🚀The English Disease - brand new podcast exploring football hooliganism and the far-right

Stak, the team behind some of the UK's most popular sports podcasts such as Football Ramble and P1 with Matt and Tommy, announces its latest release, The English Disease, available to listen to from Tuesday 1st October.

The English Disease is a brand-new documentary podcast tracing this remarkable movement through British culture, written and presented by football writer Sam Diss.

'Football hooliganism' is a dirty phrase in England, calling to mind football’s dark old days in the 80s. However, its legacy lingers on — in fashion and music, football and politics, policing and policy — and its people never really left. During Euro 2024, social media timelines across the UK were fed with a steady stream of violence, and today, the far-right movement has closer ties with 'lads' and 'hooligans' than ever before. This new series will take listeners straight to the centre of these dark spaces.

During this series, Sam will interview a range of contributors including former hooligans, some who say they were 'the best days of their lives’. Others openly voice their regret, such as a 21-year-old man who writes from prison charged with manslaughter after being involved in a football related attack. Sam will also take listeners inside some of the biggest online football fan groups such as the 'Football Lads United' page and WhatsApp groups.

Listeners will hear conversations with academics, journalists and experts who have devoted their lives to understanding this complex yet primal instinct to fight for your team. This includes Geoff Pearson, a professor of law and author of 'Football Hooliganism' who has studied the impact of legislation and policing strategies towards football-related violence since the mid-1990s; the legendary Bill Buford, journalist and author of the seminal ‘Among the Thugs’, the definitive account of 1980s football hooliganism. Sam will also speak with female fans who feel ostracised from attending games, including a woman who was sexually harassed at the Euro 2020 Final.

The English Disease shines a light on football and British society. Embedded in the UK's national sport, this is a story of class consciousness, rebellion and adventure turning to embittered violence, tribalism and greed. It is a story of what happens when society disenfranchises its people, dismantles social structures and pits them against each other.

The Podwires readers receive journalism free of financial and political influence.

We set our own news agenda, which is always based on facts rather than billionaire ownership or political pressure.

Despite the financial challenges that our industry faces, we have decided to keep our reporting open to the public because we believe that everyone has the right to know the truth about the events that shape their world.

Thanks to the support of our readers, we can continue to provide free reporting. If you can, please choose to support The Podwires