‘It Started With a Kick’ -Episode 101

It Started With a Kick Episode 101 : special edition

Welcome to the last two parts of this special episode of ‘It Started With a Kick’, featuring some of the best clips from a vast array of guests since the launch in April 2024. As we finish this podcast’s version of Match of the Day we’ll be back to normal routine next week.

We kick off with Peter Drury who, as the son of a vicar, was otherwise disposed every weekend and did not get the opportunity to go to a live game until he went to university in Hull. He made up for lost time by getting into Boothferry Park when the gates opened so he could watch his first hero, The Tigers’ keeper Tony Norman up close.

Next is TNT Sports’ Danny Jamiesonwho talks about his first encounter with Jose Mourinho in Istanbul after Fenerbache’s match with Manchester United a few years ago. Having been sent off during the match, Mourinho was in typically pugnacious form. 

Just after he retired from BBC5Live’s Pat Murphyjoined me on the pod and recalled dealing with another manager of some stature, Brian Clough and how he once left Pat waiting for 6 hours but how it was worth it. Finally, Lynsey Hooper reveals the most awkward interview  of her career with Dean Saunders after her team Wolves lost at Charlton and the likelihood of their second successive relegation loomed large. But Lynsey did have another encounter with Saunders at Euros 2016, which was a much happier and more relaxed one.   

Part 2 begins with writer Harry Pearson,a Middlesbrough fan whose father was a slightly reluctant visitor to Ayresome Park and who had picked up the phrase “That’ll be Slaven” from work colleagues but was completely unaware what it meant. Graham Lambert the guitarist for The Inspiral Carpets, recalls the great escape of Oldham Athletic in 1992/93 season. Needing to win their last three matches they beat Villa away, and then Liverpool and Southampton at Boundary Park which meant relegation for Palace…

Author and Guardian writer Donald McRae started following Arsenal from his native South Africa and after arriving in England he witnessed first hand the transformation of the club under the then unknown Arsene Wenger and how Dennis Bergkamp led the way. From the other side of North London, Theo Delaney has fond memories of his first trip to Wembley to see Tottenham beat Man City in 1981 FA Cup Final replay which he described as “the greatest night of my life”. Finally, broadcaster Ali Bender talks of how incredibly lucky she was to get her first job at Real Madrid, no less. Although it did come with one of most embarrassing moments of her career when she had to interview Jonathan Woodgate after his calamitous debut at the Bernabeu. 

So that’s it and looking forward to another century of episodes of ‘It Started With a Kick’.

Part 3 – https://bit.ly/3Pf0swH

Part 4 – https://bit.ly/4uB4hfO