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The Sporting Almanac Podcast

The Sporting Almanac Podcast

By: Jack Senior and Ben Davies
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About this listen

The Sporting Almanac Podcast is your ultimate repository for the history and stories behind the biggest events in the sporting calendar. Hosted by Jack, an engineer and grassroots football coach, and Ben, a lawyer who has dabbled in anti-doping, this podcast dives into what makes major sporting occasions across all disciplines so special.

Each episode digs into the history, drama, and unforgettable moments of the event, unearthing fascinating stories about its greatest competitions and competitors. Whether it’s the controversies of drugs in sport, great comeback stories that bring grown men to tears, or the untold tales that help shape the games we love - Jack and Ben aim to give you a deeper insight into the next stop on the sporting calendar.

Whether you're listening to prepare yourself in advance for the next event, or just binging through for some good stories - so long as you love sport, its history, and the tales that make it special, The Sporting Almanac Podcast is for you.

Jack Senior and Ben Davies 2025
World
Episodes
  • Episode 9 - The UEFA Champions League
    May 27 2025

    Episode 9: The UEFA Champions League Final - Football’s Night of Nights

    Jack and Ben are back in their wheelhouse this week as they dive into the biggest night in European club football - the UEFA Champions League Final.

    From contentious calls to unforgettable comebacks, tactical brilliance to glorious chaos - this is the night where legends rise, dreams shatter, and history unfolds in 90 minutes (or more). Expect goals, drama, and miracle moments: Zidane’s majesty, United’s last-gasp heroics, Bale defying gravity, and of course, Istanbul.

    There are dark days to discuss too - disasters at Heysel and Munich, as well as frank discussions on the history of British Exceptionalism and how it held back the English game - and how influenced other nations to prove them wrong. And on whether the competition - for all its undoubted merits - holds the same romance of the FA Cup, or even its predecessor, the European Cup.

    So lace up your boots, cue the anthem, and get ready for the drama that only the Champions League can provide. Football, bloody hell.

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    1 hr and 46 mins
  • Episode 8 - The Monaco Grand Prix
    May 20 2025

    Episode 8: The Monaco Grand Prix - The Jewel in the Formula One Crown

    Jack and Ben are in the glamour and glitz of Monaco this week for the 82nd running of the most famous race on the Formula One calendar - The Monaco Grand Prix.

    Expect more mentions of crashes and failures than of overtaking as they discuss the merits and criticisms of wide cars racing around narrow streets - it is a race that simply wouldn't exist if it wasn't for its history. But what a history it is...

    From crashes into the harbour, mysterious first winners with incredible backstories, the dominance of Graham Hill and the emergence of Ayrton Senna, through to races no one wanted to win, others stopped too early and a home town hero coming good after years of toil. Monaco somehow both never fails to deliver even whilst so often being a procession.

    This is the Monaco paradox: a race that's deeply flawed, yet emotionally irresistible.

    So fire up your engines, roar past Casino Square and prepare yourself for the bright light of the Nouvelle Chicane, this is an event like no other through the unforgiving, untouchable and unforgettable streets of Monaco.

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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • Episode 7 - The FA Cup
    May 12 2025

    Episode 7: The FA Cup - Of Dreamers and Giant Killers

    After three weeks over the Atlantic, Jack and Ben are back in Blighty ahead of the 144th Men's and 55th Women's FA Cup Finals.

    There's no fairytale like the FA Cup. It is where semi-professional players line up against the gods of the game on equal footing, where one drop of the hip or one act of bravery can make you immortal, and where there are no impossible outcomes if you believe in the magic of the Cup.

    From giant killers to last second winners, from lionhearts to lionesses, the Cup delivers drama like nothing else. So warm up your voice for Abide With Me, and join us on the climb up the Wembley steps to grab the greatest and most beloved trophy in football together.

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    1 hr and 35 mins

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