On the anniversary of his Real Madrid debut we talk in depth with Chris Ronaldo's best friend over the last thirteen years. Yes, ex Rovers defender Pajo Flynn, whose relationship with Ronaldo has blossomed since their first meeting on that Tallaght pitch over a decade ago bares his soul in a no holds barred interview that details his part in Ronaldo's rise, that famous Coca Cola bottle controversy, defending Del Piero free kicks, the similarity of arses in League of Ireland, coaching the under 1...
Jul 20, 2022•1 hr 14 min
European football is a Ciaran Kilduff time of year and he dropped into studio to reflect on magic memories with Johnny and Dan and talk about his plans to make some new ones in management. His old team-mate and rival Colin Healy is living that life right now and he dialled in from Cork ahead of Friday's big game in Turner's Cross to talk about the transition to the dugout and dismiss mind games from our in-house Galwegian. We also hear about Ciaran's brief but memorable spider heavy stint on Lee...
Jul 14, 2022•1 hr 35 min
As the giddy July evenings of European football take hold, Paddy Kavanagh joins us to speak of his vision for beauty, love and truth or maybe it was just Bohs. Either way, we went on an entertaining journey through his career, from character building Leinster Senior League days to the Belgrade bomb squad and a thriller in Turkey before he found his happy place scoring in front of the Dalymount Park chip van. Culinary issues dominate the mailbag as we find the one subject that prompts a 'no comme...
Jul 06, 2022•1 hr 32 min
Is it just us or is the whole world looking for the next South Dublin coffee house? Well you won't find it here. We've got cheesy chips, curry chips, and Stephen Bradley, who wasn't bad at chips in his day. As Bradley's team gets ready for the ex British colony of Malta and their high temperatures, we narrowly avoid an international incident of the Kay Burley variety, when talking with Gianluca Lia of the Maltese sporting press. He tells us about the weird impact Irish refereeing is having on th...
Jun 29, 2022•1 hr 8 min
This week's special guest is Trevor Croly. Over a decade and a half in coaching, he talks about his time as manager of Shamrock Rovers, what he learned, the Bohs bus-inspired jersey, their up-and-down season and a lot more besides. We also hear from John Caulfield ahead of Alex Murphy's move to Newcastle, much to Johnny's sadness. And Dan is off to Berlin – after an admission that the lads had a something-other-than-ten out of ten performance last week. All this and much more with thanks to Futu...
Jun 22, 2022•1 hr 34 min
It's another remote-arama podcast with Johnny going nineteenth century on the Blaskets and Dan just back from his eastern European International duty. We have Stephen O'Donnell checking in along with Greg Bolger as we anticipate the big European nights for the LOI clubs in the coming weeks. It's all in all not quite as good as a Nathan Collins wonder goal but not quite as bad as a George Best hangover. Yes, it's somewhere in the middle but it's available now! Thanks to Future Ticketing, Porterho...
Jun 16, 2022•58 min
It's another roadshow of sorts this week with Johnny in Kinsale and Dan back from Yerevan and we return from our non Galway-Cork related mid-season break to speak about the planned LOI expansion into Kerry with Billy Dennehy speaking with Johnny about what's going on down in the Kingdom and where it might go. The lads discuss the potential, wonder how long it is before US tourists in Killarney are LOI groundhopping and ponder the irony of Saudi Arabia finally doing something for Galway. Derry sl...
Jun 07, 2022•56 min
On Bob Dylan's 81st birthday we have a show with absolutely no reference to the poet laureate of Rock 'n Roll but do have the poet laureate of LOI, Brian Kerr, giving his views on the Liam Buckley dismissal. Whilst Dan dials in from Europe, Johnny finally get's a Long(ish) chat with Keith before a discussion on the SARI promotion of it's work and a chat with Europe bound, teenage sensation James Abankwah. As usual the mailbag is stuffed and the Porterhouse brews are flying out the door. And yes,...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Johnny's fantasy of being in a forensic cop show came a step closer to being realised as the Operation Brookweed news broke just before going into studio. Dan and Johnny discuss the match fixing story as well as religious bookstores and relics before welcoming noted author, actor, topless model and entrepreneur Brian Gartland in to discuss his new book and his story so far. There's Ray Charles, Hotel Shenanigans in both Portugal and Abbey Street, that rivalry with Cork, Love Hate and away games ...
