Scottish Football Forums Podcast SFF Podcast

The countdown is on for this years European Championship, and to get you in the mood we are going back 28 years to relive Euro '96. In the final instalment of this four-part series, fittingly John B looks at the two sides who reached the Euro ‘96 Final at Wembley - Czech Republic and Germany. To help provide an insight, John spoke to Czech sports journalist Jiri Hosek and Co-Host of Yellow Wall Pod Matthias Suuck.

It was the Czech Republic’s first campaign since the separation of Czechoslovakia in 1993 and they won a tight qualification group ahead of Netherlands and Norway to reach the Finals. Their fighting spirit saw them recover from an opening match defeat to Germany to progress ahead of Italy and Russia, before Karel Poborsky’s improvised lob saw off Portugal in the last eight then a dramatic penalty shootout win over France saw them unexpectedly reach the Final. The Germans, meanwhile, were expected to bring the trophy back to their homeland and qualified with minimum fuss, dropping just five points from their ten qualifiers, and cruised to wins over the Czech’s and Russia in Group C before holding Italy to a goalless draw. A narrow win over Croatia in the Quarter Finals was followed by a penalty shootout win over the hosts England to face the Czech’s again in the Final, where Oliver Bierhoff came off the bench to score a double, including a golden goal winner, to secure victory for Berti Vogts’s side. Jiri and Matthias give a good insight into their respective journeys and also give a combined Euro 96 & 2024 XI for each nation, which throws some interesting selections.

Footnote - John is also doing this series as a build-up to the launch of his second book, We're Going To Wembley: Scotland's Euro '96 journey by Pitch Publishing, which he has co-written with Neil Doherty. Full details on where you can pre-order the book can be found on Pitch's website or by contacting John or Neil directly.

Intro Music - Glasgow to Berlin by PG Ciarletta

Outro Music - Whatever it Takes by Scott McGill

Intro Voiceover - Rory Hamilton

Thank you to supernovaterracewear.com who are sponsoring our Fantasy Football Scotland league for the third season running. You can find them on Twitter Supernova Terracewear or Instagram @supernovaterracewear

Tweet us @sffpodcastInstagram - sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsMastodon - @sffpodcast@mastodon.scotEmail - scottishfootballforumspodcast@gmail.com

This week John, Charlie, Josh and Laurie are joined by host of Behind the Whistles podcast, James and former referees Des Roache and Steve Conroy.

There is plenty of chat about VAR, how it is used and what could be done to improve it.

We talk about former players getting involved in refereeing, the fast track process and whether referees should have the ability to talk about decisions they make on the field.

Des and Steve give us an insight in to how they managed the game when in charge of 22 players on a field and their approach to this. Plenty of interesting points that we might not consider as fans.

There are questions from listeners about how the game is officiated in Scotland with the guys being open and honest with their answers.

Thanks to the guys for coming on and be sure to check out their podcast which comes out every Sunday.

Thank you to supernovaterracewear.com who are sponsoring our Fantasy Football Scotland league for the third season running. You can find them on Twitter Supernova Terracewear or Instagram @supernovaterracewear

Tweet us @sffpodcastInstagram - sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsMastodon - @sffpodcast@mastodon.scotEmail - scottishfootballforumspodcast@gmail.com

Dave's been busy on the interview front ahead of this weekend's women's Scottish Cup semi finals at Hampden between Celtic and Rangers, and Hearts and Spartans. Although none of our guests are directly involved in the semis, each of them give their thoughts on what could happen and who might be back at Hampden for the final next month.

First up we have Clare Docherty, Head of Ayr United's woman's and girl's academy, on the club's SWPL2 aspirations and ambitions following their securing of a playoff spot in the SW Championship earlier this month.

Next we have Craig Joyce, Head Coach of the newly crowned SWPL2 champions Queen's Park, on what that achievement means and what the club might be able to achieve in SWPL1 next season.

Finally we have Robert Watson, manager of Hamilton Accies, ahead of their chance to play Dundee United at Tannadice this weekend. He also gives us his thoughts on the inspiration of Megan Quinn, who hit 200 appearances the club recently.

