Searching for the Meaning of Football - In the Sex Capital of Europe?

Nick chatting to fans outside Sturm Graz's Merkur Arena stadium

Still on the search for the true meaning of football, Episode 4 of Nick Thomson's new football podcast Around the World in 90 Minutes is out now and where better to contine on this earnest quest than in the self-proclaimed sex capital of Europe. What?

Graz is the capital city of Austria's second largest state of Styria and home to SK Sturm Graz, current champions of Austria's Bundesliga. It is also home to two UNESCO world heritage sites, the futuristic Kunsthaus (be careful how you spell that) Graz exhibition centre and a funicular connecting the city centre to the Schloßberg, a historical site atop a hill from which the world's tallest indoor slide can be taken thus enabling you to return back down the hill very, very quickly. And alongside all the history, culture, thrills and football, Graz has a thriving (and legal) sex industry. Very smart move to take the wife Nick. 

Cheers!

All of the above information is almost certainly news to you, unless you're Austrian of course. So is Austrian football any good? Do they have real football fans? Why would a Brit from Colchester support SK Sturm Graz? And what does Nick sound like when hurtling down a slide? 

For answers to these and other questions, tune in to Episode 4 via the links below.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/around-the-world-in-90-minuets/id1772650811

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5HZALrt0Crw6bHfLE0hzVw

Searching for the Meaning of Football - What's the Craic?

Nick in solitude at Solitude.

Episode 3 of Nick Thomson's new football podcast Around the World in 90 Minutes is out today, searching for the true meaning of football and off to Northern Ireland to visit the oldest football club on the island of Ireland, Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club. Based in north Belfast, a city still scarred by "the troubles", the club has a fan base which bridges historic divides and epitomises the quiet progress made over the last twenty six years since the Good Friday Agreement. 

You don't normally go to a football match for solitude. But you can go to Solitude for a football match. How and why does that make any sense? Well, Solitude just happens to be the name of Cliftonville's stadium and that's where Nick took in Cliftonville v Glenavon in the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) Premiership earlier this season, taking the opportunity to speak to fans about what their football club means to them.

Nick not in solitude this time, but rather
with local guide Donzo who provided a
brilliant, concise history of "the troubles".

So, how did the club bridge the historic divide? What's it like to watch football in Northern Ireland? What is the meaning of football? And who on earth is Donzo? For answers to these and other questions tune in to the podcast via the links below and find out.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/around-the-world-in-90-minuets/id1772650811

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5HZALrt0Crw6bHfLE0hzVw