The Second Captains Podcast

Welcome to our World Service taster which this week included Ken and Scottie Scheffler on the meaning of life, Patrice Evra brings you inside the dark culture of winning, Tom English of the BBC chasing Lions Down Under and Nicky English remembers his iconic ''soccer style'' goal in that hot summer of '87.Click the player at the top of the page to play the show. Monday’s shows are free to all. To listen to our programming throughout the rest of the week, join the Second Captains World Service. There’s no contracts, no hidden fees and shows can be listened to on all good podcast apps, on Spotify or through our website. It’s independent, commercial-free and member-led with feature interviews, breaking news, Ken’s Football Show, The Politics Podcast, and lots of added extras. You’ll also be supporting the development of our longer-form work, such as our international series’  ‘Where Is George Gibney?’ and Stakeknife. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chelsea are the new FIFA world champions after destroying PSG in another one-sided CWC knockout game. Johnny Infantino's long servile campaign paid dividends as Donald Trump showed up and dominated the extended post-match proceedings. The entire occasion was as though someone had started with the basic concept: imagine the Americans had invented football. To which we can only respond: why? Jonathan Wilson and Tim Vickery join us to look back on the final and to evaluate the tournament as a whole. Do they agree with Enzo Maresca's perhaps self-serving prediction that this competition is going to take over from the Champions League as the gold standard of club football?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If the price of one absolutely mega All-Ireland football final showdown is two pretty pedestrian semi-finals, then that’s a price we’re happy enough to pay. Paul Flynn and Oisin McConville are on hand to look back at Kerry’s composed win over Tyrone, and Donegal’s devastation of Meath in the weekend’s games. Will this final be a showdown between David Clifford and Michael Murphy, or will Donegal’s peerless cohesion be the deciding factor?Katie Taylor made sure, just in case there was still any doubt, that she'll be seen forevermore as a superior boxer to Amanda Serrano at the weekend, while also refusing to commit to ever fighting again in the aftermath. All this while still managing to get in a trademark Taylor verbal broadside at the post-fight press conference - a solid night's work.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There was a period of a few hours over the weekend when it looked as though Mikey Johnston might be going to Brazil to teach them how to dribble. Even Robbie Keane's intervention could not save the move. We talk about the Club World Cup, where Jurgen Klopp's direst predictions of injuries came true for Bayern's best player, Jamal Musiala. Should he even have been playing? And does Gianluigi Donnarumma deserve the criticism he's been getting from the original sweeper keeper, Manuel Neuer?We also talk about the confirmed and rumoured incomings - and recent outgoings - at Arsenal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cork hurlers have built up a following which some commentators are comparing with Heffo’s Army or, say, the Pope's visit to Ireland. They travelled from Kent station to Heuston on Saturday with, let’s be honest, a certain cockiness and Dublin’s quick capitulation made for a good day out for the red shirted horde. And then came "its a madhouse at Croker" on Sunday - our senior analyst Jamie Wall had tipped against Tipp. What’s he got to say for himself now? He’s joined in our studio by Dublin's Liam Rushe to discuss both semis and the score that never was.We also discuss lingerie shops distracting Easter Week rebels, turning the GPO into a coffee shop, dressing like an African prince and Murph gets back behind the wheel for another episode of the wildly successful new slot, Murph's Country Drives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Murph and Mark headed off to Croke Park together yesterday for the MARPH derby. Murph's initial arrogance slowly curdled into horror as he and everyone else in the stadium witnessed the return of the Royals; Meath are back!Mark is on the show today to celebrate on behalf of his people, but otherwise, it's wall-to-wall losers as Dublin and Armagh's Paul Flynn and Oisin McConville join Murph's Galway pity party. We chat about Kerry's classy, clever win over All-Ireland champions Armagh, Meath's miracle, the kick-out factor, Donegal depth, Dublin's limp display against Tyrone, and where they go now as Dessie Farrell steps down.Plus there's octogenarian ecstasies, and Ken's preferred candidate for the Dublin job. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friend of the show David Sneyd sent US Soccer into a tailspin over the weekend with his exclusive report that Brentford interviewed Mauricio Pochettino for the job they ended up giving to Keith Andrews. But doesn’t Poch already have a job? In Ireland we can empathise with the American soul-searching.Meanwhile, certain senior German grandees been engaging in the favourite activity of their kind: lighting up the feuilleton space with an exchange of controversial barbs. Jurgen Klopp described the Club World Cup as the worst idea ever implemented in football, just a week after Karl-Heinz Rummenigge hailed the genius of Johnny Infantino for coming up with the idea. We look into the competing claims.Plus there's FIFA's NFTs, Sky Sports bites back, Ken's Cuban and eggs in Italy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our weekly World Service taster menu which this week includes the voice of Saipan (trailer), the Joe Duffy era coming to a close and a new door opening, Tim Vickery on Brazilian footballers' ability to sin and win, Messi's secret to longevity, and Ken on the USA V Italy cuisine wars.Plus there's Lions o'clock, climate change, ASMR, and the GAA football and hurling championships are red hot for the next few weeks.For access to all our shows from Monday to Friday go to secondcaptains.com/join – its 5 euro a month with no sign-up fee, no minimum stay, no sneaky contracts, and no ads. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

14-man Dublin's win over Limerick on Saturday has been described as the greatest upset in championship history - is that hyperbolic or on the money? Is this the end of an era or can we expect to see a less dominant but still title-contending Limerick going forward? And what are Dublin capable of against Cork in two weeks' time? Jamie Wall and former Dublin hurler Liam Rushe are with us to answer those questions and more after an extraordinary weekend. It's probably for the best that Murph's away this week, because in the other preliminary quarter-final Galway rolled over against Tipperary, offering next to nothing. Now, Tipp take on Kilkenny in the semi-finals, with Jamie's prediction that Derek Lyng's men will go all the way this year still hanging in the balance. Plus there's the Chris Crummey debate ('debate') and the Second Captains slot Louth GAA never knew they needed.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ken is back from holidays and so is Branno. Did they... go on vacation together?Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened... is what Branno's Shels-supporting friends are claiming they are thinking the day after Damien Duff walked out of the club. Today's show is mainly about perhaps the last-ever Duff-LOI Bomba - although it was a different competition that dominated much of our weekend bandwidth. Eoin brings us up to speed.David Sneyd joins Eoin, Ken and Branno to talk about Duff's exit. Why did he choose to go now? Is this an impulse decision, or one that's been coming for a while? Will the league be damaged by the loss of arguably its biggest star? And what next for Duff himself? Plus we've news of two new Stakeknife episodes, including a Q&A with Say Nothing author and New Yorker staff writer, Patrick Radden Keefe.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.