How John Crossan became football's most harshly treated player

The white ball was widely disliked during trials in 1927 and one manufacturer declared it ‘practically impossible to make’. It would take another 24 years for the Football League to give it the go-ahead

Stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In the final episode of this series: 15 Dutch footballers were among 176 people who died in a 1989 plane crash. Edu Nandlal, one of the survivors, tells his story

The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: Alex Villaplane said captaining France was ‘the happiest day of his life’. Fourteen years later he was shot dead for being a traitor.

The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: after English clubs were banned from Europe in 1985, the Football League created a consolation competition for them.

The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: the white ball was widely disliked during trials in 1927 and one manufacturer declared it ‘practically impossible to make’. It would take another 24 years for the Football League to give it the go-ahead

The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: the concluding part of a feature-length story about Jim McLean, the tactical genius, bully, visionary and ‘absolute bampot’ behind Dundee United’s unimaginable success in the 1980s

The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: the first of a two-part feature-length story about Jim McLean, the tactical genius, bully, visionary and ‘absolute bampot’ behind Dundee United’s unimaginable success in the 1980s

The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: Primetime TV would prove the inspiration for one of the most shambolic managerial appointments in football history. How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: banned for ‘life’ in 1959, the former Northern Ireland forward John Crossan can consider himself the most harshly treated footballer of all time

Football is more than just a game. The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet. In this episode: Fred Spiksley dazzled as an outside-left, but found his far-reaching coaching ideas spurned in England after success abroad, having also dabbled in film and been embroiled in a wartime escape mission