Adam and Rob are joined by the author of one of the best football books ever written, Pete Davies, whose book, All Played Out, so perfectly summed up the many highs and some lows of following England at Italia ‘90.
This episode is all the more pertinent given the events of the past few days, as we discuss a time when the Premier League was merely a glint in Rupert Murdoch’s eye, when Gazzamania was born, when the tabloid press were even more vicious than now and when England made a splash as a glorious surprise, ending in no-less glorious defeat.
We also discuss the (to a contemporary audience at least) unprecedented level of access that Pete gained to the England squad and Bobby Robson, their siege mentality born out of an exasperation with the British press, Pete’s travails around Italy and quite why that fateful semi-final lives so long in the memory of football romantics.
Also covered is the how Pete wrote All Played Out in a mind-boggling 58 days, the ensuing writer’s block and how this pleasantly came to an end in 2017.
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