podcast - real football stories
Real football stories
The Team On Tour has spent the last couple of years bringing you football stories on YouTube.
Now it’s your turn.
Real people telling real football stories.
Season 1
1.1 The madrid football scene (and more!), with Lester Drake, the groundhopping king of spanish football
Starting off the podcast in fitting fashion – with the most comprehensive review of the Madrid football scene that you’re likely to find!
Lester gives us the lowdown on his considerable footballing travels, from Chelmsford to Chisnau, via the Spanish capital.
All the ‘big’ clubs are from Primera and Segunda are in, while there’s naturally also room for plenty of the ‘smaller’ ones which are close to our hearts, the hidden gems that you need to visit.
Also featuring the ideal 4/5-game weekend, beers and bocadillos, Spanish football’s disorganised chaos, cold, wet Tuesday nights in Stoke, the newfound craze that is El Día del Fútbol Modesto and lots, lots more.
1.2 Marca, madrid, match reports and more, with football writer sam leveridge
Is the life of a football writer as glamorous as we all think it is? Marca in English and La Liga Lowdown’s Sam Leveridge gives us the lowdown (pun fully intended).
Sam discusses how Rafa Benítez helped him get into Spanish football, the pros and cons of Madrid and Barcelona, the power of the David Beckham brand, the increasing popularity of tactical analysis (inspired by his work for totalfootballanalysis.com), the weird world of Spanish football commentary and plenty more!
1.3 betis san isidro - much more than football, with general manager pablo rojo
There are only five clubs in Madrid which are older than Betis San Isidro, but are there any which are more special?
General Manager Pablo Rojo kindly welcomed me into BSI’s new home, the Estadio Antiguo Canódromo, and passionately took me through the incredible story behind one of the most unique football clubs you’re likely to come across.
Featuring the long-standing relationship with ‘big brothers’ Real Betis, the process of rebuilding a struggling club, the Betis San Isidro identity, the fantastic initiatives currently being developed (including blind and Down’s Syndrome teams) and hope and dreams for the future.
There’s also some Betis chat, including the 2005 Copa del Rey win, the Seville derby and plenty more. There’s even some Championship Manager thrown in too!
1.4 the women's game in Scotland and food at the football, with journalist and podcaster Chris Marshall
Chris, who is in the thick of the women’s football action as a journalist and podcaster, joins me for some chat on the women’s game in Scotland and further afield – the progress that has been made and the challenges that have yet to be overcome, this year’s thrilling Scottish Cup final, the 2019 World Cup, the Scottish national team, the Glasgow City success story and the Women’s Champions League all get considerable mentions, amongst other things.
But I couldn’t have Chris on without having some sort of culinary discussion – he was a judge at the World Scotch Pie Championships, I’ll have you know. So there’s a comparison of Spanish football food and Scottish football food and some general ‘pie and bovril’ chat. Has anyone tried more pies at the football than this man?
Be sure to check out the Leading the Line website and podcast for all your Scottish women’s football needs!
1.5 inside the mind of a referee, with match official samuel ranz
Samuel Ranz, who officiates in Spain’s fourth and fifth tiers, gives us some rare insight into the life (and mind) of a referee in the last episode of the series.
How does somebody decide that refereeing is for them? How difficult is it for match officials to get over mistakes? Should referees be allowed to speak to the media after making controversial decisions? And, of course, what do they really think about VAR?
Samuel answers all of these questions and plenty more in what was a really interesting chat from a totally different footballing perspective.
get in touch!
Needing a French/Spanish-speaking translator who knows his football? Looking to find out about the wonderful world of the Spanish lower leagues? Keen to improve your English?
Be sure to drop me a line!