The Totally Football Show with James Richardson The Athletic

Jimbo is back with Duncan Alexander, JJ Bull and Tim Spiers just a couple of days before the big kick-off in Germany.

We begin with Scotland taking on the hosts in Munich on Friday. Can Steve Clarke’s side cause an upset? A returning Raphael Honigstein sets the mood in Munich.

Are there ominous signs for England with a group rocked by shock squad selections and a defence that might not be good enough for a major tournament?

Kristof Terreur isn’t feeling too optimistic about Belgium’s chances, even though they’re unbeaten under Domenico Tedesco.

We make the case for which teams will surprise everyone this summer, notably Ralf Rangnick’s Austria and Sylvinho’s Albania.

Plus Erik ten Hag, watered down beer and which Euro 2024 manager was the worst player?

Produced by Charlie Jones.
Theme music by JJ Bull.
 
RUNNING ORDER: 
• PART 1: Ten Hag stays at Man United (01.30)
• PART 2a: The latest from Germany with Raphael Honigstein (07.30)
• PART 2b: How far can Scotland fare? (12.30)
• PART 3a: A turbulent week for England (23.00)
• PART 4a: Kristof Terreur on Belgium (31.00)
• PART 4b: Making the case for Ukraine (36.00)
• PART 5: Who are the other dark horses? (39.00)

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Recorded on the eve of England's first ever Euro final, we look back at their darkest day in the tournament when, in the shadow of the Brexit vote, Roy Hodgson's side crashed out to Iceland at France 2016. Oh, how we laughed at the time. Elsewhere, Wales made history, Italy and Germany participated in the worst penalty shoot out of all time, and Portugal and Ronaldo had a shot at redemption. It's Euro 2016 - and the final in our delightful Euro Stories series. Only a few more sleeps now till Euro 2024, and Jimbo and co will be with every night there's a game on. Woof!

Presenter: Iain Macintosh
Producer: Abi Paterson
Executive Producer: Ben Green
With: Stefan Augustsson for Iceland, Rafa Honigstein for Germany, Lynsey Hooper for England, James Horncastle for Italy, Tom Kundert for Portugal, Julien Laurens for France, Kristof Terreur for Belgium, and Tom Williams for Wales
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This is the penultimate episode of Euro Stories series, and our timeline has taken us all the way to 2012. This tournament is again co-hosted, with Poland and Ukraine sharing the honours. Now, we wrote and recorded this show in 2021 and a lot has happened in the world since. That's why we don't mention the war or any of the hideous things that have happened in Ukraine in the past two and half years - but do talk an awful lot about two fiendishly taxing groups, Andy Carroll, and a lot of spying.

Presenter: Iain Macintosh
Producer: Abi Paterson
Executive Producer: Ben Green
With: Elko Born, Sasha Guryunov Rafael Honigstein, Lynsey Hooper, James Horncastle, Themis Kesaris, Tom Kundert, Julien Laurens, Alvaro Romeo
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It's 2008 and the world is obsessed with Barack Obama and Beyonce. Football-wise, we're more interested in events at Austria and Switzerland because it's Euro 2008 and it's great. Yes, there's no England, they failed in the rain at Wembley against Croatia. But there's Spain's tiki taka, Turkey's late late goal scoring, and one hell of a thunderstorm. Oh, and there's the French doing, well, nothing really. It's Euro 2008 and it's here.

Presenter: Iain Macintosh
Producer: Abi Paterson
Executive Producer: Ben Green
With: Elko Born, Sasha Goryunov, Rafael Honigstein, James Horncastle, Julien Laurens, Alvaro Romeo, Juraj Vrdoljak, and Yordi Yamali
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We arrive at 2004, the year of Frankee and Eamonn's musical back and forth, the Blackberry, and one of the most unexpected tournaments in Euros history. Yup, we're in Portugal where there are teams on the up, like England, and teams on the down, like Germany. And this time there's a dark horse that no one expects will actually do anything at all. Will we ever learn? This is Euro 2004 brought to you by the voices that lived and breathed it from across the continent.

Presenter: Iain Macintosh
Producer: Abi Paterson
Executive Producer: Ben Green
Guests: Elko Born, David Cermak, Rafael Honigstein, Lynsey Hooper, James Horncastle, Themis Kessaris, Tom Kundert, and Julien Laurens
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This is the fourth episode from our Euro Stories series taking you back to classic European championships from the past. It's a new millennium and we've got co-hosts: Euro 2000 is split between Belgium and the Netherlands. Crazy. Some small print before we kick off - this series was first broadcast in 2021 and recorded in the dark days of Covid so some of the audio sounds like it was recorded in a kitchen because, frankly, it was. Enjoy!
Presenter: Iain Macintosh
Producer: Abi Paterson
Executive Producer: Ben Green
Guests: Elko Born, Rafael Honigstein, Lynsey Hooper James Horncastle, Sasa Ibrulj, Tom Kundert, Julien Laurens, Alvaro Romeo, and Kristof Terreur
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