Welcome to our weekly World Service taster menu which this week includes the mighty Kate O'Connor live in Belfast on her incredible year of success, Ken on his US civil war ancestor, a brilliant GAA show with Paul Flynn and Oisin McConville, and fan favourite Tim Vickery on why Brazil and Argentina have such different football philosophies.

For access to all our shows go to secondcaptains.com/join - its 5 euro a month with no sign-up fee, no minimum stay, no sneaky contract, no ads, just lots and lots of podcast fun.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The All-Ireland champions Clare are on the precipice after their defeat at home to Tipperary in a packed Cusack Park in Ennis on Saturday - but our analysts Liam Rushe and Jamie Wall reckon there's still a chance they survive.

We also discuss the skorts issue that continues to rumble on inexplicably, John McGrath's late-career renaissance, Shane O'Donnell's return, and there's Limerick/Cork to look forward to this weekend too.

We also reflect briefly on Louth's thrilling Leinster football final win, Sam Mulroy's heroics, and Murph getting abused by a celebrating Louth-man.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The spectrum of football emotion runs wide. At one end, Trent Alexander-Arnold, once beloved and now accursed by his own people. At the other the Moose, surfing to his first LOI goal on a tidal wave of inexplicable love. Football can be a confusing place for footballers.

We talk about another epic Clasico as Real Madrid fall apart in a comical first half in Montjuic. Have they grown desperate enough to submit to the kind of coach who will tell them how to play football?

Dion Fanning and Rory Smith join us to talk about the weekend's football. Does the treatment of Trent reflect badly on Liverpool? And as Ruben Amorim aims another devastating broadside at his own club, how long do we think this project has left to run?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join us live from the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Dublin City, with Gary Breen and Damien Delaney for a very special Second Captains football podcast, as we reflect on the Premier League season that was.

Have Salah’s legs gone, what next for our boy Caoimhín and just why is Chelsea’s Enzo Maresca the anti-McIlroy?

Plus Ken puts some working relationships on the line as Gary and Damien wait to see if either of them make it into his All-time Premier League XI (spoiler: they don't).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the moment we saw the team-sheets, right through to the final moments when they chose not to kick at goal, this was a baffling display by the coaching staff and players, and it all ended with a defeat that will have repercussions far beyond the province of Leinster.

We chat to Shane Horgan and Ruaidhrí O'Connor about the mental state of the players for this Northampton game, the starting team chosen, the Nienaber defensive system, the funding model in Irish rugby, and where this latest defeat leaves Leo Cullen.

And we try to define what it means to "choke", and if it was arrogance, overthinking or panic that caused the team to not kick that penalty on 75 mins to level the scores.

Plus there's Pollock power, Prendergast pawing, and trying to place this defeat in the pantheon of Irish sporting failures.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our weekly World Service taster menu which this week includes Ken on Arteta's psycho babble and Lamine Yamal's greatness, Diego Torres on Arsenal's decay, Meath beating the Dubs, and Abubaker Abed came to our studio for a sit-down with Ken. Abubaker arrived in Dublin late last month having left the Gaza Strip for the first time in his life. He had hoped to study and become a sports journalist but conflict came to him first, pushing him into becoming an accidental war reporter.

Join in the fun for just a fiver a month – no contracts, no sign-up fee, no minimum stay, no hidden charges, and no ads. Head to secondcaptains.com/join for more details.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liverpool are the 24-25 Premier League champions. We talk about their victorious campaign, why this should be regarded as one of the great coaching achievements in English football history, and why other Liverpool managers who came close in the past might feel a little envious of the circumstances in which Arne Slot won the Premier League at his first attempt.

We also discuss an incredible Copa Del Rey final and the latest theories about why Florentino Perez has allowed Madrid to become a sore-loser "anti-organisation".

Neil Atkinson of TAW joins us to talk about why this title means so much to Liverpool, how Arne Slot transformed last season's third-placed side into champions, and what remains to be done for the rest of the season.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 years of hurt are over - the Royals have stormed the capital and are back in power, and back in a Leinster final.

Some saw this coming, most didn't.

We talk to the soothsayer Paul Flynn about where this shock lies on the GAA Richter Scale, how Meath did it, and where this leaves Dublin now.

We also chat to Conor McManus about the Leinster final match up, Louth's evolution, and Armagh's win over Tyrone.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.