The Football Culture Podcast

Host James Bolam welcomes back author Rob Potts to talk about his new book A stadium odyssey : Passion, politics and the beautiful game which is out on Bluemoose Books in June 2026.

Host James Bolam is joined once again by Miguel Lorenço Pereira to discuss his excellent new book - The Greatest : Real Madrid's never ending story. We discuss the history of the worlds most succesful football club, its role in both Spanish and European football, its eternal rivalry with FC Barcelona and much much more.

With Coventry City on the verge of promotion back to the Premier League after an absence of 25 years, host James Bolam speaks to Coventry fan Sean Arnett. We discuss the club, the city of Coventry and its culture, rivaries, the FA Cup win, long unbroken spell in the top flight and subsequent meltdown and of course The Specials.

Host James Bolam speaks to photographer and content creator Jorge Barna aka jorgebarnapix about the art of football photography. We discuss what makes great football photography, the process involved and inspiration and what inspires Jorge and his content. You can see Jorge's work here - https://www.instagram.com/jorgebarnapix?igsh=MXg1N25qaHp4bTc0Ng==

Whats available right now in the pods back catalog.

In the latest episode host James Bolam speaks to Feyenoord fan Johan about football in the dutch city of Rotterdam, focusing on its biggest club and one of The Netherlands big three.

Host James Bolam speaks to Leicester City fans Pete Sanders and Phil Bolton about Leicester City, the surprise Premier League winners of 2016. In the episode we discuss the city of Leicester and its culture, the history of the club including the Premier League winning season, FA Cup disappointment and success, Filbert Street and the previous golden era under Martin O'Neill.

Host James Bolam welcomes back AC Milan fan Federico to discuss the unprecedented step being taken by Serie A - A match being played outside of Italy and in Australia. We discuss the motives behind the move, how this has gone down in Italy and Milan and what fans can do to stop it, if anything.

Host James Bolam is joined by Will Dalton to discuss his excellent new book Oh, San Lorenzo : A journey through Argentine football culture. In this episode we discuss the story of one of Argentinas 'Los Cinco Grandes' and one of the worlds most unique clubs - San Lorenzo de Almalgro. San Lorenzo has a special fan culture that has given birth to some of the worlds best loved and most well known terrace songs. The club has a fasinating story from the devotion of Pope Francis to the loss of its beloved stadium at the hands of Argentinas military dictatorship. We also discuss Argentine culture, politics and economic crisis and the impact this has had on Argentine society and football.

Host James Bolam speaks to Rob Potts aka The Global Groundhopper about his experiences watching football in Europe. We discuss the joys of groundhopping, football travel experiences, differences between fan culture in diffrrent counties and some of Rob's stories from his trips.

Host James Bolam is joined by James Gamlin the founder and editor of Escapisimo magazine. The latest issue of Escapisimo focuses on Spanish football where James travelled to Seville to watch Real Betis play. We discuss the origins of the magazine, the city of Seville itself and what makes Real Betis one of the most unique clubs not just in Spain but perhaps the world.

Host James Bolam is joined by Miguel Lorenço Pereira to discuss his superb new book Pasión: A journey to the soul of Spanish football. We discuss the football culture in Spain, how it is consumed, how the game has evolved and the cultural differences and in this vast and fascinating countries regions.

In part 2 of The Glazer Family at Manchester United host James Bolam is joined by George Baker who is a founder member, former board member and one of the communications team at FC United. We discuss how Manchester United fans broke away to form the club in the wake of the Glazer Family takeover, why the club was formed, Manchesters rebellious spirit, how fan ownership works, challenges of fan ownership and how the club has been recieved by other non-league fans. We also discuss the ongoing protests against the Glazer Family.

Host James Bolam is joined by Steve Crompton of the 1958 group to discuss the Glazer families ownership of Manchester United. We discuss the Glazers tenure, the debt, the mismanagement of the club, FC United, Sir Jim Radcliffe and what the group and fans can do to get the Glazer Family out of one of the world's biggest clubs.

In this latest episode host James Bolam and guest Juan Pablo discuss football in Colombia. It's a country with an interesting football culture from flamboyant players to civil war and narcos.

For this very special third episode we look at Football in Milan. Milan contains not only one but two of Italian and World footballs biggest clubs with 39 Serie A and 10 Champions League titles between them. Host James Bolam is joined by former AC Milan fan Federico and Inter fan Jacobo to discuss these two huge clubs, Italian football, Ultras culture and the city of Milan itself.

For our second episode we are staying on the Iberian Peninsula and looking at Football in Spains third largest city which is of course Valencia. Host James Bolam is joined by Jimmy Mulvihill and Stuart Atkinson to discuss the city and the two clubs Valencia CF and Levante UD.

Seville is home to two of Spains biggest clubs and it's most passionate derby. Sevilla FC and Real Betis Balompíe contest 'El Gran Derbi'. Host James Bolam is joined by guests Mark Ambler and Paul Pearson to discuss the rivalry, the city, its people and its culture.