Our last draft of the year goes back to 1984-85, the season when the greatest team in Everton’s history romped to glory. Martyn, Gary and Mac Millings select their XIs from Division One that season. As you can imagine, Gary is like a pig in Chardonnary throughout. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nessundorma.substack.com ..read more

Martyn and Rob are joined by Rob Fletcher (aka 90s Football Writer) to pick their England XIs from a storied decade. As well as reaching the semi-finals of Italia 90 and Euro 96, England were involved in a true World Cup classic at France 98 and reached Euro 92 when it was still an eight-team tournament. Let’s not dwell on what happened when they got there). Some players were mainstays for large parts of the 1990s: Paul Gascoigne, Alan Shearer, David Platt, Stuart Pearce, David Seaman, Paul Ince and Tony Adams. Others burned brightly and briefly at either end of the decade: Gary Lineker, Micha ..read more

With the 2023 World Cup entering its final week, Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by Jonathan Hungin and Andrew Miller for another cricket draft - this time the fondly remembered 1992 edition in Australia and New Zealand. It was the first World Cup with coloured clothing, white balls and Powerplays at the start of the innings. After a wretched start to the tournament, Pakistan’s cornered tigers roared to victory, beating England in a memorable final at the MCG. This was a different era of ODI cricket, with only eight centuries scored in the entire tournament. But it was chockfull of legends of ..read more

Nessun Dorma ventures into new territory this week, with Martyn and Rob joined by two special guests for our first ever cricket episode. Jonathan Hungin and Andrew Miller, who worked with Rob at Wisden.com at the turn of the century, join us to draft their XIs from the memorable 1999 World Cup. The list of players includes all-time greats hitting the heights (Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath, Rahul Dravid, Wasim Akram, Allan Donald) and unheralded players having the best month of their careers (Gavin Hamilton, Neil Johnson, Geoff Allott). Somewhere in the middle was Lance Klusener, who ..read more

Martyn and Rob are joined by Rob Fletcher, author of 1992: The Birth of Modern Football, and Ally Bain of Retro Football Analysis to pick their teams from a classic European season. Marquee picks include Raul, Oliver Kahn, Gaizka Mendieta, Fernando Redondo, Patrick Kluivert, Mario Jardel, Roy Keane, Luis Figo, Rivaldo and Jaap Stam. A reminder of the rules of the Nessun Dorma draft: * Each player can only be picked by one person. When Raul has gone, he’s gone. * Players are judged solely on their performances in the Champions League in 1999-2000. So, for one season only, Ivan Campo is a better ..read more

Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by Rob Fletcher, author of the superb 1992: The Birth of Modern Football, to draft their teams from the inaugural Premier League season. Marquee picks include Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer, Paul Ince, Paul McGrath, Les Ferdinand, Steve Staunton, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs. A reminder of the rules of the Nessun Dorma draft: * Each player can only be picked by one person. When Eric Cantona has gone, he’s gone. * Players are judged solely on their performances in the Premier League in 1992-93. So, for one season only, Micky Quinn is a better bet than Ian Rush. * You dec ..read more

It’s a big one this week: France 98, a tournament full of great games and all-time-great players. Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg - who worked with Glenn Hoddle on his autobiography, Playmaker - to draft their XIs from the balmy, barmy summer of 1998. A reminder of the rules of the Nessun Dorma draft: * Each player can only be picked by one person. When Ronaldo has gone, he’s gone. * Players are judged solely on their performances at France 98. Thus: Jose Luis Chilavert good, Teddy Sheringham not so good. * You decide who wins the draft. Go to Twitter/X (@ness ..read more

This week’s draft is a challenge: picking an XI from England internationals of the 1980s. Martyn, Gary and Rob are joined by… nobody, and that’s probably a good thing because it's hard enough finding 33 players, never mind 44. A reminder of the rules of the Nessun Dorma draft: 1. Each player can only be picked by one person. When Bryan Robson and Gary Lineker have gone, they’ve gone. 2. Players are judged solely on their form for England in the 1980s. Greatness at club level, or for England at Italia 90, is worth bugger all. 3. You decide who wins the draft. Go to Twitter/X on Tuesday morning ..read more

We’re going draft daft over the next few weeks, with a mini-series devoted to arguing over the best XIs from various tournaments, seasons and eras. We start with English football’s summer of love, also known as Euro 96. Martyn and Rob are joined by Mike Gibbons, whose When Football Came Home is the best book around on that tournament, and Jonathan O’Brien, author of the definitive European Championship history. The rules of the draft are simple: * Each player can only be picked by one person. When Matthias Sammer has gone, he’s gone. * Players are judged solely on their form during Euro 96. Th ..read more

Gary and Rob talk to Martyn about his book Revolution: Rangers 1986-92, and how Graeme Souness changed Scottish football when he became player-manager at Ibrox. It was a perfect storm, and for a short time Rangers had a pulling power that not even England’s biggest clubs could match. Souness was prepared to rip up traditions - and pick fights with just about everyone - in his attempt to continue lifting trophies after hanging up his boots. Revolution: Rangers 1986-92 by Martyn Ramsay is published by DB. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get ..read more