How great were the FA Cup pioneers — and were Wanderers the first truly great cup team?

In this special episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney are joined by brilliant football history guest Phil Craig to travel right back to the birth of the FA Cup — from its Victorian amateur origins to the moment football began its journey from gentlemanly pastime to national obsession.

This is the story of the world’s oldest football competition before it became the FA Cup we know today: no fixed pitch markings, teams changing ends after goals, clubs withdrawing at will, replays, byes, railway journeys, public-school networks, and a cast of extraordinary football pioneers. At the centre of it all stands Charles Alcock, the organiser and visionary behind the competition, and Wanderers, the wandering, aristocratic, brilliantly connected team who dominated the earliest years of the Cup.

But this episode is about much more than one club. Graham, Jamie and Phil explore the rise of early FA Cup giants like Royal Engineers, Oxford University, Queen’s Park, Old Etonians, Marlow, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Olympic and Blackburn Rovers, tracing how the competition evolved from an amateur southern gentleman’s tournament into the proving ground for professionalism, northern power and the modern game.

From the first FA Cup final in 1872 to the symbolic working-class breakthrough of Blackburn Olympic in 1883, this is a story of changing rules, changing tactics, changing class structures — and football slowly becoming the people’s game.

Were Wanderers simply the best connected team of their age, or should they be remembered as one of football’s first great sides?

The FA Cup was chaotic from the start
The early tournament featured withdrawals, walkovers, replays, unusual rules and teams who barely resembled modern clubs.

Wanderers were football’s first cup specialists
With five FA Cup wins in the competition’s first seven seasons, Wanderers became the defining team of the FA Cup’s earliest era.

Charles Alcock helped invent football’s competitive future
His vision for a national knockout tournament gave football one of its most enduring institutions.

The Cup tells the story of football’s social shift
From public schools and old boys’ networks to mill towns, factories and northern professionalism, the FA Cup became a mirror of Victorian Britain.

Blackburn Olympic changed everything
Their 1883 victory over Old Etonians marked one of the great symbolic turning points in football history.

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How Great Were Leyton Orient 1994–1995? | Football Club for a Fiver, John Sitton & Football’s Rawest Documentary

What happens when a football documentary captures not the glory of the game, but the collapse — emotional, financial, tactical and human — of a club fighting for survival?

Most football fans remember the trophies, the great teams, the title races and the last-minute winners. But sometimes, the most revealing football stories are found far away from the glamour — in failing dressing rooms, broken boardrooms, empty terraces and lower-league clubs trying desperately to stay alive.

In this episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham and Jamie are joined by London regular Stuart Burgess to explore one of the most infamous, raw and unforgettable football seasons ever captured on film: Leyton Orient 1994–95.

Centred around the legendary documentary Orient: Club for a Fiver, this is the story of a club in crisis, a young filmmaker given extraordinary access, and a manager, John Sitton, whose emotional dressing-room rants became some of the most quoted — and most uncomfortable — moments in football documentary history.

But this episode is about far more than one infamous team talk. We dig into Leyton Orient’s wider history, from their East London roots and multiple name changes to their unlikely highs of the 1970s, FA Cup adventures, near-misses, financial instability and long struggle for identity in the shadow of bigger London clubs.

We ask why Club for a Fiver still matters. Was it a brutal but honest snapshot of lower-league football? Was John Sitton unfairly exposed by a new kind of fly-on-the-wall filmmaking? And did the documentary reveal something football had spent decades trying to hide: that behind the romance of the game are real people, fragile careers, chaotic ownership structures and clubs permanently walking a financial tightrope?

This is not a tale of greatness in the traditional sense. It is a story of survival, humiliation, loyalty, desperation and documentary immortality. Leyton Orient 1994–95 may not have been a great team — but they became part of one of football’s greatest cautionary tales.

Takeaways

• Why Orient: Club for a Fiver remains one of football’s most authentic documentaries
• The story behind John Sitton’s infamous dressing-room breakdown
• How Leyton Orient’s 1994–95 season became a symbol of lower-league football chaos
• The club’s deeper history, from Clapton Orient to Leyton Orient
• Why Barry Hearn’s arrival matters in understanding the documentary
• How the episode reflects football before the modern media-trained era
• Whether this disastrous season deserves a place in the Greatness Index conversation

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How great were Brighton & Hove Albion 1982–1983?

