Champ/We Are United

Another boring season in the "Roy of The Rovers" comic?...no definitely not! Ian takes us through the season when Roy joined another Rovers....Bygone has a look back at the very first Football Picture Story Monthly, the 2nd story in that edition "The Reject" and also from the pages of "Scorcher" Mute covers "Royal's Rangers" and the amazing story of Fred Atkins!

He's back! Our Golden Time-Traveller Ian Golden is back from Australia and his Gola sponsored Tardis has landed in the 1981/82 season. What are his favourite strips in this momentous season in the comics' history?......We also discuss Mute-Button Matt's recent visit to the brilliant Barrie Mitchell exhibition and we also have a Collectors Corner to see what recent purchases the boys have obtained. Enjoy!

Tangent tells us about when two stories collided, when Melchester Rovers popped up in "City" in 1988. Bygone covers the Roy of The Rovers story from the 1989 Winter Special and Mute covers part 2 of the Blackie Gray story - when Melchester are in the European Cup Final and Blackie meets the beautiful Suzanne Cerise....

Who is William Gray? When did he first meet Roy? What did he get for his birthday in 1955? Why was he at a circus? Did he set fire to Melchester Stadium?...all these questions and loads more will be answered if you tune into the first part of a five part biopic of this comic colossus....Plus has Hot-Shot Hamish met his nemesis?!! A goalkeeper who can save the famous hot-shot?!! and finally we have some...EXCITING NEWS FOR ALL LISTENERS!

It's week 13 of the "We Are United" story in the pages of "Champ" comic and we've followed all their ups and downs. It's now the final game of the season against Cardsea City...will they do it? Tune in to find out! Plus Bygone shows us a special personalised copy of Roy of The Rovers and there's another Collectors Corner with a very interesting purchase by the Melvster himself!

He's back! Legendary IPC Comic Group Editor and of course editor of "Tiger" and editor and creator of the "Roy of The Rovers" comic, Barrie Tomlinson for this years Christmas Special! in this we go through the 1981 Tiger Xmas edition and the first ever Xmas Roy of The Rovers from 1976....enjoy!

"Snow is falling, all around me, children playing having fun"...yes in the immortal words of Shakey we're moving into the Christmas season so what better to do than sit down with a Roy of the Rovers "Winter Special"? in this weeks episode Bygone takes us through the first one produced back in 1988...Golden Boy Time Traveller Ian reviews the exciting 1980/81 season in the "Roy of The Rovers" comic and in the pages of "Champ" "United" are 3 games away from possible promotion back to the top flight..can they do it?? Tune in for more Tangential commentary!

Creator of "Striker" and of course friend of the show, Pete Nash is back! He is here talking about his incredible new venture, utilising AI to produce new "Striker" content! it's an exciting, and perhaps controversial move, and here he is to tell us all about it and answer questions which some "Striker" followers might have...enjoy!

Yes it's season four of our Time Traveller Ian Golden's reviews of the Roy of The Rovers comic...1979/1980....what memories will this bring back for you? Tangent Paul carries on telling us the story of "We Are United" from the pages of Champ - and we have another Collectors Corner! Tune in!

How many goals did Billy Dane score? How many teams did he play for? And more importantly......how many times did he actually lose those bloomin' boots!!....find out all this and more as "Friend of the Show" Hamish Whitta (He's on Twitter - now X) has done a deep-dive analysis into this ....plus more We Are United and the 1980 Scorcher Summer Special!

David Hunt worked on Tiger in the early 60's then edited the very first football-only comic the famous "Scorcher", which of course brought us the famous stories "Billy's Boots" and "Hot-Shot Hamish" as well as many others, he then went on to edit the iconic war themed "Battle", "Speed", the re-launched "Eagle", "Hot-Shot" and then the last few years of the weekly "Roy of The Rovers"...a huge fantastic career in the comic industry and it was a joy to meet and chat with him - join us!

More UK football comic nostalgia from men who have nothing better to do. Ian "Golden Boy" Golden takes us through season 3 of the Roy of the Rovers comic giving his view on the stories and Bygone Berrigan takes us through "The Goals of Jimmy Grant" from the pages of the 1991 Victor Summer Special - plus a Collectors Corner - what have we been wastin....I mean spending our money on recently - tune in to find out!

