Rugby Reloaded Podcast
1) 209. Did Scotland Invent Football?
This week's episode looks at how soccer emerged in Scotland in the mid-1800s. By the early 1880s not only was Glasgow the world capital of football, but Scottish players playing for English clubs had ...Show More
2) 208. 'Blood and Thunder' the history of rugby in Ireland with Liam O'Callaghan
This week we talk to Dr Liam O’Callaghan about the newly published paperback edition of his superb history of rugby in Ireland ‘Blood and Thunder’. It’s a classic work which looks at the history of t...Show More
208. 'Blood and Thunder' the history of rugby in Ireland with Liam O'Callaghan
35:17 | Nov 26th, 2025
3) 207. What the hell is going on in British rugby league?
The new Rugby Reloaded looks at the current state of rugby league in Britain, asks 'What's going on?' and tries to provide some answers by looking at how the history of the sport can give us some insi...Show More
4) 206. Oldham Rugby League Hall of Fame
This week we sit down with Kevin Fitzpatrick, a member of the Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust, to talk about his documentary on Oldham's Hall of Fame. It's a fascinating look at the history of the ...Show More
5) 205. The Global Spread of Football with Thomas Adam
This week we delve deep into the origins of the football codes across Britain, Europe and the Americas with Thomas Adam, author of the new book The Global Spread of football from the 1860s to the 1880...Show More
6) 204. A Cultural History of the Ashes (part two)
With rugby league's Ashes series imminent, part two of Rugby Reloaded's look at the cultural history of Anglo-Australian rugby league moves onto the post-World War 2 period. It was an era when the b...Show More
7) 203. The Boston Game and the Origins of Football in America
Our new episode investigates the origin story of football in America, in conversation with Mike Cronin and Kevin Marston, authors of 'Inventing the Boston Game: Football, Soccer, and the Origins of a ...Show More
8) 202. A Cultural History of the RL Ashes (Part 1)
As the countdown for the Rugby League Ashes series begins, the new 'Rugby Reloaded' is the first of two episodes taking a deep dive into the cultural history of the Ashes to ask what it can tell us ab...Show More
9) 201. David Goldblatt on Injury Time
On this week's episode I talk to David Goldblatt about his new book 'Injury Time: Football in a State of Emergency' published this month by Mudlark. It's a look at English soccer over past decade, ex...Show More
10) 200. Rugby Union and Concussion
Today's episode is an edited version of a talk about rugby union's concussion crisis which I gave to the North of England Medico-Legal Society in Newcastle in April 2025, for which I'd like to thank A...Show More