Thank you to supernovaterracewear.com who are sponsoring our Fantasy Football Scotland league for the third season running. You can find them on Twitter Supernova Terracewear or Instagram @supernovaterracewear

Tweet us @sffpodcastInstagram - sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsMastodon - @sffpodcast@mastodon.scotEmail - scottishfootballforumspodcast@gmail.com

John, Charlie, Erin and Laurie are joined by returning guest Graeme as we reflect on the Scottish Cup semis that took place over the weekend.

We kick off by looking at the game on Saturday where Aberdeen took Celtic all the way in an enthralling contest that could have gone either way. They key moments are discussed with there being plenty of them to digest.

Graeme gives us his view on the other semi which took place with his thoughts on team selection, missed chances and more.

Anyway, enough about these losers, John B talks to Scotland Cerebral Palsy head coach Billy McAdam after they won the World Championship by beating Northern Ireland 4-0. Congratulations again on a tremendous achievement.

Now that the top six and bottom six has been decided in the Premiership we discuss fixtures, predictions for the rest of the season and put together a best eleven from both where the criteria is maximum of two players from each club.

Thank you to supernovaterracewear.com who are sponsoring our Fantasy Football Scotland league for the third season running. You can find them on Twitter Supernova Terracewear or Instagram @supernovaterracewear

Tweet us @sffpodcastInstagram - sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsMastodon - @sffpodcast@mastodon.scotEmail - scottishfootballforumspodcast@gmail.com

The countdown is on for this years European Championship, and to get you in the mood we are going back 28 years to relive Euro '96. In the third of this four-part series, John B looks at the fortunes of Portugal and Netherlands by speaking to PortuGOAL creator Tom Kundert and Dutch football expert at Flashscore Finley Crebolder.

Having been knocking on the door for a place at Euro ‘92 and USA ‘94, Portugal strolled to qualification and with the talents of Luis Figo and Rui Costa they were considered a dark horse for the tournament. However, despite winning their group with seven points from three games, they came unstuck against Czech Republic in the Quarter Finals. Meanwhile, the Dutch endured a difficult route to England, where they needed a playoff victory against Republic of Ireland to secure their place, and then they scraped into the last eight on goal difference ahead of Scotland before a penalty shootout defeat to France ended their hopes of success. Tom and Finley give a good insight into their respective journeys and also give a combined Euro 96 & 2024 XI for each nation, which throws some interesting selections.

Footnote - John is also doing this series as a build-up to the launch of his second book, We're Going To Wembley: Scotland's Euro '96 journey by Pitch Publishing, which he has co-written with Neil Doherty. Full details on where you can pre-order the book can be found on Pitch's website or by contacting John or Neil directly.

Intro Music - Glasgow to Berlin by PG Ciarletta

Outro Music - Whatever it Takes by Scott McGill

Intro Voiceover - Rory Hamilton

Thank you to supernovaterracewear.com who are sponsoring our Fantasy Football Scotland league for the third season running. You can find them on Twitter Supernova Terracewear or Instagram @supernovaterracewear

Tweet us @sffpodcastInstagram - sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsMastodon - @sffpodcast@mastodon.scotEmail - scottishfootballforumspodcast@gmail.com

Our latest podcast focuses on the Scottish Cup semi finals due to take place this upcoming weekend.

John hosts with regulars Erin and Charlie joining him along with guests Andy, Graeme and Michael.

We kick off by getting Charlie's view on the Edinburgh derby that took place on Friday night. This leads in to our very own Chas and Dave segment which features interviews with Hearts head coach Eva Olid and goalscorer Megan Bell who is on loan at Hearts from Rangers.

Erin and Michael give their thoughts on Saturday's semi between Aberdeen and Celtic with some thoughts on selection issues plus we have our first draft of the night.

Moving on to Sunday, Andy and Graeme give their thoughts on how the game will go and there is another draft to enjoy.

Nick Montgomery's future at Hibs has come under scrutiny recently so Charlie gives his own thoughts on what might be the best way forward.

Good luck to Scotland's cerebral palsy team on Thursday in the World Championship final.

Thank you to supernovaterracewear.com who are sponsoring our Fantasy Football Scotland league for the third season running. You can find them on Twitter Supernova Terracewear or Instagram @supernovaterracewear

Tweet us @sffpodcastInstagram - sffpodcastFacebook - Scottish Football ForumsMastodon - @sffpodcast@mastodon.scotEmail - scottishfootballforumspodcast@gmail.com