More football comic book fun! Ian Golden is back to take us through the 1977/78 season of the "Roy of The Rovers" comic...and Bygone covers the 1980 Tiger Holiday Special, including Billy's Boots, King of the Track and Hot-Shot Hamish.....enjoy!...there were a few technical video problems in this show - but it shouldn't spoil your audio enjoyment!

Join the gang as we are joined by regular contributor, Ian Golden, who has started to read from cover to cover all the "Roy of The Rovers" editions from number one in September 1976. onwards. This is his first review of that first season in the new self-titled comic. Plus we get an update on "We Are United" from Tangent and we have a Collectors Corner as the guys share some of their latest purchases...enjoy!

School's out for Summer! Yes it's school holiday time and what was better than picking up a special issue of your favourite comic to take away with you! Comic legend Barrie Tomlinson is back and in this episiode we reminisce about these specials and flick through a few, the 1976 Tiger Olympic Special, the 1979 Tiger Holiday Special and the 1980 Roy of The Rovers Holiday Special!

When did Billy Dane first swap his Dead-Shot Keen football boots for Dead-Shot Keen's cricket boots??.... what is happening in the "We Are United" story? .....and what have the guys recently bought to add to their collections?...tune in and find out!

Wow this is a VERY special episode. Today we met and chatted with two of the creators of the "We Are United" story in Champ...who also just happened to create the "Football Picture Story Monthlies". Both Bill and Martin worked for DC Thomson for over 40 years, on many many comics and it was a privilege to get the chance to chat with them. We are sure any football comic fans will enjoy this episode. Enjoy!

Join the "boys" for some more nostalgic football comic fun....Tangent, Bygone and Mute-Button recall and review the 1981 "Roy of The Rovers" Summer Special and we have a Collectors Corner when we talk about our recent purchases......there's also a special appearance towards the end of the show...

A show with a difference this week! friend of the show Ian Golden is back to talk us through the times that football storylines appeared in Doctor Who comics.....plus we cover a "Safest Hands in Soccer" story from the 1979 Roy of The Rovers annual, and there's another Collectors Corner with some recent purchases from the Melvster himself!

Join Tangent, Bygone and Mute as they cover more 70's and 80's football comic stories....Tangent updates us on the "We Are United" story in "Champ", Bygone re-tells the Hot-Shot Hamish story from the 1984 Tiger Holiday Special and Mute covers the iconic "Football Family Robinson" which first appeared in "Jag" , then "Tiger" and eventually "Roy of The Rovers"...plus another Collectors Corner - enjoy!

Join Gull, Tangent, Bygone and Mute as they go back to the golden days of football comics...Tangent takes us through week 6 of "We Are United" from the pages of "Champ", Bygone re-tells a "Billy's Boots" story from the 1984 Tiger Holiday Special, and Mute reviews "Rocky Goes for Goal" the latest "Soccer Diaries" book. Hosted by Gull - enjoy!

Join the Tangential One, Mute-Button, Gull (and Dot) as they recall the comic life of Melchester Rovers star Mervyn Wallace....how did he join Rovers? Did he win the 1976/77 Goal-Rush competition? Was he English? Was he Welsh? Was he coach? Did he end up as Rovers Manager?......listen/Watch and find out! Plus some more Collectors Corner stuff...enjoy!

A special show today, with a special guest! We are joined by show listener, friend of the show, Ian Golden! He has created a timeline for the "United" story and in this show he presents it back to us, and you the listener (or viewer!). Listening in and watching are Gull, Ridders, Simmo, Bygone and Mute-Button....enjoy!

Roy Race has been shot! but who dunnit!? Arnie Meckiff? Arthur Logan? Elton Blake? Vic Guthrie or is it Trevor Brinsden....join Tangent Paul, Mute-Button Matt, Ridders, Bygone Berrigan and Simmo as they find out...plus hear about Ridders own fan-fiction project with new "United" stories and there's also a "Billy's Boots" story from the 1985 Tiger Holiday special - enjoy!Here is the link to Ridders "We Are United" fan-fiction "We are back" https://www.wattpad.com/story/390484980-fpsm-419-we-are-back-a-united-story

They're back! still recovering from the after show party from the 100th show, Gull, Matt, Simmo and Neil take the show into it's second 100 shows! This week Simmo is up to week 5 of the "We Are United" story where we are introduced to an exciting young forward. And Matt does part 1 of the most famous story ever from the pages of "Roy of The Rovers"....I'm not saying what it is as you can tell from the title of this pod and the cover photo....

