He was there when Manchester United staged their comeback in the 1999 final against Bayern Munich to complete their treble, and when Liverpool staged a fightback of their own to come from 3-0 down against AC Milan on that famous night in Istanbul. He called Barcelona's tiki-taka destruction of United in 2009 and Chelsea's last-gasp survival — then triumph — against Bayern in 2012.

He even once drank champagne out of the European Cup with the victorious Liverpool team at a Paris nightclub soon after the match in 1981. That was after he overcame a technical disaster involving a bulldozer and some power lines.

But which was the greatest final Tyldesley ever witnessed? He joined The Football Weekend in the week leading up to the 2024 showpiece and ran through some of the candidates. He also remembered one of the most somber nights of his career.

The new 2025/26 Champions League season kicks off Tuesday. Meanwhile, Clive was also kind enough to return to the show a couple weeks back as the new European club season ground into gear:

But what about the commercial side?

Because from the beginning, all concerned have recognized the financial opportunity generated by Scotland’s greatest rivalry. “The Old Firm” name may well come from a cartoon that satirized the whole thing as a joint business enterprise, and fans have rebelled against the two clubs and the authorities for reasons financial. Some local companies, like Tennent’s brewers, have even chosen to sponsor both Celtic and Rangers simultaneously — because to choose just one could mean financial ruin. After all, both sides are more than happy to stage a boycott.

The 447th Old Firm derby will be played first thing Sunday, as early as possible to (theoretically) keep the number of pints consumed beforehand to a minimum. Rangers have won 171 of those meetings, Celtic 170. Last year, ahead of the first Old Firm of 2024/25, Chris McLaughlin of the BBC Scotland joined the show to run through the rich and tempestuous history of this very particular derby match.

They welcomed Earle to the crew as only they could: By stripping him naked during a team run through a public park and leaving him with just a traffic cone “to cover the most embarrassing bits.”

He quickly accepted the price of initiation into the Crazy Gang and enjoyed a nine-year stint in the English top flight with the Dons. He made 244 appearances and scored 59 goals from midfield. Nowadays, you can find him on your TV here in the States pretty much every weekend. That includes this one, because the Premier League kicks off later today on NBC Sports and Peacock.

Robbie first came by The Football Weekend ahead of a spring 2024 title clash between Manchester City and Arsenal, and he returned to preview Championship Sunday later that season.

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But when I asked Liverpool fan and prodigious observer of the game Laurence McKenna whether he agreed with that diagnosis, he offered a different one: It’s not the tourist fans making their pilgrimage to Anfield who’ve dented the famous atmosphere, and it’s not necessarily some growing sense among those in attendance that they’ll cheer when they’re entertained. It’s the ticket resale platforms, Laurence said, who are all too willing to fill up the home sections with away fans and change the makeup of the collective Anfield organism.

For more on the deep history and changing dynamics of Liverpool’s famous stadium, check our Cathedrals feature:

So what are his favorite stadiums?

Champion has a natural predilection for old places with all their layers, one laid atop another until there’s a tasty cake of architectural, cultural, and sporting history to devour. He had kind words for Fulham’s Craven Cottage, and — earlier in the episode — for Luton Town’s Kenilworth Road.

But his greatest praise was for Goodison Park, Everton’s grand old cathedral, and he had some fabulous stories about the treacherous route to the commentary gantry at the 1892 ground and the dire consequences thereof for an old colleague of his, Gerald Sinstadt.

Champion’s words here were so stirring that he inspired The Weekend’s trip to Merseyside last season:

That’s just one reason that the little Argentine is the greatest there ever was, and from there we dove into a discussion of what a privilege it is to witness this man play. Nowadays, when you’re lucky enough to be there in the stadium, you can feel that everybody around you knows it, too: this is Michael Jordan, this is Wayne Gretzky, and we’re running out of time to bear witness to a genuine sporting phenomenon.

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The tournament did not go well for the USA, and then-head coach Gregg Berhalter lost his job on the back of it. But it was also a great opportunity to take stock of the young Americans plying their trade for some of Europe’s biggest clubs: Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Chris Richards and more.

Holden spoke on the biases that American footballers have faced in Europe and his own pride in challenging those perceptions as a Premier League player with Bolton Wanderers a generation ago. But he also threw down a challenge to the high-flyers of the present, and a year later, his takes on many of the Americans abroad look rock-solid.

Pulisic continued to thrive at AC Milan last season, Richards and Robinson went from strength to strength in England, and Reyna — among others — never cleared Holden’s bar to become a key asset for his employer. (In fact, Reyna’s time at Borussia Dortmund appears to be over.) As Holden put it, these guys need to do more than just be at these clubs if the USMNT is to do something major next summer at the 2026 World Cup.

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And then goalkeeper Tim Howard launched the ball forward with a half-field throw to Landon Donovan. The #10 carried it into the final third and played Jozy Altidore into the Algerian box, where he fed Clint Dempsey with a low cross. The Texan’s strike was blocked, but the rebound fell to Donovan, and the rest is history: “Go, go, USA!”

Those were the words of Ian Darke, the ESPN commentator who came by the show in December before he called Barcelona vs Atlético Madrid for the network. We’ll have more from Ian’s La Liga adventures soon, but what better time to look back on World Cup glories than the heady days of July?

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The Athletic staff writer covers Manchester United and joined the podcast ahead of the derby with Man City in April, but we also surveyed the wider landscape of England’s top flight. Carl is one of today’s great tactical minds, and he explored how Nottingham Forest thrived last season, whether their blistering counterattacking style was a philosophical rebuttal of Pep Guardiola’s City, and whether teams that normally dominate possession should consider giving it up at times when facing a counterpuncher of Forest’s caliber.

With the new Premier League season just a month away, it’s time to take stock of the future.

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Nowadays, Warnock is a co-commentator and pundit for NBC in the United States and Sky Sports (and more) in the U.K. He came by The Football Weekend ahead of last season’s famous last derby at Goodison Park. It was delayed until February by Storm Darragh, but the 2-2 draw with two red cards featured a 98th-minute James Tarkowski wonderstrike that felt like it won the game for Everton by tying it. Warnock has his own Goodison story as a young Liverpool fan who got himself onto the pitch.

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The goalkeeper from Olympia, Washington played for the U.S. Men’s National Team at four World Cups, but he was also one of the first Americans to really cut it in Europe. His first move after college in 1992 was to head out to South London to play in The Den. A Scottish professor tried to explain to him the gravity of this development before he went, but now, after 175 appearances — and a regular series of pitch invasions — Keller knows better than most the ferocious intensity of Millwall’s world.

It all came to a head when they were closing the famous old stadium and moving to The New Den, when fans rushed the field and stripped the players — including Keller — of everything they had on. In the end, he could only escape the pitch by running at full pelt and kicking somebody in the chest when they jumped into his path.

For the full interview with Kasey, check the original podcast:

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Join for $6