In this episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney are joined by South Coast Jamie Wilson to tell the story of one of English football’s great contradiction seasons: Brighton & Hove Albion 1982–83.

This was a campaign that ended in relegation from the First Division — but also took Brighton to the first FA Cup Final in the club’s history. A season of struggle, chaos, colour, character and one immortal Wembley moment.

We look back at Brighton’s wider journey through football history, from their formation in 1901 and Southern League roots, through the Brian Clough interlude, the Alan Mullery era, Peter Ward’s goals, and the rise that carried the club into the top flight.

Then we focus on 1982–83 itself: Jimmy Melia’s unlikely FA Cup adventure, the key players who carried Albion to Wembley, and the unforgettable final against Manchester United. The first game ended 2–2, giving Brighton one of the most famous near-misses in FA Cup history: “And Smith must score…”

Was Gordon Smith’s chance the moment that defined Brighton’s past? Or has it unfairly overshadowed a remarkable achievement from a team fighting battles on every front?

With players like Steve Foster, Jimmy Case, Michael Robinson, Gary Stevens, Tony Grealish, Graham Moseley and Gordon Smith, Brighton 1982–83 may not look like an obvious candidate for greatness. But sometimes greatness is not just about trophies. Sometimes it is about story, identity, resilience, and how close a team came to changing everything.

So where do Brighton & Hove Albion 1982–83 belong in our Table of Greatness?

Takeaways

• Brighton’s rise from Southern League roots to the First Division
• The importance of Alan Mullery, Brian Clough and Peter Ward in the wider Brighton story
• Why the 1982–83 season was both a disaster and a fairytale
• Jimmy Melia’s colourful and chaotic FA Cup run
• The key players behind Brighton’s Wembley journey
• The 1983 FA Cup Final against Manchester United
• Why “And Smith must score” remains one of the great FA Cup moments
• Whether a relegated side can still be considered great

Listen now and join us as we decide whether Brighton & Hove Albion 1982–1983 were truly one of football’s greatest teams.

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How Great Were FC Twente 2009–2011? | Steve McClaren, Bryan Ruiz, and the Club That Broke the Dutch Order

Were FC Twente 2009–2011 one of the great outsider stories of modern European football — a provincial club from Enschede rising to the top of Dutch football under a manager England had already written off?

In this episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney are joined by lifelong Twente supporter Lars Kuizenga to explore the most successful spell in the club’s history: the years that took FC Twente from strong regional side to Eredivisie champions.

This is the story of a club outside the Dutch “big three,” but with its own proud identity, deep local support, and a city behind it. Twente had history, but they had never won the Dutch title. Then came Steve McClaren — mocked in England, ambitious in Holland — and one of the most remarkable title wins in recent European football.

The episode explores Twente’s rise in the context of Dutch football history, the influence of coaching culture in the Netherlands, and the role McClaren played in shaping a disciplined, resilient, tactically smart side. With Bryan Ruiz, Theo Janssen, Douglas, Peter Wisgerhof, Blaise Nkufo, Sander Boschker and others, Twente built a team capable not only of competing, but of holding their nerve under extraordinary pressure.

Because what makes this story even better is the finish. In 2009/10, Ajax won their final 14 league matches — and still did not win the title. Twente held them off by a single point to become Dutch champions for the first time in club history.

Along the way, the episode also gets into McClaren’s Dutch adventure, the “Wally with the Brolly” baggage, the famous Dutch-accent moment, supporter pride in Enschede, and what this team really represented to the city.

So how great were FC Twente 2009–2011? A brilliant one-off? A true Dutch modern great? Or one of football history’s most underrated champions?

Takeaways:

• How FC Twente rose from financial uncertainty to Dutch champions
• Why Steve McClaren worked so well in the Netherlands
• The key players behind Twente’s golden era
• Why the 2009/10 title race remains one of the most dramatic in Eredivisie history
• What Twente meant to Enschede and its supporters
• Where this side belongs in the Greatness Rankings

#FCTwente #SteveMcClaren #DutchFootball #Eredivisie #FootballHistory #BryanRuiz #TheoJanssen #EuropeanFootball #ByFarTheGreatestTeam #FootballPodcast

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Were Blackpool 2009–11 one of the greatest one-season teams in Premier League history — not because they stayed up, but because they made themselves unforgettable?

In this episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney dive into one of the most entertaining, improbable and strangely enduring football stories of the modern era: Blackpool from 2009 to 2011.

