The traditional The Assistant Professor of Football season round-up is back. I asked guests from this past year, and some from previous years whose clubs had remarkable seasons of one sort or the other how their clubs have fared, what moment stands out, and what song best embodies their club's vibe this past season. They are:
Medea Voegeli, professional historian and historian of FC Thun, from episode 76. Thun are the utterly sensational champions of Switzerland this year — after just having been promoted — so Medea has a lot of good vibes to share.
Then Paul Reidy, our English correspondent at Rayo Vallecano; that club portrait is episode 46. Rayo made it to the final of the best European club competition outside the Champions League, the Conference League. They lost against Crystal Palace, but this is their greatest success.
Another finalist: SC Freiburg, from episode 49. Freiburg made it to the Europa League final. They also lost against an English team, Aston Villa. Patrick Bucher from the club's history working group has a lot of stories to tell from his days at the final in Istanbul.
Next up is Alan McDougall, a historian at the University of Guelph in Canada who published a fabulous people's history of Liverpool and joined us in episode 72 — he's back to analyze a rather mixed season for them.
Then Stefan Wally, a political scientist and Austria Salzburg aficionado, on that club in the second Austrian league. They earned promotion last year and absolutely held their own — including a derby with the Red Bull farm team that tried to finish them off.
And last but not least: two teams who got relegated but also see some hope on the horizon, because their relegation has triggered — or at least coincides with — much-needed changes in ownership and leadership at their respective clubs: West Ham and 1860 Munich.
West Ham were relegated from the Premier League, as I'm sure you know. That is my club in England, and Alex — who is hard at work organizing supporters for change and for atmosphere at West Ham — gives us his take. And 1860… well, never a dull day there. The Jordanian investor withheld funds, the club was forced to drop out of the third German league, and it looks like that means — freedom, finally, for 1860. Claus Melchior from 1860's section on club history will give us the download.
HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
Dubioza Kolektiv - I am from Bosnia, Take me to America (new music video, YouTube)
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Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind
Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/
