The Morning Club - 23 October: A new look for the Champions League, Jicha stays at Kiel

Confirming the news we shared last month, the Men's Champions League will have a new look next season. We dive into the new structure, what it means and what we think of it. And over on Patreon: Filip Jicha has signed a new contract with Kiel, ending speculation about his future. Better the devil you know?

We're just a month into the new Champions League season but we're already getting a glimpse at the bigger picture as we put the spotlight on three teams which have impressed us so far and three we are worried about. Patreon subscribers got a chance last week to hear from Scott Harrington, perhaps the most-established native English-speaking coach in world handball, now you get to as well. Sitting at the Neistin club house, we spoke about his early start in coaching, his career to date, featuring spells as coach for Faroe Islands, China and current Champions League club Sola, as well as his return to Faroe Islands last year. We discuss what has changed since the emergence of Faroe Islands as a real handball nation, what the next generations have in store for us and his coaching desires for the future.

As is tradition, we dive into our full Bundesliga coverage with a few rounds under the belt to get a feel for what's actually happening in handball's strongest domestic league. Björn Pazen joins us to discuss the contrasting fortunes of the league's top dogs and who might emerge as this season's surprise package.

We launch the new handball season with a celebratory episode, reaching episode 300 of the podcast! In the eight years since we began, the handball world has changed a lot, so we look back at our first episodes to compare and contrast how things were and where we are today. Plus, we welcome Brian Campion back to the mic to celebrate with us.

As if the Bundesliga needs drama like this to garner attention! In one of the sport's most shocking turn of events in years, if not ever, Stefan Kretzschmar and Jaron Siewert have departed Fuchse Berlin. We dive into the timeline, the background and plenty more as we come to terms with a this news in an emergency morning club.

With HB Ludwigsburg filing for insolvency just over a year after reaching the Champions League final, the women's handball community has been dealt another major blow. Following Tobias Reichmann's column stated that women's handball should dream less, accept the reality and lower expectations, former German international and current team manager Anja Althaus bit back and led the charge in calling him out. We speak to Anja in the first of a two-part interview about the reaction and the state of women's handball in Germany. Part 2 is available on Tuesday for everyone on patreon.com/handballhour

During and after the beach handball EURO in Türkiye, Chris had the chance to speak to an array of fascinating people in the beach handball community, to get their thoughts on the latest major championship, their personal perspectives and the sport in a wider sense. We hear from Germany's gold medal winner Severin Henrich, Greece's Labrina Tsakalou, Malta's Liam Harrison and EHF Beach Handball Commission Chairwoman Gabriella Horvath.

We're in Türkiye for the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2025 and with the tournament at the halfway mark, it's a great time to check in with a couple of the protagonists. Liam Harrison is making his EURO debut with Malta and speaks about the experience so far, how the national team and sport have developed at home and what his hopes are for the future. Gabriella Horváth is both an EHF Executive Committee Member and the Hungarian Handball Federation Secretary General, so she gives some thoughts on the tournament as a whole and her home nation in the first part of our interview with her. Part 2 will be featured in a wider review of the tournament and a look at the sport as a whole next week.

We look back at the Men's Junior World Championship and the lessons it has taught us about the present and future stars of the sport, plus we unpack the Champions League group phase draw.

SC Magdeburg are Champions League winners and while they may have made it look easy on Sunday, they've done it the hard way this season. We look back at their triumph over Berlin in the final and how they got there, from a losing record in the group phase, squeaking past Veszprém and Barca and the subtle but massive improvements since last year.