never Was at Aintree.

One year older, but...

The Savannah Bananas and Banana Ball

"The noblest art is that of making others happy."

P.T. Barnum

The purity of baseball is something a lot of people take very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that orthodox approaches will be followed until stadiums are empty, sponsors have left and the team owners move the team to pastures new in search of something different.

Such had been the case over and over in the famous city of Savannah, Geor...

The Boat Race

There are some people to whom there is no bigger event in the sporting calendar than the University Boat Race. It would be a sweeping generalisation to suggest all of those people will be wearing gillet's and yelling received pronunciation support of their particular shade of blue, having started drinking as soon as the riverside pubs opened along the Thames.

It is undoubtedly an event that will always be intrinsically ...

Six Nations - England (A Post-Mortem)

We don't usually do retrospectives on the Almanac. The vast majority of sporting engagement in our modern world is built around the sharing of opinion, frustration or adulation of thing's that have just happened, and it's normally not our style. But today, we make an exception as we release our final Six Nations episode, decidedly after the fact, and with its subject this season's championships ...

Six Nations - All-Time XV

In a move not entirely lacking in self indulgence, Jack and Ben discuss, debate and select their all-time Six Nations XV from 26 years of the competition's history.

Tune in to find the answers to the real big questions:

Can two Englishmen bear to leave Martin Johnson on the bench?

Which Jonny starts at fly half?

How can Ben's heart really be telling him to leave Brian O’Driscoll out of the team?

And how ma...

The Six Nations - France

Les Bleus. Brilliant. Erratic. Inconsistent. Wonderful. The Six Nations has been a rollercoaster for French rugby fans, early dominance followed by a dozen wilderness years that sparked fierce criticism and debate, triggering as so often happens in France, revolution.

And that revolution, building up their domestic game, strengthening pathways and processes has given France such an abundance and depth of tale...

2026 Formula 1 Season

It's back, baby. And it's totally different from last year.

More electrical power, lighter cars, active aero, boost buttons, less downforce, less grip - so far, the drivers aren't loving their new rides, but the real acid test will be at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, when we finally get to see whether these changes mean closer racing with no lost excitement.

So set your alarms early, and tune is as we a...

The Six Nations - Ireland

In 52 completed Five Nations tournaments between the competition's resumption in 1947 and Italy's introduction in the year 2000, Ireland won six outright titles, four Triple Crowns and a lone Grand Slam in 1948. In the 26 seasons of the Six Nations they have won six outright titles, eight Triple Crowns and three Grand Slams, in 2009, 2018 and 2023. They beat New Zealand home, away and in the USA, topped the...

The Six Nations - Scotland

Scotland have never won the Six Nations. 26 seasons of unpredictability and occasional, unquestionable brilliance along the way, but their last tournament victory - a memorable, unforgettable one at that - lies all the way back in 1999 in the final edition of the old Five Nations Championship.

There have been forgettable seasons along the way, for sure. Four wooden spoons and some heavy defeats too, but in ...

The Six Nations - Italy

16 wins in 130 games in the Six Nations paints a picture of Italy as perennial whipping boys, fodder for the more established nations, perhaps even unworthy of their place at the top table of European and Northern Hemisphere Rugby Union. But it does not tell the full story of Italy's continuous and steady rise and genuine improvement since they first joined the competition in the year 2000.

Playing catch up to...