Football Ruined My Life Podcast By Colin Shindler Jon Holmes Paul Kobrak (and the late Patrick Barclay) cover art

Football Ruined My Life

Football Ruined My Life

By: Colin Shindler Jon Holmes Paul Kobrak (and the late Patrick Barclay)
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When Football Ruined My Life started back at the beginning of 2023 it was the new podcast about old football. In it, distinguished football journalist Patrick Barclay joined with Colin Shindler, author of the best selling Manchester United Ruined My Life, and the Super Agent Jon Holmes (think Gary Lineker, Peter Shilton, Tony Woodcock etc.) to talk about football as it used to be in the days before the invention of the Premier League. For over 80 weekly episodes, the podcast viewed those days fondly - though not uncritically - in comparison to today's game, which it views critically though not unfondly. And it welcomed everyone who wants to remember Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Charlton, Brian Clough and Bill Shankly and the days when you went to a Football League ground to watch your football and didn't wait for it to arrive on television. After the tragic and untimely death of Paddy Barclay in February 2025, Football Ruined My Life took a break to consider how (and if) to carry on. In May 2025 it has returned, with a panel of stars to make irregular appearances to join the regulars, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler. These now include writer and producer Andy Hamilton, television executive Jimmy Mulville, the sports journalist and columnist for the Daily Telegraph Jim White and stand-up comedian Omid Djalili. But the feel and raison d'être of Football Ruined My Life remains the same. Still nostalgic? Yes. Still well informed? Certainly. But above all, it continues to glory in the football of our youth when the game seemed charmingly innocent, full of skillful, good hearted, kindly men like Norman Hunter, Ron Harris and Peter Storey. Join us every week for a romp through the 1960s, 70s, 80s and beyond that will warm you like a cup of scalding hot Bovril. Produced by Paul Kobrak. Contact the team at footballruinedmylife@gmail.comColin Shindler, Jon Holmes, Paul Kobrak Football Soccer
Episodes
  • 134. Underrated Players

    134. Underrated Players
    Mar 27 2026
    This week Omid Djalili, Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler discuss the sort of player who should have played for their country but never did, players who lacked the ebullience to stand out from their more aggressive and extrovert team mates and players - wherever they operated in the football pyramid. Players who were the unshowy but reliable… who got the ball, made ground and passed accurately to a colleague in space. On a fictional level the list would start with Blackie Gray who did all the donkey work for Melchester Rovers and provided what we now call the assist for Roy Race, who scored all the goals and was credited with the fancy title of Roy of the Rovers. Today’s edition is all about the Blackie Grays of this world. To be fair to Gary Lineker he always credited Peter Beardsley as the creator of many of his goals for England. Listen to discover who else is regarded as underrated in this way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    43 mins
  • 133. Did Young British Players Come Into The First Team Faster Than They Do Now?

    133. Did Young British Players Come Into The First Team Faster Than They Do Now?
    Mar 20 2026
    This week Colin Shindler, Andy Hamilton and Jon Holmes gather to discuss whether there are more 17 and 18 year old players coming into the game than there used to be in the postwar years. Has the abandonment of the A and B sides and more significantly the reserve leagues – like the Central League and the Football Combination – changed things for the better? Can young players learn much by sitting on the bench watching the first eleven play or would they learn more by playing games in a reserve team? How effective are the academies in speeding talented youngsters into the first team? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    48 mins
  • 132. Have Newspaper Football Journalists Lost Their Influence?

    132. Have Newspaper Football Journalists Lost Their Influence?
    Mar 13 2026
    It’s the view of Football Ruined My Life that many football supporters used to buy broadsheet newspapers specifically to read Geoffrey Green or Brian Glanville or David Lacey or Hugh McIlvanney – four hugely respected titans of the art of writing about football matches for the next day’s paper. In this edition, Jim White of the Daily Telegraph joins Jon Holmes and Colin Shindler to explain why his own career has coincided with the long slow decline of the influence of the football journalists. There was a time in the glory days when television knocked on the door politely and managers were much more afraid of Glanville and McIlvanney or even the local paper’s reporter than of the stilted television interview on those rare occasions when the match was actually covered by television. With the change in reading habits has it actually changed the nature of the job of a football reporter? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    44 mins
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