Mavericks and Managers

'Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel' explores the meaning of England and Englishness through the history of the England Men’s Football team. This is a social and cultural history as much as a sporting one, examining the story England tells about itself and how it's changed, via the medium of the international game.

In episode two, Mavericks and Managers, David Baddiel shares a theory that he once unsuccessfully shared with England Manager, Terry Venables. England isn’t good at dealing with talent, specifically with maverick talent, talent that doesn’t play by the rules - the best kind of talent. As a result, England men’s football is littered with wonderous players who won very few caps, and never more than in the 1970s. David thinks the team, in this respect, represents the country and gets to the bottom of how various kinds of Englishness fought to keep the genius Brian Clough away from the manager’s job, and Rodney Marsh, the most talented player of his generation, away from the team.

Across the series, David Baddiel will be joined by contributors including Stephen Fry, Alex James, Maisie Adam, Elis James, Barney Ronay, Roy Williams, Des Lynam, Stuart Pearce, Jean Williams, David Goldblatt, Pippa Grange, Jonathan Wilson, David Seaman, Omid Djalili and many more.

Sixty Years of Hurt with David Baddiel is produced by BBC Studios Audio for BBC Radio 4, in collaboration with Left Bank Pictures who are producing the upcoming drama Dear England for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.