This is the story of a historic old club with deep roots, post-war glamour, three FA Cup finals after the Second World War, the legacy of Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen, and even the unusual honour of being Anglo-Italian Cup winners in 1971. But it is also the story of how, decades after their last top-flight season, Blackpool returned to the biggest stage under Ian Holloway and refused to behave like a club just happy to be there.

The episode tracks Blackpool’s rise through the 2009–10 Championship season, their dramatic play-off final win over Cardiff City at Wembley, and the financial madness of football’s so-called richest game. Graham and Jamie then explore the Premier League season itself: the 4–0 opening-day win at Wigan, Blackpool briefly sitting near the top of the table, the brilliance of Charlie Adam, the team’s fearless style of play, and the long, painful trend toward relegation.

Along the way, the episode also gets into the stranger and more revealing corners of the Blackpool story: the club’s tiny transfer budget compared with other promoted teams, the controversy around the “weakened team” fine after the Aston Villa game, the fact Blackpool used four goalkeepers in one Premier League season, and the unforgettable role of Holloway as both manager and narrator of the whole mad ride.

So how should Blackpool 2009–11 be remembered? As a brave but flawed team? A chaotic underdog story? A one-season wonder? Or one of the most lovable and culturally lasting sides of the Premier League era?

Takeaways

• Why Blackpool’s history mattered long before Ian Holloway arrived
• The truth about the “Matthews Final” and Stan Mortensen’s hat-trick
• How Blackpool won promotion through the 2010 Championship play-offs
• Why their Premier League transfer spend was so small compared to rivals
• How Charlie Adam and Holloway turned Blackpool into great entertainers
• The story behind the Aston Villa weakened-team fine
• How unusual it was for Blackpool to use four goalkeepers in one league season
• Why Blackpool went down with 39 points and still felt bigger than many survivors

If you enjoy football history, Premier League nostalgia, great forgotten teams, and deep dives into the stories behind the table, this one is for you.

Follow By Far The Greatest Team wherever you get your podcasts, and let us know: how great were Blackpool 2009–11?

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7erZQ9qQEsa2Xq8Rg843Gv
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/by-far-the-greatest-team-football-podcast/id1678832405

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How Great Were Liverpool 1968–1974? | Bill Shankly’s Last Great Liverpool Side

Were Liverpool 1968–1974 the most important bridge in the club’s history — the side that not only won major honours, but carried Bill Shankly’s revolution from one great era into the next?

In this episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney are joined once again by regular guest Declan Clark to explore the final great Liverpool side built by Bill Shankly.

This was a team in transition, but not in decline. As the giants of the mid-1960s faded, Shankly rebuilt again — reshaping Liverpool around new energy, new partnerships, and a new attacking edge. Out went some of the old certainties, and in came a side driven by Kevin Keegan, transformed by the arrival of John Toshack, and held together by the standards, steel, and emotional force that Shankly had embedded into the club.

The episode dives into Liverpool’s tactical evolution in the late 60s and early 70s, the growing importance of players like Emlyn Hughes, Tommy Smith, and Ian Callaghan, and the way this side adapted to a changing English game. We look at the domestic title battles, the near-misses, the rise of fierce rivalries with Leeds United, Arsenal, and Derby County, and the breakthrough of 1972–73, when Liverpool won both the league title and the UEFA Cup.

But this is also the story of endings. Shankly’s shock resignation in 1974 remains one of the most emotional departures in football history, and this episode reflects on what he left behind: not just trophies, but a culture, an identity, and the foundations of the Liverpool dynasty that followed.

Was this simply Shankly’s last great team — or one of the most important in Liverpool’s entire story?

Takeaways

• How Bill Shankly rebuilt Liverpool for a second great cycle
• Why Kevin Keegan and John Toshack became such a devastating partnership
• How Liverpool evolved tactically during the early 1970s
• Why the 1972–73 season was such a major moment in club history
• What Shankly’s final team left behind for the Liverpool sides that followed

If you enjoy football history, tactical evolution, and the stories behind the teams that shaped the game, this is the episode for you.

Listen / Watch

🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7erZQ9qQEsa2Xq8Rg843Gv

🍎 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/by-far-the-greatest-team-football-podcast/id1678832405

📺 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@BFTGT

If you enjoy these podcasts, please don't forget to subscribe and give us a rating and also tell everyone about them!

If you enjoy these podcasts, please don't forget to subscribe and give us a rating and also tell everyone about them!

