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Football Ruined My Life

Football Ruined My Life

By: Colin Shindler Jon Holmes Paul Kobrak (and the late Patrick Barclay)
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About this listen

 When Football Ruined My Life started back at the beginning of 2023 it was the new podcast about old football. In it, distinguished football journalist Patrick Barclay joined with Colin Shindler, author of the best selling Manchester United Ruined My Life, and the Super Agent Jon Holmes (think Gary Lineker, Peter Shilton, Tony Woodcock etc.) to talk about football as it used to be in the days before the invention of the Premier League. For over 80 weekly episodes, the podcast viewed those days fondly - though not uncritically - in comparison to today's game, which it views critically though not unfondly. And it welcomed everyone who wants to remember Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Charlton, Brian Clough and Bill Shankly and the days when you went to a Football League ground to watch your football and didn't wait for it to arrive on television. After the tragic and untimely death of Paddy Barclay in February 2025, Football Ruined My Life took a break to consider how (and if) to carry on. In May 2025 it has returned, with a panel of stars to make irregular appearances to join the regulars, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler. These now include writer and producer Andy Hamilton, television executive Jimmy Mulville, the sports journalist and columnist for the Daily Telegraph Jim White and stand-up comedian Omid Djalili. But the feel and raison d'être of Football Ruined My Life remains the same. Still nostalgic? Yes. Still well informed? Certainly. But above all, it continues to glory in the football of our youth when the game seemed charmingly innocent, full of skillful, good hearted, kindly men like Norman Hunter, Ron Harris and Peter Storey. Join us every week for a romp through the 1960s, 70s, 80s and beyond that will warm you like a cup of scalding hot Bovril. Produced by Paul Kobrak. Contact the team at footballruinedmylife@gmail.comColin Shindler, Jon Holmes, Paul Kobrak Football (American) Football (Soccer)
Episodes
  • 125. Our Most Depressing Defeats

    125. Our Most Depressing Defeats
    Jan 23 2026
    Colin Shindler asks Jon Holmes and Andy Hamilton to relive their football related nightmares. They are forced under forensic questioning to remember what they had hoped they had buried forever in the deepest recesses of their memories. In other words, those defeats which evoke the very darkest of thoughts. They don’t have to be 9-0 thrashings to do that. They can be games when you’re 1-0 up and coasting and then two stupid, stupid, stupid goals in stoppage time turn victory into defeat. There can be narrow defeats in important games or games decided by the insanity and incipient blindness of the match officials. Either way you leave the ground wondering why you bothered getting out of bed and coming in the first place. The Football Ruined My Life audience knows exactly what that feels like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    47 mins
  • 124. Those We Have Lost In 2025

    124. Those We Have Lost In 2025
    Jan 16 2026
    This week Colin Shindler, Jon Holmes and Jim White pay tribute to some of the players who died in 2025 plus two journalists and one referee. As most of our listeners are probably in their 60s and 70s, the deaths of players like Billy Bonds, John Robertson and perhaps above all Denis Law bring to the surface fears about our own mortality. If you loved the football and the footballers of the 1960s and 1970s, when our love for the game was sealed, you probably find, as we do, these deaths to be particularly poignant. Those we are talking about in this edition are many and varied, famous and unknown. They include a player who kickstarted my second career, a goalkeeper who made 5 appearances and spent nearly all of his 10 years at my club in the reserves and a centre half who scored an own goal in three consecutive games. Isn’t that worth commemorating? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    52 mins
  • 123. Are Modern Refs Too Fussy?

    123. Are Modern Refs Too Fussy?
    Jan 9 2026
    Anyone who watches The Big Match Revisited every Saturday morning on ITV4 will notice that referees in the 1970s and 1980s used to wave play on so much more often - which meant that the game flowed and wasn’t constantly hauled back for yet another free kick. You also pretty much had to amputate an opponent’s leg below the knee before you could be sent off. A sending off in the 1960s and 1970s was a big deal and the player was usually embarrassed and upset. Squads were of course much smaller so losing a key player for 28 days (which was how punishments were given then) was a serious blow to the team’s prospects for the next month. Now of course getting a red card is regarded as part of the day job and if you can get yourself sent off a week before Christmas and receive an automatic three match suspension you get a nice family Christmas at home. To an extent of course this isn’t really down to the individual referee. Referees are under examination from an official observer sitting in the stand and they can be overruled by VAR. They used to be the sole arbiters of what happens on the pitch. Now they aren’t. Jimmy Mulville, Colin Shindler and Jon Holmes discuss whether or not this trend is good for the game and particularly for the spectators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    50 mins
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