Show Notes
‘The European Cup has become a historical anachronism … it is not modern thinking,’ remarked Silvio Berlusconi when Diego Maradona’s Napoli were pitted against six-time European champions Real Madrid in the very first round of the competition in 1987/88. ‘It is economic nonsense,’ he said, ‘that a club such as Milan might be eliminated in the first round.’
He wanted the security of more games and turned to a Saatchi & Saatchi executive to design a European Super League to put pressure on UEFA. The man behind the idea that led to the Champions League and the Premier League was Alex Fynn and he joins Martyn to chat about his reasoning, having his head turned by Berlusconi, the background to such a climate of change in football at the time and why the idea hasn't died.
Martyn also proposes his new format and awaits UEFA's response.
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More from Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast
In what is fast becoming one of our most enjoyable shows, Aidan Williams joins Martyn to go over how qualifying for Euro '88 took shape. England look like world beaters and the Dutch could have been watching on from home. And for those who just missed out, there are signs of what was to come in the following decade.
It wasn't exactly a goal fest but the closing stages of the 1992 European Championships still held enough dramatic narrative to be worthy of a retrospective. Besides Denmark's fairy tale in the neighbour's back yard it is more the time that tells the story. Possibly the last tournament before the power of globalisation changed that summer experience, mixed perceptions for the two home nations if the same result and some big hitters in transition.
We've all read tales from match-going fans where the sights and smells of the ground leap off the page from famous nights. But what about those crucial games where fans cannot make it. Ticketless, on the other side of the world, working or just too far away. These stories make for an engaging format as Gary Sherrard details 12 Newcastle United games in his adult life that he had to keep on top of from afar.
It is new book season out there so the ND Book Club returns for a few weeks to highlight some new footballing tomes that are now hitting the shelves.
Sir Tom Finney described the 5-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest "one of the finest exhibitions of football" he had ever seen in his life and one that "will never be bettered".