May 18, 2022•1 hr 30 min
This week we welcome first-time caller, long-time listener, Padraig Amond, who made the trip from Carlow to Exeter and he tells us about life in league one with The Grecians, getting papped at a Florida airport and how he might not be playing at Galway United next season. Johnny talks to Stephen Bradley about quadruple substitutions in an effort to manoeuvre around a large bleached mastodon that may have been in the room at the time before chatting to Liam Buckley about how good or otherwise the...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 29 min
There's only one talking point to discuss this week. It's the big news that stopped us in our tracks. Did Johnny really go for a curry with Alan Patchell instead of a day at the races with Dan? Oh, there's also the whole Stephen Bradley to Lincoln thing, which the lads discuss in depth at the top of the show. We get the thoughts of Rotherham hero and exam student Georgie Kelly, the footballer who doesn't want to be known as a footballer and a friend of many pods but the only player to give an on...
May 04, 2022•1 hr 22 min
We've got a doozy of a show for you this week as we welcome back Mark Rossiter to the show and this time he brings Drogheda's best bearded northsider with him. Yes, in a wide ranging chat, Gary Deegan helps Johnny exorcise the ghosts of cup finals missed, reflects on how a brush with death changed his perspective on life and opens up on the fake and fickle nature of the ruthless football industry over the water. He also explains why nutsacks don't mix well with carpenters' tools and the practica...
Apr 26, 2022•1 hr 42 min
The gloves are off this week and Nancy Reagan's continuing war on drugs means that Bradley, Higgins, and O'Donnell are retained for their thoughts on what happened over the weekend. As we stumble into the middle age of this season's pod and lose touch with the kids Dan speaks to English born, Drogheda based, Scottish U-21 international Sam Long & Johnny catches up with Kildare raised, Oxford based and likely future Ireland international Luke McNally. And if that's not confusing enough we als...
Apr 20, 2022•1 hr 24 min
Just before Jesus rising time we've got a Shelbourne Special for you. It's a biblical tale of hateful revenge turning into brotherly love for Mark Coyle and Aodh Dervin - two new disciples of Damien Duff's gospel at Tolka. They talk about getting the call from the Messiah and what it means to go full time as well as spreading the good news via on field chats. There's loaves and chicken, excited mothers, mysterious text messages, a postman, scientist, the big bag of Mail, the voice of God and mon...
Apr 13, 2022•1 hr 14 min
In this week's carbon neutral pod we travel forward in time to chat to Tom Grivosti of St. Pats and virtually welcome Derry and Ireland Under 21 Assistant Manager Alan Reynolds back to the pod to talk about handshakes, housewreckers, headcases and a small bit of football. There's the continuing saga of the mystery voice, the new Johnny Ward voice of advertising, the increasingly popular mailbag, the usual legal wranglings of O'Donnell, Clancy and Higgins, and a milk run gone wrong. All of this o...
Apr 06, 2022•1 hr 13 min
What's the difference between X-Factor and X-Rated? It's not quite a PC discussion but we do have a PC to join us this week with Paul Corry dropping in along with Pat Fenlon to discuss the relationship they could have enjoyed, Troy Parrott's development, the coaching of Irish midfielders and much more besides. Johnny's favourite young managers get a mention but there's credit for some old dogs too. Don't do a Corry on it and leave before the end.
Mar 31, 2022•1 hr 31 min
Sun's out and Johnny's out, well out from the cloud of CoVid and back in studio for episode 6. Guitar hero, winged wonder and ex PFAI executive Ollie Cahill, joins us for a chat about Dan's dubious predictions, Away days in Kyiv, "The Gaza Strip" in Abbotstown, Paul Doolin, the other 'Ollie' at Shels and a whole heap of miscellany too random to work into this piece. All of this plus a roundup of the weekend games, Dan's twittering, the ever popular mailbag and the Porterhouse mystery voice. All ...
Mar 23, 2022•1 hr 8 min
This weeks show is brought to you by the letter 'C'. C is for Cheltenham, CoVid, Clattering, Custodians and Chunes. With Johnny isolating, Dan grabs words with Stephen O’Donnell and the Irish sounding German Leon Pohls after Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers before the separated duo joust over mystery voices, echo chambers, double week of fixtures,and season passes. Topically there's a Ukraine Charity Match with excellent Guinness on the northside. You get all this without the usual all American Patty's...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 9 min
A downright giddy pod has Johnny shoulder dancing with GAA players, those Kiwi gypsies who apparently rejuvenated a championship winning team, and should you get a player sent off? If that wasn't enough we have a very special guest as Ireland Under 21 manager Jim Crawford drops by for a lengthy chat. As well as the upcoming Sweden game and the lowdown on the current class of '22, there's tackling a cheeky little Bordeaux, the granny rule, eligibility drama, marking the pitch in Harolds Cross and...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 40 min
It's episode 3 and Mark Scanlon, the League of Ireland Director, drops by the pod for an extended chat about the big issues. There's third tiers, women's leagues, season tickets, LOI TV, Stadia, rankings and everything in between. As well as all that we have your mailbag questions answered , a sprinkling of Damien Duff, and our new and improving Mystery Voice competition where you can win beer if you're not off it for Lent, and if you want to drink it in a nice suit, our friends from Collar &...
