Our last draft of the year goes back to 1984-85, the season when the greatest team in Everton’s history romped to glory. Martyn, Gary and Mac Millings select their XIs from Division One that season. As you can imagine, Gary is like a pig in Cha

The Nessun Dorma Draft: England in the 1990s

Nov 20th, 2023 1h 43m

Martyn and Rob are joined by Rob Fletcher (aka 90s Football Writer) to pick their England XIs from a storied decade. As well as reaching the semi-finals of Italia 90 and Euro 96, England were involved in a true World Cup classic at France 98 an

The Nessun Dorma Draft: Cricket World Cup 1992

Nov 13th, 2023 1h 35m

With the 2023 World Cup entering its final week, Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by Jonathan Hungin and Andrew Miller for another cricket draft - this time the fondly remembered 1992 edition in Australia and New Zealand.It was the first World C

The Nessun Dorma Draft: Cricket World Cup 1999

Nov 6th, 2023 1h 16m

Nessun Dorma ventures into new territory this week, with Martyn and Rob joined by two special guests for our first ever cricket episode. Jonathan Hungin and Andrew Miller, who worked with Rob at Wisden.com at the turn of the century, join us to

The Nessun Dorma Draft: Champions League 1999-2000

Oct 30th, 2023 1h 38m

Martyn and Rob are joined by Rob Fletcher, author of 1992: The Birth of Modern Football, and Ally Bain of Retro Football Analysis to pick their teams from a classic European season. Marquee picks include Raul, Oliver Kahn, Gaizka Mendieta, Fern

The Nessun Dorma Draft: Premier League 1992-93

Oct 23rd, 2023 1h 13m

Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by Rob Fletcher, author of the superb 1992: The Birth of Modern Football, to draft their teams from the inaugural Premier League season. Marquee picks include Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer, Paul Ince, Paul McGrath,

The Nessun Dorma Draft: France 98

Oct 16th, 2023 1h 36m

It’s a big one this week: France 98, a tournament full of great games and all-time-great players. Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg - who worked with Glenn Hoddle on his autobiography, Playmaker - to draft their

The Nessun Dorma Draft: England in the 1980s

Oct 9th, 2023 1h 11m

This week’s draft is a challenge: picking an XI from England internationals of the 1980s. Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by… nobody, and that’s probably a good thing because it's hard enough finding 33 players, never mind 44.A reminder of the

The Nessun Dorma Draft: Euro 96

Oct 2nd, 2023 1h 35m

We’re going draft daft over the next few weeks, with a mini-series devoted to arguing over the best XIs from various tournaments, seasons and eras.We start with English football’s summer of love, also known as Euro 96. Martyn and Rob are joined

S5 Ep9: Souness's Rangers revolution

Aug 21st, 2023 1h 56m

Gary and Rob talk to Martyn about his book Revolution: Rangers 1986-92, and how Graeme Souness changed Scottish football when he became player-manager at Ibrox. It was a perfect storm, and for a short time Rangers had a pulling power that not e

S5 Ep8: Nessun Dorma Book Club

Aug 14th, 2023 1h 6m

Welcome to the Nessun Dorma Book Club, a kind of sporting Late Review but without Tony Parsons.The premise this week is simple: Mike, Gary and Martyn bring a football book that made an impact on their lives and explain why.From the definitive a

S5 Ep7: The Nessun Dorma Draft: Italia 90

Aug 7th, 2023 1h 27m

Welcome to the inaugural Nessun Dorma Draft, in which we each pick an XI from a particular tournament, season or era. Given the name of our podcast, we had to start with a trip back to Italia 90.Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by Mac Millings t

S5 Ep6: Euro 88 (final)

Jul 31st, 2023 1h 10m

In the last episode of our Euro 88 special, Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by Jonathan O’Brien to discuss the final in Munich and the tournament as a whole.They look at whether the suspended Oleg Kuznetsov would have changed the game, why we r

S5 Ep5: Euro 88 special (semi-finals)

Jul 24th, 2023 1h 32m

Both Euro 88 semi-finals were intriguing culture clashes. The first match, in Hamburg, was loaded with historical significance. West Germany v Netherlands evoked the 1974 World Cup final and even the second world war. A good (if slightly overra

S5 Ep4: Euro 88 special (matchday 3)

Jul 17th, 2023 1h 43m

By the final round of group games, Euro 88 was effectively a six-team tournament. Denmark and England were already eliminated and barely had any pride left to play for.Group A was concluded with simultaneous games on Friday night, just a week –

S5 Ep3: Euro 88 special (matchday 2)

Jul 10th, 2023 1h 31m

Euro 88 was only four days old when the second of group games began, but our old friend jeopardy was already running amok. After a nervous start, the hosts West Germany took on an ailing Denmark in Gelsenkirchen. A few hours later, also in Grou

S5 Ep2: Euro 88 special (matchday 1)

Jul 6th, 2023 1h 34m

Our look back at Euro 88 continues with the first round of group games. On Friday 10 June 1988, the tournament kicked off with a tense match between West Germany, the hosts and favourites, and a vibrant young Italian side.The other Group A game

S5 Ep1: Euro 88 special (tournament preview)

Jun 26th, 2023 1h 34m

A new series of Nessun Dorma starts with the first part of our deep dive into Euro 88, the last major tournament in Europe before the big bang of Italia 90. Martyn Ramsay, Gary Naylor and Rob Smyth set the scene for a much anticipated tournamen

World Cup special: West Germany vs France, 1982

Nov 18th, 2022 3h 13m

Nessun Dorma returns from hibernation for a one-off special ahead of the World Cup, and a deep dive into one of the greatest matches in its storied history: the Espana 82 semi-final between West Germany and Germany. This is a public episode. If

World Cup Special: France vs West Germany, 1982

Nov 18th, 2022 3h 14m

You can call it a comeback; we haven’t been here for years. Nessun Dorma returns from hibernation for a one-off special ahead of the World Cup, and a deep dive into one of the greatest matches in its storied history: the Espana 82 semi-final be

A selection from 101 Great Goals

Sep 14th, 2022 1h 32m

Lee, Mike and Gary pick a couple of goals each from the legendary BBC VHS This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nessundorma.substack.com

Mexico 86 Top 20 Goals, Nos 5-1

Aug 15th, 2022 1h 18m

We finish off our countdown of the Top 20 goals of Mexico86. You won't believe which one wins....Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonus

Review of "Football: Designing the Beautiful Game" - at the Design Museum until 29 August

Aug 13th, 2022 24m 31s

Gary Naylor is amazed and moved by an exhibition that tracks how football has been defined by the objects within it, and how a discourse developed globally to facilitate football's communication with itself and with its audience. Learn more ab

Bonus

Mexico 86 Top 20 Goals, Nos 10-6

Jun 6th, 2022 59m 57s

Our farewell tour countdown of Mexico 86 goals continuesLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mexico 86 Top 20 Goals, Nos 15-11

Mar 24th, 2022 1h 18m

Lee, Mike and Gary are here to chat through the next five goals in the Mexico 86 Top 20 rundown.This episode is part of our farewell tour and was originally content for patrons of the pod, hence some of the confusing references to such things