How Great Were Stoke City 2008–2013? | Tony Pulis, the Britannia Fortress, and the Art of Being Horrible to Play Against

Were Stoke City 2008–2013 one of the most misunderstood teams of the Premier League era — dismissed as brute force, but actually brilliant at becoming exactly what they needed to be?

In this episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney are joined by regular guest Stuart Burgess to dig into one of the most distinctive and divisive sides in modern English football: Tony Pulis’ Stoke City from 2008 to 2013.

This is the team that made the phrase “a cold, wet Tuesday night in Stoke” part of football folklore. But beyond the joke, there was something serious going on here. Stoke were not trying to win beauty contests. They were trying to survive, compete, and make themselves absolutely miserable to play against — and in that, they were wildly successful.

The episode explores how Pulis took Stoke up to the Premier League in 2008 and turned them into a top-flight force with one of the clearest identities in the country. We look at the power of the Britannia Stadium, Rory Delap’s weaponised long throw, a back line built for combat, and a team that understood territory, pressure, chaos, and momentum as well as anyone. This was football stripped back to nerve, discipline, and edge.

But there was more to Stoke than the caricature. We also assess the balance in the side, the underrated quality of players like Matthew Etherington, Jonathan Walters, and Ricardo Fuller, the 2011 FA Cup Final run, and a remarkable first taste of European football. Was this simply a functional side with a gimmick, or a genuinely great example of a club maximising every ounce of its potential?

It’s a story about identity, defiance, and the value of making no apologies for who you are.

Takeaways

• How Tony Pulis built Stoke into one of the Premier League’s clearest tactical identities
• Why the Britannia became one of the most psychologically difficult away grounds in England
• The truth behind Rory Delap’s long throw — and why it was far more than a novelty
• How Stoke combined physicality, organisation, and underrated attacking quality
• Whether this team should be remembered as anti-football caricature or modern overachievers

If you enjoy football history, tactical identity, and the stories of teams who built success their own way, this is the episode for you.

Listen / Watch

🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7erZQ9qQEsa2Xq8Rg843Gv

🍎 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/by-far-the-greatest-team-football-podcast/id1678832405

📺 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@BFTGT

If you enjoy these podcasts, please don't forget to subscribe and give us a rating and also tell everyone about them!

If you enjoy these podcasts, please don't forget to subscribe and give us a rating and also tell everyone about them!

How Great Were Arsenal 1925–1939? | Chapman’s Super Club Revolution

How does a London club go from obscurity to dominance — and, in the process, invent the blueprint for the modern football super club?

In this episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney are joined by super guest Phil Craig to explore Arsenal 1925–1939 — the era where Herbert Chapman and George Allison transform Arsenal into English football’s first true powerhouse, combining tactical innovation, commercial vision, and cultural identity into something entirely new.

We trace Chapman’s arrival from Huddersfield, his revolutionary ideas, and the moment English football changes shape — literally — with the introduction of the WM formation, a tactical shift that reshaped the game. But this isn’t just about tactics. It’s about control, planning, and vision: from floodlights and European ambition to marketing, media presence, and the transformation of Highbury into a football theatre.

On the pitch, this Arsenal side becomes relentless. League titles, FA Cups, iconic players like Alex James, Cliff Bastin, Ted Drake, and a team that blends structure with attacking brilliance. Off the pitch, Arsenal begin to look like something new — a club thinking bigger than the rest.

We also explore the deeper layers: the Chapman vs Allison legacy debate, the impact of Chapman’s death in 1934, and how Arsenal continued to win without their architect. And, to close, we touch on one of football’s most surreal cultural moments — The Arsenal Stadium Mystery (1939) — where the club quite literally steps into cinema.

This is where modern football begins.

Takeaways

• Why Herbert Chapman is one of the most influential figures in football history
• How the WM formation revolutionised tactics and reshaped the game
• The blend of innovation, planning, and identity that made Arsenal dominant
• The importance of players like Alex James, Cliff Bastin, and Ted Drake
• The Chapman vs Allison debate — who deserves the credit?
• How Arsenal became England’s first true “super club”
• Why this era still shapes how modern football clubs operate

Listen / Watch

🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7erZQ9qQEsa2Xq8Rg843Gv

🍎 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/by-far-the-greatest-team-football-podcast/id1678832405

📺 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@BFTGT

If you enjoy these podcasts, please don't forget to subscribe and give us a rating and also tell everyone about them!