Mar 02, 2022•2 hr 1 min
On the day the national underage league launches, we have a fascinating talk with two people employed full time to run an academy in Ireland. Cork City's Liam Kearney and Shamrock Rovers' Shane Robinson drop by the studio to look at how the underage game has developed and hopes to develop in light of Brexit and the new European football landscape. Also on this weeks captivating episode Dan delves further into the Cork City story and Johnny offers a spellbinding insight into the Russian situation...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 31 min
It's a brand new season but with some old favourites. Johnny's ankle is fixed after his cup final cliffhanger and his first two legged assignment is to welcome Damien Duff to his world of young management. Johnny McDonnell drops in on his way back from Karachi to explain the St Patrick's Athletic/Pakistan/Michael Owen alliance which raised more eyebrows than Johnny's winter move to the FAI. Dan isn't sure if he really, really wants our new mystery competition and we catch up with Derry's Ronan B...
Feb 16, 2022•1 hr 30 min
For our 2021 swan song we have cup winning captain Ian Bermingham in studio to talk new season, new contract, new manager and new baby! We also have some of his old manager's press conference as Johnny poses a few questions to Stevie O'Donnell. Georgie Kelly zooms in and explains why he had to strike while the iron was hot. Johnny and Dan discuss the big news stories over the last week and Aisling Fennin from Future Ticketing looks ahead to what Johnny is so very very very excited about. Ask any...
Dec 16, 2021•1 hr 26 min
Unlike a book of Charlie Haughey's broken promises we do return for a penultimate show with Johnny the one legged wisecrackin' reluctant beer drinking sidelined journalist and Dan, the Woodstein of the current breaking news week in his own version of 'All the Presidents Men' where Michael D has tape recordings of this week's guests Shane Supple and Ian Morris in compromising conversations. Probably not about breaking in to any offices or in Ian's case getting awards and then getting taken out of...
Dec 09, 2021•48 min
After perhaps the craziest ten days in the history of the League of Ireland, Shels keeper Brendan Clarke and Pulitzer candidate David Sneyd join the lads to talk a crazy managerial merry-go-round, the FAI Cup final, Marc Bircham's Waterford demise, and UCD's playoff win. Our penultimate podcast of the year had to be recorded on Zoom because as Dan was breaking stories, Johnny was breaking his ankle. What did the lads make of the FAI Cup final, and how did it all end like this for the winning tea...
Dec 02, 2021•1 hr 7 min
On this week’s super special extra bonus party golf club pod we have PFAI awards nominees Georgie Kelly and Ross Tierney from Bohemians who completely break the mould and stereotypes of footballers as they delve into heartfelt discussions of family, personal loss, mental health, sustainability and economics. They do mention football once or twice too. And on cup final week we also hear from St Patrick’s Athletic star, the award nominated Chris Forrester, who shirks his iconic Ian Curtis lookalik...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 6 min
Dan is back from the Grand Duchy after watching Ireland turn a corner and negotiate a tricky road. Unlike Johnny who ended up in an ambulance trying to do the same. Dundalk’s Brian Gartland stops by with an old team mate, Dane Massey of Drogheda United to talk about the seismic Oriel Park takeover, the restoration of class and dignity, Mexican nightclubs, 2016 memories, Brian’s book and the Galway Under 14s. Or was that Johnny....I think it was Johnny...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 14 min
Even if you were at The Beatles in the Adelphi in '64, U2 at The Dandelion in '79, Green Day in The Attic in '90 or Bob Dylan in Vicar St. in '00, unless you were also at the Galway United Under 14 Cup triumph last week your passport is missing a vital stamp. So much so we invited Will Clarke, the FAI League of Ireland Academy Development manager, to join this week's pod where he talks about the plans for developing our young players and clubs as well as his affiliation with Shelbourne. Dan also...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 13 min
D Day today! Duffer is in, Doolin and Doyle are out! Amid all the comings and goings, we welcome Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto 'Pico' Lopes to studio to reflect on the title win for the Hoops and give us sketchy details on a weekend of celebrations. The only Crumlin man in the Cape Verde squad has tales of African airports and incarceration in a Santry hotel as well as the low down on today's big news, Damien Duff as Shelbourne's new manager. We have a bit of Damien from his press conference ...
Nov 03, 2021•1 hr 20 min
As Johnny returns from his stopstart trip around Europe, Ireland chief scout Stephen Rice dropped by on his way to Dublin Airport and another week of planes, trains and automobiles for the sake of his country. We talked about his Irish role, playing style and directors box style and managed to fit in a bit of Brexit implications and young manager bingo. Ricer also reflected on his favourite memories of managers although there was a tactical blank when it came to one former boss. Beyond that, we ...
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 28 min
