The 93:20 Podcast Newsletter 1: 22nd August 2024

A New Era

Author

Howard Hockin
August 21, 2024

Hello, and welcome to the first 93:20 Podcast newsletter. It’s been quite the week as a new season finally arrived, so to debut this weekly update, I thought I would start with some words, some thoughts about falling back in love. With football, that is.

I must have asked the question twenty times on podcasts over the last few weeks.
“You looking forward to the new season?”
Everyone was enthusiastic of course, after the palette cleansers of the Euros and perhaps even the Olympics. Bit of cricket, holidays, sun appeared briefly, which was nice, and it was time to get back to business. Four league wins in a row, how could you not be excited about the dawn of a new season?

Well, I wasn’t. I pretended I was. Hosting a football podcast, there was an obligation to big up another nine months of drama. But it was a lie. I could easily have taken another three months of the summer void of domestic football, void of stress, tribalism and hot takes, edge lords, 115 chat and more. I wasn’t ready for the anxiety that hits me on match day, I’m not sure I ever am.

Nerves were ramped up even more so as I had changed trainers, putting City's entire season at risk. Last season's lucky trainers had developed a squeak sometime in March, putting friendships in peril with fellow match goers. They had to go, but at what price?

Being a football fan, a fan of a team with very high expectations, goes against my nature. A nature that avoids risk, throwing caution to the win, taking chances, exposing myself to stress, difficulties and more predisposed in nature to being at my happiest when sat on a couch doing precisely nothing. Football fandom does not fit, as it takes away the control. Your mood, your happiness, dependent on factors out of your control.

Additionally, the double whammy of modern life and getting old has worn me down. Toxicity, legal wranglings, tribalism, asterisks, you know the score. Last season I was zen because my team had won the Treble, and if you can’t relax after that, at least slightly, then it’s time to call it a day, or get on those statins. But the bottom line is I am not 18 anymore, I don’t go to away games, it is not some mad adventure it once was, my football club’s brilliance is a staple part of my life alongside many other things. Life moves on, priorities change, but I am lying if I did not accept that City’s success in the past decade and more has provided a large fraction of my happiness. The younger me never expected any of this, couldn’t even dream of having this much to smile about.

So I should be more grateful, and in time I will. I’m just easing back into it. The routine. Lucky socks, left shoe on first, only cross at the top of the road, left turnstile, all essential elements of City’s success. Seeing old friends again, not really talking about football or anything remotely important, drinking beer, watching football, drinking beer, eating snacks, going home, sleep. Rinse and repeat. At the end of the next cycle, hopefully plenty to cheer. If not, we bemoan Txiki and move on.

Of course if City had lost at the weekend, these thoughts would be very different in tone, in as much as they would not exist. But thankfully Pep Guardiola took my hand, and a million others, as he has countless times before and said, “don’t worry, I’ve got this”. And in a way, City have to be this good to avoid the downsides of being a fan, because few if any clubs have this much toxicity hanging over them.

Yeah, they did not lose. And football reminded me once more why I, we, do this, go through this routine every matchday, week after week, year after year, until the universe calls time on us. That euphoria, punching the air, hugging friends, the relief, joy, the satisfaction. That ball hitting the back of the net, from a foot like a traction engine. The full-time whistle, sitting back, safe in the knowledge it was going to be a good day after all. A great one in fact. The alcohol was having its effect, people were smiling, apart from the Rag in the corner, the mood was relaxed. Better by far than a day of nothing, another box set, a day of feeling nothing.

And next week, friends will be seen for the first time since May, the sun may even show its face, and it’s the first home game of many in what will undoubtedly be another dramatic, rollercoaster of a season. Not liking sport would be damn unfortunate. It's not just about the results. It's everything that sits around the match. The craic, the social life, the friends made, it defines our identity. The results have helped though, ngl.

And now I’m back in the groove. Already thinking about that Champions League draw. It's a season that may severely test that love, due to events off the pitch. But for now, here I am, falling back in love again.

And then I heard that Ilkay Gundogan was coming back.

Yeah, I don’t like football. I love it. Come on City. Announce Gundogan.

Welcome once more to the 93:20 podcast newsletter, and thanks for subscribing. Every week we (almost certainly Howard tbh) will be sending a few thoughts, links to what we have been up to, and a lot more besides. Spread the word, and of course – up the blues!

Our shows this week so far (link below):

Tackled: Episode 1

In the first of a new series, Ahsan and Howard tackle a wealth of stories and action from the world of football over the past week in a whistle-stop tour.

The Review: Relentless

In the first of a new series, Ahsan and Howard tackle a wealth of stories and action from the world of football over the past week in a whistle-stop tour.

The Market: Episode 2

Ahsan and Lloyd discuss Ilkay Gundogan’s imminent return, and talk about the elusive Erling Haaland back-up striker. Plus loads more.

Coming Up:

On Friday alone!!!
The Premier League Show, The Friday Show, and a special one-off show called My Dream Football Club, where guests create their ideal club from scratch.

Plus the usual reviews, previews, transfer talk and more.

Next week will see an exclusive interview with Marti Perarnau as his magnificent book “The Pep Revolution: Inside Guardiola’s Manchester City” is released in English, chaired by Ahsan. There is also a planned chat by Howard with the author of an upcoming Francis Lee autobiography.
So quite a lot, basically!

If you are not a subscriber to our player shows, then enjoy some free samples of what we are about. Every show we do will have a 15 minutes sample on Soundcloud, along with a full, free weekly Friday show, jam- packed with content. Give it a try!