100?!!.....yes 100....join Mute-button Matt, Gull, Tangent Paul, Bygone Berrigan, Simmo and Ridders (yes he's back!) as we celebrate reaching our 100th show with a look back over the previous 99...we've covered all-sorts, from Roy of The Rovers, to Riverton United, from Striker to Scorcher, Tubby Morton to Tug Wilson, Billy's Boots to Bobby of the Blues and Hot-Shot Hamish to Hedgehog Jones and many more...we've had many hosts, interviewed fellow football comic fans and been blessed to interview our comic heroes...here is a look back at it all including some very special messages...enjoy!

Episode 99!!! join Gull, Simmo, Bygone, Mute and the Tangential One as they cover "The Iron Man" FPSM, continuing the adventures of Kline and Powell, we do the short comic life of "Sammy Spangler", Melchester Rovers big new discovery! and we also continue the story of United in "We Are United" - a few technical problems in this show so apologies...but it all adds to the, er, excitement...enjoy!

98!! Yes those football comic guys are back, for another 2 hours of chatting about stuff which was published over 50 years ago, this is where you come for up to date podcast content! Simmo does week 3 of "We Are United" from the pages of "Champ", Bygone does FPSM 19 "Divided City" the first time we meet Kline and Powell and Mute Button tells us about "Jack of United" and "Jimmy of City" from the pages of "Score 'n' Roar". Superbly hosted by Gull and the background chuckles are from Tangent Paul...a good team effort!

Join the podcast gang as Tangent Paul finishes his review of the 1984/85 Melchester season as Rovers play in the Cup Winners Cup final, and listen out towards the end of the show for Simmo's week 2 of "We Are United" from the pages of "Champ"...

Join the team for another journey back to football comic world...Tangent does part 3 of Rovers 84/85 Cup Winners Cup campaign, Bygone talks to us about "Bullet" and the 1977 Sport Special and Simmo is back! he begins to tell the tale of "We Are United" from the very beginning...enjoy! Also on YouTube https://youtu.be/Z-rmGgj0TJ8

Join the team and legendary comic editor Barrie Tomlinson ( or is it Santa?) as they look back at the famous Christmas editions of "Tiger" and "Roy of The Rovers" from the 70s and 80s...hear about Morecambe and Wise, Mike Yarwood, Suzanne Dando, Nookie Bear....all the stars! Ho Ho Ho!

More classic British football comic fun! Tangent Paul does part two of Melchester Rovers legendary 1984/85 season...Bygone Berrigan tells us about the "1972 Boys Birthday Book" and Mute-Button Matt re-tells a Christmas Hot-Shot Hamish story from the 1987 Tiger Annual...all expertly hosted by Gull!

Join Paul, Neil and Matt on the "Number one football comic podcast"....this week we begin charting Melchester Rovers 1984/85 Cup Winners Cup campaign, we re-tell a "The Safest Hands in Soccer" annual story and we also talk about a little known "Roy of The Rovers" novel from 1977...or is it ? ...Find out more, have a listen!

Join Gull, Tangent Paul and Mute Button Matt as they do another "Collector's Corner" covering some strange missing copies of Tiger...and then they recall the famous story from Roy of The Rovers, "Tommy's Troubles" and how Tommy Barnes and his mates first formed Barnes United. Enjoy!

In this special episode Matt, Paul and Neil meet Stratos and Nikos from the excellent Greek Unofficial Roy of The Rovers fan club, we talk about how the story reached Greece, when and in what format, how did they first start reading it themselves, we ask about the fan club and also recap some Greek related storylines over the years.

It's February 1983.....Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister.....Kajagoogoo are number one with "Too Shy"...Liverpool are on their way to another league championship...in Sedgefield a young Tony Blair is attempting to become an MP......and a young Malcolm Dickenson decides to enter a competition in "Roy of The Rovers" to win a 2 week holiday in Disneyworld Florida....listen to what happens next!

Join Gull, Matt, Paul and Neil as they travel once more back to the past world of UK football comics! Bygone Berrigan recalls the tale of when a very young Gordon Stewart met Roy Race...Tangent Paul talks us through the famous signing of superstar striker Kevin Nicklish for United, "Gull has issues" covers Hot-Shot, and Matt tells us about a couple more times Roy Race went in goal...all this and more!

A very different episode! Brett and Karsh talk about one of Brett's "other" hobbies, his creation....The Parkrun 92 Club Challenge! tune in to find out more!

