Pro Revolution Soccer

Tom takes a solo dive into one of football’s hottest topics- Manchester City, their evil owners, the 115 (or 130) charges, whether Financial Fair Play is actually fair, and his complicated feelings about Pep Guardiola.

Tom explains how capitalism organises football, and how football resists.

In possibly the greatest episode of any podcast ever, Tom and Swansea City fan Tomos James look back through a cultural studies lens at the extraordinary tale of Swansea mascot Cyril the Swan

Cyril was a god-like lunatic who fouled children, assaulted coaching staff and referees, 'pecked' opposition fans and was hauled before the Football Association of Wales in one of the most bizarre incidents in football history.

Does the Cyril phenomenon suggest that clubs have an essential character? Can such a thing survive football in advanced stage capitalism? And were the children of Swansea traumatise by the sight of a swan with a human penis?

This week, author, academic and Ipswich Town season ticket holder Jack Saunders joins us to discuss the tawdry affair of Nigel Farage’s photoshoot at Portman Road, Ipswich CEO Mark Ashton’s sorry attempts to manage the fallout, and how Ipswich fans have worked to counter emboldened far-right elements of the fanbase and assert that the club belongs to them. Reaching across the East Anglian rivalry, we asked what it means for owners to impose their politics on their clubs, the specifically English demand to “keep politics out of football” – as Farage had demanded of Black players taking the knee – and how this plays in contestation over which symbols can be allowed official approval to be displayed in stadia. We also discussed the need for collective rather than individualised responses to a provocation such as Reform UK’s trip to Portman Road, including Ipswich fans’ presence at the recent Together Alliance march in London, and why Farage chose, and was able to leech onto a club like Ipswich rather than one of the Premier League’s globally popular Big Six.

Read Jack’s post on Blue and White Notes: https://bluewhitenotes.beehiiv.com/p/speechless

No Premier League this weekend so to liven up your Sunday, here’s Tom interviewing Juliet about the conclusion of her quest to visit all 92 league grounds. Football, psychogeography, some cultural studies vibes and of course the usual bonhomie.