Episode Summary
Hosts
Graham Dunn, Jamie Rooney, Phil Craig, Declan Clark
Phil Craig, Declan Clark
Guest(s)
Release Date
12 June 2025
Duration
75 min
In this season-ending special, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney are joined by regular guests Phil Craig and Declan Clark to revisit every team featured in Season 3 of By Far The Greatest Team — and to decide which ones deserve promotion or relegation within The Greatness Index.
Together, they look back on a remarkable mix of footballing stories and styles: the attacking flair of Newcastle United 1994–97, the tactical discipline of Greece 2004, the resilience of Kilmarnock 1964–65, and the continental ambition of Dundee United 1982–87. Each side brought something unique to the series — and now it’s time to reassess where they truly belong.
The discussion blends football nostalgia, data-driven reasoning, and light-hearted argument as the panel debates which clubs should climb up to True Greats status and which might slip to Edge of Greatness. Along the way, they revisit standout moments from the season’s deep dives — the emotional highs, the forgotten heroes, and the tactical evolutions that defined each era.
This is By Far The Greatest Team at its best: passionate, informed, and unafraid to challenge its own conclusions. As the Greatness Index table is reshuffled live on air, the hosts remind us that football greatness is never fixed — it’s debated, redefined, and rediscovered with every season.
Takeaways
Underdog stories resonate deeply with fans and add to football's charm.
Domestic success is just as important as international achievements.
Luck can play a pivotal role in a team's journey during tournaments.
Newcastle United's legacy is marred by their historical collapse.
Promotion and relegation discussions reveal deep-seated rivalries.
The concept of 'touch of greatness' is subjective and varies by perspective.
Highs and Lows Define Football’s True Greatness
Every football season ends with tears — some of joy, others of heartbreak. Promotion and relegation form the sport’s truest emotional currency. It’s where heroes are born, dreams are shattered, and legacies are defined not by trophies, but by survival, resilience, and revival.
In this special episode, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney take listeners through football’s most timeless cycle: the rise and fall of clubs across eras and leagues. They revisit the defining moments of the season’s By Far The Greatest Team episodes — from the brilliance and heartbreak of Newcastle United’s collapses, to Dallas Tornado’s world tour, to Paul Gascoigne’s tears, each story reminding us that greatness wears many forms.
The conversation explores what makes the sport so emotionally unpredictable: the managers who rebuild from ruin, the teams who defy gravity, and the fans who stay when the cameras are gone. The hosts also take a closer look at The Greatness Index — how context, adversity, and cultural influence shape legacy beyond wins and losses.
There’s humour and honesty too — about the false hope of set pieces, the obsession with corners that rarely deliver goals, and the eternal question of what truly separates the great from the nearly-great.
This episode isn’t about crowning champions; it’s about celebrating football’s full spectrum — from promotion ecstasy to relegation despair. In that contrast lies the sport’s beauty, its truth, and its humanity.
Main Topics
Iconic Moments
Reviewing all ranked teams from Season 3, promotion/relegation arguments, tier debates
Evolution of tactics, management, and club identity
Underdog stories and the allure of football’s unpredictability
The role of key players and managers in defining greatness
The Greatness Index and the debate around legacy
Season 3 retrospective, team tier moves, podcast panel debate
Gascoigne’s tears
Dallas Tornado’s world tour
Promotion celebrations; relegation despair
Notable Manager
Various
Notable Players
Various
Style of Play
Varied, tactical evolution, analytical, reflective, historical, multi-era
As a conceptual and reflective episode, the “style of play” here mirrors the diversity of football itself — a mix of tactical evolution, strategic insight, and emotional storytelling. The hosts explore how different teams across eras have expressed greatness through contrasting philosophies: from the rigid formations of post-war football to the fluid pressing systems of the modern game.
Discussions highlight how promotion-winning sides often rely on collective energy, compact defensive shapes (4-4-2s and 3-5-2s built on unity and belief), while relegation survivors thrive on adaptability and courage under pressure. Conversely, dominant teams in decline reveal the fragility of success — a recurring theme throughout the series.
The episode also analyses tactical trends across generations — the growing importance of transitions, pressing, and data analytics — while acknowledging the timeless human elements: leadership, luck, and emotion. Football’s beauty, the hosts argue, lies in its contradictions: data-driven yet unpredictable, disciplined yet chaotic, universal yet deeply local.
This episode, like the game itself, flows between structure and improvisation — a celebration of football’s rhythm, its balance between control and chaos, and its eternal cycles of triumph and despair.
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