It was so popular last year that we decided to do it again! Join us this holiday season as we introduce you to twelve of our favourite podcasts in the 12 Days of Podmas.
Running since early-2017, Quickly Kevin, Will He Score? features Westcountry born stand-up comedian Josh Widdicombe, along with friends Chris Scull and Michael Marden as they revisit the 1990s – most usually the football of the era, but it is usually so much more than this.
Split into seasons, of which there have now been eleven, most episodes feature a guest who was either prominent in that era or are prominent now and may have grown-up in that time. This will include some of the players of the era: Matthew Le Tissier (the first guest – pre-his conspiracy theorist era), Paul Merson, Gary Neville. It may be people from outside the game but known to have a love of it: Frank Skinner, Alastair Campbell, Dara O’Briain, Matt Forde, and many more. The title comes from the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where an ITV commentator asked Kevin Keegan during a penalty shoot-out whether he thought David Batty would convert his spot kick (he did not – to audible whimpering from Kevin).
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The obvious audience for the show is, clearly, fans of English football in the 1990s, but as it brings together so many from outside the game it is a collective look back at the times more generally – and even the blandest of times have absurdities that become apparent only years later. There is enough self-awareness here to puncture some of the excesses of nostalgia (the football of the era, in particular, is nowhere near as good as you remember), yet a genuine affection for an era of sport, music, and politics that are increasingly distant from what we experience today. Led by a stand-up comedian, there are genuine laughs in every episode.
Also enjoyable are the themed episodes. There is a book club, where you can enjoy a breakdown of some of the literary efforts of the players of the time (Steve Bruce’s ‘Striker’ trilogy being the stand-out example). There are quizzes (never taken too seriously) and tournament specials, amongst an endless array of big names, in on the joke and able to make fun of themselves. This is not only for the football fan (though it will be more accessible to them), but also for anyone who remembers Britain in the 1990s, and has any degree of nostalgia for it, or maybe for those who came along later on, and wonder what all the fuss is about.
Quickly Kevin, Will He Score? is available on various podcast platforms.
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