Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Mexico '86 - Part 3: 31st May and 1st June 1986 Feb 06, 2026

Show notes

It is time to start your Mexican waves!

Jonathan O'Brien is here to discuss the opening game, how the World Champions were placed, who the European Champions had turned to up front, a handball goal that was actually chalked off and Spain and Brazil remind us why we should be careful what we wish for when trying to the rid the game of technology.

Italy v Bulgaria - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0eTCWLGTfo

Canada v France - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIUVkVickbQ

Spain v Brazil - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r10ID8dNo7k

If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month (less than 75p a week!).

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Mexico '86 - Episode 2: The Preview Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

We are nearly there! Martyn is joined again by the author Aidan Williams to round up the rest of the qualifiers - from Argentina to Iraq - and to take a look at the contemporaneous previews on the eve of the tournament. There were big concerns about the impact of the midday sun on the quality of football, most agreed that there was no outstanding favourite and Diego Maradona had far from convinced everyone that he was about to take the world by storm.

If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month (less than 75p a week!).

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Mexico '86 - Episode 1: The European Qualifiers Jan 23, 2026

Show notes

Martyn, Rob and Aidan Williams get our biggest deep-dive yet underway with a look at the European contingent and how they navigated their way to Mexico. We have that drama in Cardiff, the late arrival of Lineker, Northern Ireland doing it the hard way, one major sliding doors moment and so much more.

If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month.

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Nessun Dorma Archive - 17 August 1996 Jan 16, 2026

Show notes

The last of the archive re-runs is a good old deep dive into the opening fixtures of the 1996-97 season first released in September 2018. Lee, Mike and Gary consider Beckham's introduction to the wider world, Richie Humphreys' thunderbolt and decline, Super Kevin Campbell and the general pizzazz and razzamattaz that was the Premier League in the post Euro 96 miasma of self assurance.

Nessun Dorma returns next week as we commence the road to Mexico '86!

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Nessun Dorma Archive - 17 November 1993 Jan 09, 2026

Show notes

We go back into the archives for a few weeks before our big Mexico '86 series begins on 21 January. In this excellent show from November 2018, Lee, Rob and Mike chat all about November 17 1993, the last great night of international tournament qualification; an evening that ended careers, made reputations, left a legacy a certain Welsh fullback could do without and caused David Ginola to have his parentage questioned.

The exclusive Patreon show This Week will return on Monday 12 Jan.

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A Festive Q&A Jan 01, 2026

Show notes

Martyn and Gary are mostly full of glad tidings as they try and tackle the brilliant Patreon questions. Winter signings, best festive fixtures, the mythology of the Christmas Day truce are mixed with the greatest games of all time, biggest missed opportunities, Scottish football's best time and, a little less jolly, what players we hate.

Have an excellent 2026 everyone!

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Season 1985/86 Episode Nine - Stein, Scottish Managers and the Microphone Dec 19, 2025

Show notes

The 10 September 1985 was a night where tension never dropped within Ninian Park, Cardiff. On the pitch was a controversial World Cup qualifier between Scotland and Wales. Off it, a heart attack that ended the life of one of Britain's greatest managers. The legendary broadcaster Archie Macpherson wraps up our season by recounting his experience of that night, the impact of Scottish managers on British football and what made them disproportionately successful and some reflection on his own career and how the business of commentary and broadcasting has changed.

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Season 1985/86 Episode 8 - Blackout Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

One theme that has been consistent throughout this season was the television blackout that dominated the first half of it. Martyn sits down with the author and academic Roger Domeneghetti to get into the detail of why it happened, how it ended and football's fascinating relationship with the medium before and after.

Roger's excellent work Everybody Wants To Rule The World: Britain, Sport and the 1980s can be found here and is heartily recommended. https://amzn.eu/d/bJkufCR

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Season 1985/86 Episode 7 - European Roundup Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

Michael Hamlen from the brilliant 80s&90s Football account returns to look at the rise of Eastern Europe in intercontinental competition. Steaua Bucharest's win in the European Cup and Dynamo Kiev's success over Atletico Madrid in the Cup Winners' Cup are the highlights and some love for Lobanovskyi and his place in the pantheon of the great managers in history. There is also some Italian chicanery and Real Madrid's love of a comeback in retaining the UEFA Cup. Are this Real side one that we constantly overlook?

If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠ where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month.

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Season 1985/86 Episode 6 - Two Tribes Nov 28, 2025

Show notes

For all the surprises in English football in the mid-eighties, the real power still remained on Merseyside. 1985/86 saw both Liverpool and Everton locked in a battle for an historic Double right up until the final games of the season. With Everton the newly crowned champions and now with the best English striker of his generation and Liverpool still reeling from Heysel and the introduction of a club legend into an old-fashioned role, it was a season of momentum swings and sporting drama. In the background was a city under political siege and the final showpiece may have just saved football in the country for good.

Gary Naylor is in the blue corner, Tony Evans in the red and Martyn tries to get a word in now and again as a famous season story is revisited.

If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month.

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