Join Bygone Berrigan, Gull and Mute Button Matt as they recall a couple of stories from the 1985 Roy of The Rovers annual and the FPSM story "Ghost Striker"...plus Gull has a new feature, this time on Scream! Enjoy!

Join Matt, Paul and Neil to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the very first "Tiger" comic, the first time the world ever saw Roy Race, and to do so we talk to comic legends Barrie Tomlinson and David Sque about how previous anniversaries were marked and commemorated within the pages of "Tiger" and "Roy of The Rovers".

Join us and legendary comic book writer, creator and editor, Barrie Tomlinson as we go back to 1954, find out what he was doing, what music, TV, film and other comics were popular, then we page by page go through the first ever Tiger comic, then finally pay homage to the people who created this iconic comic and created Roy Race and Roy of The Rovers

Join Bygone Berrigan, Tangent Richardson and Mute Button Matt as they delve again into the world of football comics! Bygone takes us through a story from the 1985 Victor annual, Matt goes over the conflicting stories of Roy Race's schooldays, and finally Tangent takes us through the final ever “Striker” volume 26!

Join Matt, Simmo and Tangent Paul as they dive back into the world of football comics! In this weeks show Matt re-tells the tale of "The Footballer Who Wouldn't Stay Dead" and Paul begins to review "Striker" volume 26, the end game. *Spoiler alert* if you haven't read the Striker book yet and want to avoid spoilers then we discuss it from 14 mins - 34 mins....Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/@Champweareunited

Join "Mute Button" Matt Richards and Paul "Tangent" Richardson as they dive back into the niche world of UK football comics! This week Matt tells us about the comic life of Vernon Eliot, that Melchester Rovers favourite..hosted by Tangent - let's see if we can stick to the script (there's never a script).

Join Gull, Bygone Berrigan and Mute Button Matt as they cover Football Picture Story Monthly no.53 "Rags to Riches" a "United" story, and they also replay the "Nipper" and "Bobby of the Blues" stories from the 1977 Scorcher annual.

Another football comic extravaganza! Join Tangent Paul, Simmo, Gull and Matt as we start going through the 1977 "Scorcher" annual, replaying Billy's Boots and Hot-Shot Hamish...and we also cover "Playmaker" and "Striker" from the pages of the short-lived "Hot-Shot"

How many times did we see Roy Race play for England? listen to the boys discuss this...also Bygone Berrigan takes us through "The Brothers" from Football Picture Story Monthly 36 and as the Euros start on 14th June we look ahead to the tournament and assess England's chances... Timings 1. FPSM from 17 mins 2. Euro pre-view from 41 mins 3. Roy Race plays for England from 67 mins

This weeks episode has Matt telling us about the comic life of that football comic strip legend "Nipper" from the pages of Score and Roar, via Scorcher and eventually Tiger..Gull tells us about the latest "Secret Wars" news and Bygone Berrigan replays another Football Picture Story Monthly story, this one from FPSM 108 "Highland Fling"...ably supported by Voice of Reason Simmo and hosted by Paul "Tangent" Richardson - enjoy!

In this weeks show we have Neil "Bygone" Berrigan rejoin us to review the pretty rare 1989 "Football Picture Story Special", Matt reviews the latest Rocky Race book, "Rocky's Big Move", and Simmo picks his best XI from "United" during the Champ/Victor years...be prepared for a controversial pick! The team also includes Tangent Paul and the return of Gull! It's a long show (apologies - we're useless at timings) so here are rough timings if you want to fast forward to a section... 1989 "Football Picture Story Special" - from 17 mins "Rocky's Big Move" - from 75 mins "United" XI - from 81 mins Enjoy!

Join "Tangent" Paul, Simmo and Matt once again for a football comic journey into the past...Simmo replays the "The Goals Of Jimmy Grant" the season when he played for "United" in the pages of "Victor", Paul gives us his comic XI made up from Danefield United and Kingsbay players and Matt covers all the times Roy Race went in goal from 1954/1993...how many times did he do it????

Welcome to another interview special! this time we talk to Roy of the Rovers artist from 1963 - 1965, Paul Trevillion! Roy is just one part of Paul's incredible career as a sports artist, he is also famous for creating "You Are The Ref!" which appeared under various guises in various publications but probably most famous in the pages of "Shoot". He is an incredible character, and so much fun to meet and interview. Enjoy!