The Second Captains Podcast

Ciara Mageean was a phenomenally talented and successful athlete and a very special human being who had a positive impact on anyone lucky enough to have met her, watched her or heard her speak.

After her cancer diagnosis in July 2025 Ciara continued to live a full life and recently got married to her long-term partner Thomas Moran.

Michael Darragh MacAuley was at that wedding, having made friends with Ciara on the RTE TV show "Uncharted", aired in May of this year, which documented their gruelling 250km trek across Costa Rica.

Michael Darragh joins us in studio today for an emotional conversation about Ciara’s kindness, her toughness, her wisdom and the bond they formed in the last year of her life.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are we ready for an Arsenal v Brighton title race? Because after this weekend it looks like that’s what we’re gonna get.

Murph and Ken talk through some of the events at the Etihad and Anfield before Rory Smith and Rich Jolly join us to reflect on the meaning of it all.

Are Arsenal in a league of their own? Why can’t supposedly ultra-attacking Liverpool make any chances? What might it take for Michael Carrick to actually lose his temper? And is there a link between the struggles of Florian Wirtz and the long-term failure of Manchester United during the Bruno Fernandes era?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carrick staggers on at United, Bruno is back in, Arsenal get beaten by Fleetwood, an "Englishman" wins the Ballon d'Or... and there was penalty shootout madness all week in the Caraboa. Football, bloody hell.

We've had a great week covering all this lunacy, plus we had a chat with James McClean about everything from mental health to drugs in football, Ken caught up with Jon Mackenzie about Jon's new book The Spectre of Pep: How Guardiola Haunts Modern Football Tactics.

Next week we have another idea from the brains that brought you gooning, Hector Bellerin, Panenka and Fiesta Friday. We also have Champions League coverage and Ireland's November internationals start with a game against Argentina on Friday week.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Monday morning, Bruno Fernandes seems to see himself as a sad giant made of rocks deciding he's fed up with protecting an ungrateful city from being crushed by an even bigger rock.

Of course, the name Carrick comes from the Irish word for "rock", so make of that what you will.

Eoin and Ken talk about Mourinho beating Barcelona with the old formula and a new Hemingway beard, how the qualities Barcelona have decided are not so important are shining in other settings, and many other things besides - in todays' bank holiday football show.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Man United took a beating on the shores of Lago di Como yesterday evening so Ken Early in turn took a step back, zoomed out and asked, just what exactly has Sir Jim Ratcliffe done to this fine club?

Plus things seem to be going in the opposite direction for Liverpool under Andoni Iraola according to Alexis Mac Callister, and we fret about the free directions to Australia the AFL are handing out to our best GAA players.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.