The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered
The Beautiful Game, Unfiltered is a global soccer podcast that goes beyond headlines to uncover the real stories shaping football. Through interviews with club chairmen, players, journalists, and other influential voices, the show explores the business, personal, and cultural sides of the sport. It covers the full spectrum of football, from top clubs to overlooked stories, offering authentic perspectives not found elsewhere.
Episodes
Spygate: Was The Full Punishment Enough?
Southampton’s Spygate scandal has raised major questions about cheating, sporting integrity, and fair punishment in English football. On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel breaks down Southampton FC’s spying controversy, their EFL Championship playoff expulsion, four-point deduction and manager Tonda Eckert’s suspended six-week ban from the Football Association.Chris fo
Manchester City: What Happened and What Could Come Next
The Beautiful Game takes a deep dive into Manchester City’s Premier League financial case, the independent commission ruling, City’s appeal, possible sporting sanctions and the potentially enormous compensation claims that could follow.Chris Horwedel walks through the case from its origins, including the financial-reporting allegations, manager and player compensation issues, UEFA compliance, Prem
Jillian Leiper on Taking on a Player/Manager Role
What happens when you help a club win the first trophy in its women’s team history—and 22 days later, you’re asked to manage the teammates you just celebrated with?In this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel is joined by Jillian Leiper, player-manager of Alloa Athletic Women, for an in-depth conversation about making that extraordinary transition, building a team culture and
Dan Bolesta and Ruby Heselden Talk Luton Town Ladies
Luton Town Ladies head coach Dan Bolesta and defender Ruby Heselden join The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for an in-depth conversation about Luton Town, women’s football, player development, coaching and the realities of competing in the English football pyramid.Chris Horwedel talks with Bolesta about his journey from grassroots and community coaching with MK Dons to taking charge of Luton Town Ladi
TomFM on Lincoln City and Being a Full-Time FM Creator
YouTube content creator Tom Kelsey (TomFM) joins The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for an in-depth conversation about Football Manager, FM26, Lincoln City, YouTube, and the world behind one of football gaming’s most recognizable channels.Chris Horwedel sits down with Tom to trace the relationship between real-world football and Football Manager that has shaped his life and career. The conversation ex
Top 10 Impactful Transfers & 5 Potential Busts
The 2026 summer transfer window reshaped world football, with record spending, blockbuster moves, surprising bargains and high-risk deals across Europe, Major League Soccer and the English football pyramid.In this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel looks beyond transfer fees and reputation to identify the moves that could have the biggest impact on the coming season. The foc
Todd Smith on Relegated and Life in the Football Pyramid
Todd Smith, author of Relegated: One American’s Pints and Pies Journey from the Top to the Bottom of the English Football World, joins Chris Horwedel on The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for a conversation about the culture, communities and people that make English football unlike anything else in sports.Smith explains how a lifelong connection to soccer eventually became an ambitious journey through
Luke Chadwick Talks Manchester United and Mental Health
Former Manchester United midfielder and Premier League champion Luke Chadwick joins The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for a deeply personal conversation about Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane, Cambridge United, mental health, the Football Fun Factory, and his autobiography, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Luke Chadwick Story. Chadwick retraces a football journey that took him from a small
Tom Cliffe on Fan Representation at Northampton Town
On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel sits down with Tom Cliffe, lifelong Northampton Town FC supporter, elected supporter representative on the club’s Board of Directors, chairman of the Fan Advisory Board and longtime matchday volunteer at Sixfields Stadium, for an in-depth conversation about the past, present and future of the Cobblers.Tom shares how his relationship
Bernard Vere on How Supporters Built Clapton Community FC
On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel is joined by Bernard Vere of Clapton Community FC to tell the remarkable story of one of English football’s most distinctive supporter-owned clubs.Clapton Community FC was founded in 2018 after supporters of Clapton FC became increasingly frustrated with how their club was being run. After attempts to gain a meaningful voice and two
Louis Jones on Creating a Surprise Shirts Empire
On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel sits down with Louis Jones, founder of Surprise Shirts, to explore how a teenage football-shirt obsession became a seven-figure global business.Louis shares how he launched Surprise Shirts at 16. He explains how the company grew from Twitter DMs, Depop and a dining-room table into a mystery football shirt business carrying more than
Nick Vanderpump Explains Cardiff Met’s Dual-Career Model
On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel sits down with Cardiff Met Football Club general manager Nick Vanderpump for an in-depth conversation about the club’s evolution, its place within Welsh football and its ambition to become the leading destination for dual-career footballers.Vanderpump begins by discussing his lifelong connection to football, his academic background
Chloe Ankers on Wrexham and New Opportunities
From making her senior debut for Wrexham at just 16 years old to beginning a new chapter as a player-coach, Chloe Ankers is building one of the most fascinating young careers in Welsh women’s football.On Episode 4 of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel sits down with the new Wrexham Foresters goalkeeper and coach for an in-depth conversation about her football journey, the evolution of
Jack Worswick Talks Leicester City's Downfall
On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel talks with Jack Worswick of Last Word on Sports about one of the wildest collapses in modern English football: Leicester City’s fall from Premier League champions to League One.Jack explains his background as a Leicester supporter and writer, and how difficult it has become to cover the club analytically while also having an emotion
Warshan Hussin of Soccer Without Borders
On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel sits down with Warshan Hussin of Soccer Without Borders for a powerful conversation about soccer, refugee identity, community, trauma, belonging, and the life-changing impact of the beautiful game. Warshan shares his journey from Iraq to the United States after his family was forced to flee when his father was kidnapped and tortured
The New Saints Chairman Mike Harris
On this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel is joined by The New Saints chairman Mike Harris for a wide-ranging conversation about one of the most successful and debated clubs in Welsh football.The interview centers on TNS’s rise from domestic powerhouse to European regular, beginning with Harris’ documentary, The New Saints: The Road to Europe — The Mike Harris Story, and ho
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