ND Extra Time: When The Seagulls Follow the Trawler by Tom Whitworth

The 1990 World Cup is one that we know so well that we can almost say for sure where we were when we watched every game. But what if one moment was changed? What if Nery Pumpido had managed to smother François Omam-Biyik's header in the San Siro? Would we have had a better football tournament as a result? Rob and Martyn enjoy some counterfactual history by changing one goal and seeing what would happen as a result. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a one-off summer treat we are making our weekly Patreon show open to all. This Week is available every Monday morning and has two Nessun Dorma regulars picking out seven stories from football history that coincide with the coming seven dates in the week. Rob and Martyn have plenty to work with this week and they reflect upon three World Cup Finals, three semi finals and two massive signings. 7 July 8 July 9 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 13 July If you want to hear this every Monday morning, want your regular episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And so it is time to bid adieu to Euro '84 as France and Spain meet in the final and so much of Europe craving a home victory for the good of the game. Martyn, Aidan and Jonathan look at a final ruined by nerves, assess the tournament's legacy, where Platini's individual performance sits among the greats and put together their best XI of the Championship. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the European football public had caught their breath following the first semi final, most assumed that the finale itself had the potential to be the best of all. Denmark were strong favourites to beat Spain - who were extremely fortunate to still be active in the competition - and set up a beautiful footballing conclusion to an enjoyable tournament. However, many Spanish players believed that luck was with them. Something that can take teams a long way in these things... Rob is with Martyn this week to explain Denmark's sudden rise to prominence, why so many neutrals took them to heart and how Spain broke those hearts in the end. 'Danish Dynamite', which Rob co-wrote with Mike Gibbons and Lars Eriksen is still available in the usual places. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aidan Williams and Jonathan O'Brien return to luxuriate in perhaps the greatest European Championship match of all time. With time ticking by, it felt like it was all going wrong again for France, destined forever to come up short at the big events. Within five minutes, the entire narrative was changed. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"The German monster has survived too long" opined Le Soir on 21 June 1984. And that was one of the more sober conclusions. After the way France's World Cup had ended, schadenfreude was not in short supply when the reigning European Champions went home before the real action started. It was also one of the two games that was shown live in the UK. Jonathan O'Brien joins Martyn to make sense of Group 2 with a surprise Iberian challenge and a disappointingly restrictive Romania. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If the host nation were nervy in that opening night in Paris, they quickly shrugged it off throughout the rest of Group 1. Platini's seven goals in three games, the young promise of Scifo and Stojković, the shackles around the Romanians and the disgrace that derailed Belgium give Martyn and Aidan Williams lots to talk about in a group that produced 23 goals. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martyn, Rob and Aidan are back to finish off this memorable qualifying story. Italy were seemingly on a post-World Cup gap year, Northern Ireland managed to beat West Germany home and away and still finish second - a tale of glorious failure that would become more familiar for some home nations - and the Netherlands were booking their hotel after setting Spain the task of winning their final game by 11 clear goals... If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. If you enjoy the show then please leave a review and tell your friends! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is tournament time again in the Nessun Dorma marathon and this time we revisit one that was, in the words of one writer, 'the greatest tournament you never saw'. That writer was Aidan Williams and he joins Rob and Martyn in the first of two parts that tell the remarkable story of qualification for Euro '84, a tale that is almost as dramatic as the Finals themselves. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Never before or since, has one league been as strong throughout European football. Author and friend of the show, Dominic Hougham joins Martyn to talk about his upcoming new book charting the years between 1988/89 and 1998/99 when Serie A bestrode the continent like a colossus. Owners were as famous as the galaxy of star managers and players as mega clubs and those more provincial managed to get their hands on European prizes and this book takes us through how it happened and, mainly through Channel 4, how we were seduced by its glamour. This excellent book is available to pre-order here before its general release on 2 June. https://amzn.eu/d/9hixGsO Our 8-part series on Euro '84 will start next week. If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices