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Sport's Strangest Crimes

<p>When sport collides with true crime.</p>

BBC Radio 5 Live

As the FIFA draw takes place in Washington DC and the great and the good of the footballing world convene in the US capital, spies come out of the woodwork to speak to James. Former CIA operatives and military intelligence aficionados spill their beans, but could the ex-CEO of USA ‘94 have the most intriguing lead?Presented by James Montague
Written by Ben Wyatt and Emma Weatherill
Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey
Production manager: Debbie Waddell
Development Executive: Emma Shaw
Executive Producers: Ben Wyatt, Emma Weatherill and Joe Kent
Sound Design and Composition: Melvin Rickarby
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Shadows on the Pitch: 5. All the Presidents Men

World Cup qualifiers return to Doha in 2025, and so does football conspiracy, but can James see through the controversy to get to the bottom of what happened on similar pitches over thirty years ago?Presented by James Montague 
Written by Ben Wyatt and Emma Weatherill 
Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey
Production manager: Debbie Waddell
Development Executive: Emma Shaw
Executive Producers: Ben Wyatt, Emma Weatherill and Joe Kent 
Sound Design and Composition: Melvin Rickarby 
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Shadows on the Pitch: 4. The Agony of Doha

The world of spies and sports collide as James speaks to security specialists and those who lived to tell the tale about rumours of America’s shadowy past. From claims of  secret mass surveillance of the Olympic Games, both home and abroad, to the curious World Cup interests of Henry Kissinger.
 
But what does it all mean for the conspiracy theory he’s trying to make sense of, the claim that America influenced a World Cup qualifying tournament to protect USA ‘94?Presented by James Montague 
Written by Ben Wyatt and Emma Weatherill 
Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey
Production manager: Debbie Waddell
Development Executive: Emma Shaw
Executive Producers: Ben Wyatt, Emma Weatherill and Joe Kent 
Sound Design and Composition: Melvin Rickarby 
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Shadows on the Pitch: 3. Spy Games

A political powder-keg World Cup qualifying tournament held in Doha. American security on the line. James tries to make sense of what went down in the desert shadows.Thirty years on he reviews the matches, looking for clues about why the conspiracy persists, and hears what it was like to play for Iraq in the 1990s under the whip of Uday Hussein - Saddam’s son.Presented by James Montgaue
Written by Ben Wyatt and Emma Weatherill
Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey
Production manager: Debbie Waddell
Development Executive: Emma Shaw
Executive Producers: Ben Wyatt, Emma Weathrill and Joe Kent
Sound Design and Composition: Melvin Rickarby
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Shadows on the Pitch: 2. Son of Anarchy

Can an ex-referee with a cryptic message help James unravel an explosive conspiracy about the build-up to World Cup USA 1994? James travels to Bucharest to find out more …  Presented by James Montague 
Written by Ben Wyatt and Emma Weatherill 
Production co-ordinator: Juliette Harvey
Production manager: Debbie Waddell
Development Executive: Emma Shaw
Executive Producers: Ben Wyatt, Emma Weatherill and Joe Kent 
Sound Design and Composition: Melvin Rickarby 
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie MiddletonA BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.ARCHIVE:
AP Archive - Iraqi football team celebrates Asia Cup victory - (Aug, 2007)
Firstpost America -FirstPost Live TV -  Iraq’s World Cup 2026 qualification - (March, 2026) 
White House Communications Agency - Clinton’s USA ‘94 opening speech - (July 1994)
Spitting Image Productions - The Mary Whitehouse Experience World Cup skit anticipating America as hosts - (Oct, 1990)
Los Angeles Times - Uncle Sam’s Visas? Not for Iraq, Iran : World Cup: Both fail to qualify, alleviating fears of U.S. officials over possibility of political terrorism - (Oct, 1993) 
CSPAN - Trump announces World Cup taskforce alongside Infantino - (March, 2025)

Shadows on the Pitch: 1. No Terrorists in America

Conspiracy theories and the football World Cup seem to go hand in hand. 
 
Football writer James Montague is digging into one that refuses to fade; a story that takes us back to the first time America hosted the men's football World Cup.. 
 
Did the US influence a qualifying tournament to keep its enemies Iraq, Iran and North Korea from playing at USA ‘94? It’s a conspiracy theory put forward by the Iraqi football federation over thirty years ago and one that’s obsessed football writer James Montague for over a decade.

Shadows on the Pitch: Trailer

The streak is over but the chaos is just beginning.Mark Roberts has danced naked at the centre of the Super Bowl, been tackled by an NFL linebacker, and carried off the field. What he doesn’t realise is that minutes earlier, a “wardrobe malfunction” at halftime has triggered a media storm that might well dwarf his moment. While Mark sits in a crowded Houston holding cell — still in his Velcro referee uniform — halftime producer Salli Frattini is hauled up to the NFL commissioner’s box to explain what just happened live to 100 million viewers. Janet Jackson has vanished. Justin Timberlake is apologising. And the NFL is in crisis mode.Hours later, Mark is charged with criminal trespass and released on bail — buzzing from the streak, but now facing a very real Texas trial.What follows is a courtroom drama broadcast on Court TV and the very real threat of six months in a Texas prison for Mark. Hard to see how he can blag his way out of this one. As Mark’s legal fate unfolds, the fallout from halftime spirals: complaints flood in, careers are damaged, and senior figures begin to question their roles.Back in Liverpool, Mark rides the wave of fame — then slowly steps back as nothing can ever top the Super Bowl. Twenty years later, a diagnosis forces him to confront a harder question: not can he streak again, but should he?After three decades of running naked toward the spotlight, is the Streaker King finally ready to stop… or will there be another temptation he just can’t resist. Presented by Rich Hall
Produced and written by Elle Scott
Production co-ordinator:  Juliette Harvey.  
Production manager: Debbie Waddell.  
Development Executive:  Emma Shaw.
Production Executive:  Ian Taitt
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt
Sound Design and Composition: Julian Corrie
Assistant Commissioner:  Rob Green
Commissioning Executive:  Stevie MiddletonA BBC Studios Production for  BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Confessions of a Super Bowl Streaker: 6. The Fallout

Houston, 2004. Super Bowl XXXVIII. The biggest television event of the year — and everyone involved is chasing perfection.Inside the NFL machine, Jim Steeg is orchestrating a military-grade operation where every second is worth millions. In the production truck, Salli Frattini is holding together a halftime show so complex it feels like a controlled explosion: Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, pyro, thousands of performers, and cameras everywhere. On the field, Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham is inches away from the game of his life.And somewhere in the middle of all this sits Mark Roberts — disguised, tattooed, layered in Velcro, and nervously taping a tiny deflated American football over his “chicken McNugget” because Texas has him rattled.As the game kicks off, the tension builds — not just for the players, but for everyone who knows what’s riding on halftime. When it arrives, the stadium turns into a full-blown 2004 MTV spectacle: lights, dancers, smoke, sweat, and pop royalty at its most electric.It looks flawless. It sounds flawless. Everyone thinks it is flawless.But in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, something happens that almost nobody inside the stadium fully registers — yet will be replayed, analysed, and argued about for decades.And while everyone  is distracted by that half-second… Mark sees his chance.Presented by Rich Hall
Produced and written by Elle Scott
Production co-ordinator:  Juliette Harvey.  
Production manager: Debbie Waddell.  
Development Executive:  Emma Shaw.
Production Executive:  Ian Taitt
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt
Sound Design and Composition: Julian Corrie
Assistant Commissioner:  Rob Green
Commissioning Executive:  Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for  BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Confessions of a Super Bowl Streaker: 5. Houston, We Have So Many Problems

After failing in San Diego, Mark swore he’d never try the Super Bowl again. Then one unexpected email changes everything.Comedian Rich Hall presents the story of an eight-month mission to infiltrate Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston - rehearsals, disguises, sponsor tattoos, and a growing belief that this time, he really might pull it off.At the same time, the NFL’s Jim Steeg and MTV’s Salli Frattini are juggling post-9/11 security, a wildly complicated half-time show, and the pressure of a live global broadcast.Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham is locked in for the biggest game of his life. Mark is locked in for the biggest streak of his.Everyone's converging on Houston with their own plans. Mark's ready. The NFL's ready. The players are ready. But is anyone really ready for what is about to happen?Presented by Rich Hall
Produced and written by Elle Scott
Production co-ordinator:  Juliette Harvey.  
Production manager: Debbie Waddell.  
Development Executive:  Emma Shaw.
Production Executive:  Ian Taitt
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt
Sound Design and Composition: Julian Corrie
Assistant Commissioner:  Rob Green
Commissioning Executive:  Stevie MiddletonA BBC Studios Production for  BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Confessions of a Super Bowl Streaker: 4. The Man With the Plan

Before Mark could streak the Super Bowl, both streaking and the Super Bowl had to become what they are.Streaking has a history. The Super Bowl has a history. And host Rich Hall? Well he has a history too, which might explain a few things.Rich Hall pulls apart the rise and fall of streaking in 1970s America - a cultural flash in the pan that somehow never quite died. Then, the evolution of the Super Bowl from a simple championship game into a global spectacle of music, money, and over-the-top showmanship.Jim Steeg, the man who ran the event for 26 years, explains how half-time transformed from a small-time, marching-band interval into a billion-dollar pop extravaganza.Meanwhile, Mark brings his act home. A charity streak at the Merseyside Derby is just a warm-up for the moment that truly makes him famous: crashing Fred’s floating weather map live on national television. Overnight, Britain knows exactly who he is.Archive: Famous for Fifteen Minutes, BBC Radio 4.Presented by Rich Hall
Produced and written by Elle Scott
Production co-ordinator:  Juliette Harvey.  
Production manager: Debbie Waddell.  
Development Executive:  Emma Shaw.
Production Executive:  Ian Taitt
Sound Design and Composition: Julian Corrie
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt
Assistant Commissioner: Rob Green
Commissioning Executive: Stevie MiddletonA BBC Studios Production for  BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Confessions of a Super Bowl Streaker: 3. On the Map

Every superhero has an origin story. For Captain Cock, it begins in Hong Kong, 1993.Comedian Rich Hall takes us back to when Mark is a young bartender in the city’s chaotic nightlife district -far from Velcro trousers, tutus, or a global streaking career. Then comes a drunken dare at the Rugby Sevens, the kind most people laugh off and forget by morning.What happens next will set the course of his life for the next three decades. But hang on. Someone else remembers that event very differently. So what are the actual origins of this so-called origin story? Presented by Rich Hall
Produced and written by Elle Scott
Production co-ordinator:  Juliette Harvey.  
Production manager: Debbie Waddell.  
Development Executive:  Emma Shaw.
Production Executive:  Ian Taitt
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt
Sound Design and Composition: Julian Corrie
Assistant Commissioner:  Rob Green
Commissioning Executive:  Stevie MiddletonA BBC Studios Production for  BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Confessions of a Super Bowl Streaker: 2. The Calling

Comedian Rich Hall presents the story of Mark Roberts - who isn't your average bloke. By day, he's a painter from Liverpool. By night? He's Captain Cock - the world's most prolific streaker, a man who's dropped his kit at over 500 major sporting events across 23 countries.By 2002, Mark's conquered almost everything. Wimbledon. The Champions League Final. The Olympics. But there's one event left. The biggest stage on Earth. The Holy Grail of streaking: the Super Bowl.So in 2003, Mark jets off to San Diego. No ticket. No plan. What could possibly go wrong?Presented by Rich Hall
Produced and written by Elle Scott
Production co-ordinator:  Juliette Harvey.  
Production manager: Debbie Waddell.  
Development Executive:  Emma Shaw
Production Executive:  Ian Taitt
Executive Producer: Georgia Catt
Sound Design and Composition: Julian Corrie
Assistant Commissioner:  Rob Green
Commissioning Executive:  Stevie Middleton
A BBC Studios Production for  BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Confessions of a Super Bowl Streaker: 1. Captain C**k

Rich Hall presents the story of one man's mission to conquer the Holy Grail of streaking. The Super Bowl.

Confessions of a Super Bowl Streaker: Trailer

Was Hansie Cronje a villain? A victim? Or something in between? In this final episode, we unpack the legacy Hansie left behind — the loyalties, the doubts, and the stories that still divide opinion. Some say he was trapped by powerful people and trying to find a way out. Others say he knew exactly what he was doing. From emotional moments with close friends to sharp takes from those who saw a darker side, this episode digs into the heart of the scandal and what it says about cricket today.

Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace: 6. Friend or Foe?

June 2002. Hansie Cronje dies in a plane crash. The reaction is immediate - shock, disbelief, grief. But not everyone buys the official story. In Episode 5, Mark Butcher traces Hansie’s final hours - a missed flight, a last-minute ride on a cargo plane, and a descent through mountain cloud with broken instruments and almost no visibility. Was it pilot error, as the report claimed? Or something more? From talk of missing money and dropped investigations to strange phone calls and long-held theories, this episode explores where the facts end and the doubts begin.

Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace: 5. The Only Passenger On Board

Hansie’s admitted guilt but the real drama is only just getting started. Episode 4 takes us to the King Commission, a library turned media circus, where cricket’s clean image takes hit after hit. More names come out. More matches are mentioned. And as the pressure builds, the emotion gets raw. And one big question hovers over it all: was this about getting to the truth or just controlling the damage?

Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace: 4. Not Your Normal Library

The Centurion Test is over. Hansie’s praised for “saving” the match. But rewind 24 hours and the real story starts to unfold. In Episode 3, we go behind the scenes of a game that never should’ve happened - cryptic calls, hotel whispers, and a captain running his own playbook. Then, by pure chance, someone’s listening. And suddenly, Hansie’s house of cards starts to wobble.

Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace: 3. Brown Envelopes

It’s the final Test of a five-match series, and everyone’s already packed their bags. Three days of rain, no result, nothing to play for. Then out of nowhere, Hansie Cronje makes an offer, and the game is back on. In Episode 2, Mark Butcher takes us inside one of the weirdest days he’s ever seen on a cricket field. At the time, it looked like a stroke of sportsmanship. But in hindsight? Let’s just say not everything is as it seems.

Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace: 2. England and the Infamous Forfeits

In the mid-90s, Hansie Cronje was South Africa’s golden boy, the God-fearing captain backed by Nelson Mandela and worshipped by a nation. More than just a cricketer, he was a symbol of hope. But were the cracks there all along? In the first episode of Sport’s Strangest Crimes - Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace, former England cricketer, Mark Butcher revisits the rise of a man who seemed too good to be true and maybe was. Teammates, journalists and friends paint a picture of a leader everyone trusted… until they didn’t. Because before you fall from grace, you’ve got to be on a pedestal.

Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace: 1. Bigger than Becks

Hansie Cronje had it all — captain of South Africa, adored by a nation, trusted by Nelson Mandela. A symbol of hope in the post-apartheid era. Then came the Centurion Test: a rain-ruined match is suddenly back on, thanks to a strange decision by Hansie. At first, it looks like good sportsmanship — until a wiretap in India catches something shocking. What unfolds next will change cricket forever. In Sport’s Strangest Crimes - Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace, former England cricketer Mark Butcher traces the rise and collapse of a national hero — from quiet warning signs and secret phone calls to a dramatic confession and a televised inquiry. But even as Hansie admits to more than just Centurion, many believe the investigation didn’t go far enough. Sixty-three offshore bank accounts are discovered. Links to other players emerge. And just as pressure builds for a deeper probe — Hansie dies in a plane crash. Some say pilot error. Others aren’t so sure. Was Hansie manipulated by a powerful network of fixers? Or was he the one pulling the strings? With testimony from teammates, journalists, investigators and those who knew him best, Mark unpacks a story of power, money, and the dark side of sport. More than two decades on, people are still asking: who was the real Hansie Cronje?

Hansie Cronje: Fall From Grace: Trailer

New coach Conor O’Shea sets about transforming Harlequins’ fortunes and restoring their reputation.Tom Williams rediscovers his form and helps the club to the Premiership final - the ultimate opportunity for redemption.Dean Richards returns to rugby with Newcastle and reflects on the Bloodgate episode, while some of the key figures in the series offer opinions on the legacy of the scandal.Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

Bloodgate: 7. Redemption and Beyond

With the full Bloodgate scandal now exposed, rugby enters a period of soul-searching.Fallen Harlequins coach Dean Richards makes allegations that blood cheating goes to the very top of the game, while Ugo Monye adds his weight to the argument that other teams are culpable.And when Tom Williams returns to the rugby pitch, he’s given a less than warm welcome by opponent Chris Ashton.Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

Bloodgate: 6. Rugby’s Reckoning

Bloodgate is big news - and it’s about to get even bigger…Dean Richards’ resignation has thrust Bloodgate onto the front and back pages - but details of the cover-ups remain outside the public domain.That’s until Paul Kelso, sports news correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, arrives on the scene. While Kelso, now a Sky news correspondent, starts to release details of the murky aftermath to the cheating plot, Tom Williams prepares to reveal all.Everything comes to a head at a hearing in Glasgow, with life-changing consequences for some of the key figures in the Bloodgate plot.Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

Bloodgate: 5. The Biggest Beast in The Jungle

After receiving his 12-month ban, Tom Williams faces pressure from the club and his team-mates as he considers blowing the whistle on the Bloodgate plot. We hear about secret meetings between Tom and the club’s board and horse-trading over what level of financial incentive might persuade him not to reveal the truth.It leads to a showdown at a board member’s house in Cobham, a decisive intervention from Tom’s girlfriend Alex and a shock resignation.Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

Bloodgate: 4. Downfall

Gripping testimony from the Harlequins dressing-room as Tom Williams persuades club doctor Wendy Chapman to help cover up his act of cheating.But when new footage emerges of Tom appearing to chew on a fake blood capsule, European Rugby prosecutors decide to press charges against the player, his coach and the club.Quins agree a cover story - but will it hold water when matters come to a head at a Bloodgate hearing in central London?Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

Bloodgate: 3. The Cover-ups

The story of one rugby's most notorious matches, told by those who were there.A European Cup quarter-final between Harlequins and Leinster was always going to be big - but nobody knew how big.Players from both sides including Ugo Monye and Brian O’Driscoll, commentators, coaches and referee Nigel Owens recall how events unfolded before, during and after the moment that Tom Williams staggered from the field with fake blood dripping from his mouth.The Leinster officials see through the plot straight away - but can they expose the wrongdoing?Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

Bloodgate: 2. It’s Not Real Blood

Ross Kemp visits the Clapham joke shop at the origin of the Bloodgate cheating scandal that brought rugby union to its knees.We learn how the advent of professionalism in the 1990s brought a new win-at-all-costs mentality to the sport.And Harlequins players Tom Williams, Ugo Monye and Nick Easter explain how new coach Dean Richards transformed the club from entertaining also-rans into ruthless winners who began to push the rules to their limits and beyond.Could a loophole in the laws around blood injuries boost their chances of European silverware?Narrator: Ross Kemp
Reporter/Interviewer: Chris Jones
Writer/Producer: Sam Sheringham
Story editor: Tom Fuller
Sound design/production: Jesse Howard
Digital Producers: Sam Huxley and Stephen Trenchard
Assistant producers: Metin Yilmaz, Jack Wood, Mujtaba Ali and Victoria Turner
BBC 5 Live Sport podcast editor: Matt Smith
Commissioner: Stevie Middleton

Bloodgate: 1. Dandies to Dark Arts

Rugby union was rocked to its core by an episode that involved deception, cover-ups, recriminations and life-changing consequences for those involved.  Hosted by actor and award-winning documentary maker Ross Kemp, with reporting by BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones, this series uncovers new details and untold stories about the infamous ‘Bloodgate’ scandal.Kemp takes listeners on an intense journey into how a simple blood capsule triggered a series of events that shook the sport. At the heart of this story is Tom Williams, the young Harlequins player who found himself caught up in a scheme to cheat during a critical match. 
He opens up about his role in the cover-ups and the decision to blow the whistle on the whole operation, revealing the conspiracies, secret deals, and the aftermath.  The podcast not only features interviews with rugby icons like Brian O’Driscoll, Shane Horgan, Ugo Monye, Nick Easter and referee Nigel Owens, who were on the pitch on that fateful day, but also esteemed journalists and investigators, who reveal how they exposed the plot and covered the messy consequences.

Bloodgate: Trailer

On the other side of the world, a bugged goalpost brings tales of the match-fixing king. Having completed his confession, Moses faces up to Troy Deeney's judgement of his incredible story.Warning this podcast contains language some might find offensive.Presented by: Moses Swaibu with Troy Deeney
Producers: Stephen Hollywood, Jack Kibble-White and Marion MacNeil
Associate Producer: Moses Swaibu
Music: Julian Corrie.
Sound Design: Julian Corrie and David Martin
Researcher: Jack Herrall.
Additional scripting: Martin Conaghan
Additional development: Kate Bissell
Story Consultant: Graham Russell
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Tom Connor.A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: 8: Sting in the Tale

Voices from the past bring new opportunities. But is Moses in or is he out? A fatal miscalculation turns Moses’ life upside down and results in a devastating showdown.Warning this podcast contains language some might find offensive.Presented by: Moses Swaibu with Troy Deeney
Producers: Stephen Hollywood, Jack Kibble-White and Marion MacNeil
Associate Producer: Moses Swaibu
Music: Julian Corrie.
Sound Design: Julian Corrie and David Martin
Researcher: Jack Herrall.
Additional scripting: Martin Conaghan
Additional development: Kate Bissell
Story Consultant: Graham Russell
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Tom Connor.A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Confessions of a Match Fixer: 7: Dragged Back in

What do you do when you come up against the footballer you cannot corrupt? With the fans on his back and the players in open revolt, can Moses pull off the fix of his life?Warning this podcast contains language some might find offensive.Presented by: Moses Swaibu with Troy Deeney
Producers: Stephen Hollywood, Jack Kibble-White and Marion MacNeil
Associate Producer: Moses Swaibu
Music: Julian Corrie.
Sound Design: Julian Corrie and David Martin
Researcher: Jack Herrall.
Additional scripting: Martin Conaghan
Additional development: Kate Bissell
Story Consultant: Graham Russell
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Tom Connor.A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds and BBC 5 Live.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: 6. Braveheart

Did you hear the one about the Conference South game that got more bets than Barcelona? With the authorities looking like they’re closing in, can Moses get out first, or will the pull of match-fixing prove too strong?Warning this podcast contains language some might find offensive.Presented by: Moses Swaibu with Troy Deeney
Producers: Stephen Hollywood, Jack Kibble-White and Marion MacNeil
Associate Producer: Moses Swaibu
Music: Julian Corrie.
Sound Design: Julian Corrie and David Martin
Researcher: Jack Herrall.
Additional scripting: Martin Conaghan
Additional development: Kate Bissell
Story Consultant: Graham Russell
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Tom ConnorA BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds and BBC 5 Live.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: 5. Feeling the Heat

More players want in. The money keeps growing. Will Moses’ good times ever end? But as the scale of his match-fixing grows, word travels fast - up the leagues and around the country - and Moses gets a call from a voice from the past.Warning this podcast contains language some might find offensive.Presented by: Moses Swaibu with Troy Deeney
Producers: Stephen Hollywood, Jack Kibble-White and Marion MacNeil
Associate Producer: Moses Swaibu
Music: Julian Corrie.
Sound Design: Julian Corrie and David Martin
Researcher: Jack Herrall.
Additional scripting: Martin Conaghan
Additional development: Kate Bissell
Story Consultant: Graham Russell
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Tom Connor.A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: 4. Taking over the League

£100k is sloshing around the footwell, as Moses’ car hurtles through the city at night. As Moses takes his first steps into a dark and dangerous new career, an opportunity presents itself for instant promotion. But the deeper he’s getting into organised crime, the higher the stakes become.Warning this podcast contains language some might find offensive.Presented by: Moses Swaibu with Troy Deeney
Producers: Stephen Hollywood, Jack Kibble-White and Marion MacNeil
Associate Producer: Moses Swaibu
Music: Julian Corrie.
Sound Design: Julian Corrie and David Martin
Researcher: Jack Herrall.
Additional scripting: Martin Conaghan
Additional development: Kate Bissell
Story Consultant: Graham Russell
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Tom ConnorA BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: 3. The Middleman

There’s £60k at the back of the team bus. But if you take it, there’s no turning back. His first child is on the way. He’s arguing with his manager over poor results on the pitch. But Moses has a growing belief he can manipulate players better than his previous mentor, Delroy Facey. It’s time to step up and find out.Warning this podcast contains language some might find offensive.Presented by: Moses Swaibu with Troy Deeney
Producers: Stephen Hollywood, Jack Kibble-White and Marion MacNeil
Associate Producer: Moses Swaibu
Music: Julian Corrie.
Sound Design: Julian Corrie and David Martin
Researcher: Jack Herrall.
Additional scripting: Martin Conaghan
Additional development: Kate Bissell
Story Consultant: Graham Russell
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Tom ConnorA BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: 2. By Any Means Necessary

Moses Swaibu has the makings of a top-flight footballer – until temptation comes his way. At a crossroads in his career, Moses has a massive decision to make: continue to try and fight his way to the top of football, or get in deep with organised crime and betray the game he loves.Warning: this podcast contains language some might find offensive.Production credits:
Presented by: Moses Swaibu with Troy Deeney
Producers: Stephen Hollywood, Jack Kibble-White and Marion MacNeil
Associate Producer: Moses Swaibu
Music: Julian Corrie.
Sound Design: Julian Corrie and David Martin
Researcher: Jack Herrall.
Additional scripting: Martin Conaghan
Additional development: Kate Bissell
Story Consultant: Graham Russell
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Tom Connor.A BBC Scotland Production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: 1. Sleep with the Money

Moses Swaibu reveals how he risked it all for a fortune fixing in the English league.
From Crystal Palace’s Young Player of the year, to shifting vast piles of cash and recruiting fellow players to compromise and betray the beautiful game, this is the gob-smacking inside story of how match-fixing was able to spread across an entire English football league. Along the way, Moses encounters some of the world’s most successful and dangerous match-fixers and finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a chaotic and sinister life ruled by money and power. 
Warning this podcast contains language some might find offensive.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: Trailer

Maisie Adam introduces a very special episode of Sport's Strangest Crimes: A French Football Scandal. Aminata Diallo, the footballer awaiting trial for organising an attack on one of her team mates, speaks openly about the case.Aminata Diallo, in conversation with Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams, recalls the night of the attack as she remembers it, what happened in the immediate aftermath and the shock of her arrest just hours after starring for PSG against Real Madrid in the Champions League.Diallo also discusses her relationship with Hamraoui and how it felt returning to play alongside her after her initial release from police custody.In addition, she talks about her re-arrest in September 2022, how it felt to be charged, now with the threat of a prison sentence hanging over her.And she addresses head on the revelations and accusations from the secret surveillance of her, along with those details of her internet searches and police reports that were subsequently leaked to the media.And she opens up about the personal impact the whole affair has had on her and those close to her. It's unmissable.Narrator Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan
Translation for the Aminata Diallo interview: Laura Bennett
Script consultant: Dave Bowler
Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball
Editor: Kevin Hinde
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Craig South
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

A French Football Scandal: 8. The Accused

Maisie Adam continues the astonishing story that has rocked women's football in France.Its the aftermath of the arrest of Aminata Diallo, she and her lawyers contest the bail terms to allow her to continue her football career abroad.Kheira Hamraoui, meanwhile, so long the target of acrimonious abuse for supposedly unfairly leading the police to Diallo's door for the original arrest, is suddenly viewed in a more sympathetic light. The public, the fans and the players, or at least those who called her, are all now given good cause to reflect on their actions.Having looked to be on her way out at PSG, Hamraoui's determination to fight for her place at PSG pays off as she not only returns to the first team, but plays well enough to earn a recall to the French squad just months ahead of the World Cup.However, in another twist, something close to mutiny breaks out in the player ranks of the national team, and there are suggestions its partly connected to the Diallo-Hamraoui affair.Then at the end of the season comes the decision by PSG not to renew her contract. For Hamraoui its the final blow in what has been a harrowing 18 months for her.For both players now its the agonising wait for a trial date, although both are looking for very diiferent kinds of closure.Defence and prosecution make their final summaries and the scene is set for the last episode and an exclusive interview with the accused, Animata Diallo.Narrator Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan
Translation for the Aminata Diallo interview: Laura Bennett
Script consultant: Dave Bowler
Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball
Editor: Kevin Hinde
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Craig South
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

A French Football Scandal: 7. An Unhappy Ending

Police wiretaps capture incendiary, and potentially incriminating conversations and whatsapp messages, while statements from the group of men accused of carrying out the attack on Kheira Hamraoui name the mastermind.Its the most shocking development yet as the police return to the home of Diallo to re-arrest her – and this time she appears before an investigative judge and is charged with three counts of aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy.Meanwhile selected details gleaned from the secret surveillance of her phone and Diallo's personal electronic devices find their way to the media, each revealing a range of explosive exortations and some very dubious internet searches.While parts of the leaked psychiatric reports and psychological profiling of Diallo also add to an unfavourable picture.But is everything as it seems?Diallo's lawyers and her close friend Shaheen Malik offer their defences of each and every accusation and revelation. While the Versailles public prosecutor Maryvonne Caillibotte shines a light on the processes and evidence that led them back to Diallo's door. So you can play the part of judge and jury as you'll hear the case from all sides.Narrator Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan
Translation for the Aminata Diallo interview: Laura Bennett
Script consultant: Dave Bowler
Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball
Editor: Kevin Hinde
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Craig South
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

A French Football Scandal: 6. The Hitmen and Her

Maisie Adam continues the shocking story of a brutal attack at Paris Saint-Germain that turned close team-mates into bitter rivals, damaging lives, careers and reputations.The fragile harmony in the dressing room is finally and irrevocably broken with a training ground bust-up that has repercussions for the team in the Champions League. And pushes the embattled Kheira Hamraoui to breaking point.Meanwhile head coach Didier Olle-Nicolle who has continued to select Hamraoui for the team despite external pressures to drop her, finds himself at the centre of serious allegations of sexual misconduct involving a young PSG player.Suspended by the club while a formal investigation takes place a horrified and shocked Olle Nicolle must fight to clear his name. The claims against him are subsequently proved untrue and without any basis whatsoever but its a harrowing time for him, describing himself as “collateral damage” in the latest fall-out from the Diallo-Hamraoui affair.The two players themselves are both about to experience summers of discontent. For Diallo its the end of the road at PSG, a new contract failing to materialise. While for Hamraoui it soon becomes apparent she faces an uncertain, and for her an unhappy future at the club. There appears to be no end to her trials and tribulations.As the 2022/23 season starts Hamraoui is in near exile at the club, training alone away from the first team.For Diallo though she is effectively now unemployed, without a club, at the age where she should be approaching her peak playing days. But that is not the worst of her troubles. Because on the 16th September 2022 there's another knock at her door from the poilce and this time they have statements and wiretaps to back up their suspicions.She's arrested again – and this time charges will be made.Narrator Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan
Translation for the Aminata Diallo interview: Laura Bennett
Script consultant: Dave Bowler
Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball
Editor: Kevin Hinde
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Craig South
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

A French Football Scandal: 5. Fighting Talk

With one player attacked and another player under suspicion of being involved in it, the return of both Kheira Hamraoui, the victim, and Aminata Diallo, the accused, to the PSG was never going to be straight forward.Particularly as Diallo had close friends in the squad who felt a raging sense of injustice for their team-mate, who had faced the humiliation of arrest and 36 hours in jail before being released without charge.And so it proved. The man tasked with trying to juggle and mend these fractured relationships was head coach Didier Olle-Nicolle. And what a time he had with a training regime to test his patience, his diplomacy skills - and his fitness.For Hamraoui it was a brutal time. Not only facing hostility in her own dressing room, she also had to contend with abuse from her own club's supporters, as well as opposiition players making spiteful comments.Into this toxic atmosphere emerged Cesar Mavacala, a controversial figure in French football, who, although not an official agent, represented the interests of several of PSG's top players.A call out of the blue from Mavacala to Olle-Nicolle set in motion a chain of events that would ultimately have terrible repercussions, as he positioned himself firmly in support of Diallo and against Hamraoui.Narrator Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan
Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball
Editor: Kevin Hinde
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Craig South
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

A French Football Scandal: 4. War in the Dressing Room

French international footballer Kheira Hamraoui is in shock after being dragged from the car of her PSG team-mate Aminata Diallo, and then having her legs beaten black and blue by a masked man. But who did it? And who planned it? And why?Diallo goes unscathed during the attack, and takes her injured team-mate's place in the team to face Real Madrid in the Champions League. Playing a key role in a comprehensive 4-0 win life seems good for Diallo, with the extended run she'd craved now looking very likely. Until 6am the following morning that is - and an unexpected visit from the police.....Diallo goes from a rocking, euphoric Parc des Princes to a miserable, foul-smelling cell at Versailles jail in a matter of hours. With echoes of the infamous fall out between American ice skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, the world's media pick up on the story, and two relatively little known footballers are about to acquire the worst possible notoriety.Professional rivalry, jealousy, the desire to take a team-mate's place for both club and country is considered as a motive. But the players' private lives also come under scrutiny and investigators unearth a secret affair between Hamraoui and a married male ex-French football superstar, which becomes public knowledge – and with devastating consequences.As Diallo is released without charge, but not without suspicion, Hamraoui is now subject to the full glare of media scrutiny and online judgement and abuse. Her personal nightmare is only just beginning.Narrator Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan
Script consultant: Dave Bowler
Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball
Editor: Kevin Hinde
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Craig South
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

A French Football Scandal: 3. Arrested Developments

Maisie Adam continues the incredible story of the organised hit on the French international footballer that took place in the leafy suburbs of Paris in November 2021.Despite a flying start to the season for the PSG's women's team there are the first rumblings of discontent and trouble behind the scenes.Head coach Didier Olle-Nicolle discovers Kheira Hamraoui in tears at the training ground and makes an alarming discovery about some mysterious and disturbing phonecalls made to her PSG team mates.Then a team bonding night out ends in the bloody and brutal beating of Hamraoui by a group of masked men. As the player reflects on what happened in the days that follow her suspicions about the involvement of a team mate begin to form. But surely it can't be her? Or can it?There are two sides to every story, more than one interpretation of every action and remember every crime needs means, motive and opportunity. So is everything as clear cut as it seems to Hamraoui?With passionately put arguments from the legal teams representing the victim and the accused, you'll have the chance to decide....Narrator Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan
Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball
Editor: Kevin Hinde
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Craig South
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

A French Football Scandal: 2. Attack and Defence

Maisie Adam introduces the story of a brutal attack at Paris Saint-Germain that turned close teammates into bitter rivals just months after a holiday in paradise together.Aminata Diallo and Kheira Hamraoui, both French international midfielders at PSG, one of the biggest clubs in world football, appeared to be the best of friends. In the summer of 2021 they spent a vacation together in Zanzibar on the coast of East Africa, ahead of the new season.Yet within months Diallo would be arrested, accused of involvement in organising an attack on Hamraoui that targeted her legs in a deliberate attempt to cause serious injury.So who is Aminata Diallo? And why do the police believe she is guilty? And who is Kheira Hamraoui? And why has she become a target to be attacked in this way?Was this assault motivated by jealousy and ruthless career ambition on the part of Diallo? Or is it connected to Hamraoui's soon-to-be-exposed private life? And could this even be a potential miscarriage of justice? The investigation starts here...With the case still to come to court this is the chance to hear evidence from those close to Diallo and Hamraoui – and make your own mind up. Like all good crime dramas, in this series we'll be examining the means, the motive and the opportunity.Narrator: Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan
Researchers: Rob Carroll and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball
Editor: Kevin Hinde
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton
Executive Producer: Craig South
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live.

A French Football Scandal: 1. What Happens In Zanzibar.....

Maisie Adam tells the shocking story of jealousy, deceit and a brutal attack on a Paris Saint-Germain player that turned team-mates into the bitterest enemies.Its a story that has gripped the French public since the arrest of PSG star Aminata Diallo in November 2021, suspected of ordering an attack on her team-mate and previously good friend, Kheira Hamraoui.The accusation was Diallo wanted Hamraoui's place in the PSG starting line-up and so instructed a group of masked men to intercept the two players on a car journey home together and then assault Hamraoui, targetting her legs. And this is exactly how events played out. Police investigations following the attack initially led them to Diallo's door although with too little evidence to charge her Diallo was released, presumed innocent. Instead the spotlight turned on the victim Hamraoui. Intimate details of her private life became public knowledge, including an affair with a married man who just happened to be a  French football superstar.    Diallo returned to play alongside Hamraoui back at PSG – and at this point life became hell for Hamraoui. Team-mates, opponents and even her own fans, acting in sympathy with Diallo, targeted her with vicious verbal abuse. It seemed everyone was against Hamraoui, including a controversial football agent, who would be accused of putting pressure on PSG to sell Hamraoui, and whose presence at training the player found intimidating.  The PSG coach found himself caught up in the fall-out too, taking phone calls urging him to drop Hamraoui, and also receiving thinly-veiled threats if he didn't.  He would end up in a fight to clear his name from terrible accusations.   
 
Then in September 2022, almost out of the blue, Daillo was re-arrested and this time the public prosecutor charged her. Statements from the men who carried out the attack identifying her as the mastermind along with months of secret phone surveillance convinced the police she was guilty.  But is she?With the case still to come to trial this podcast presents the evidence and hears the opinions from those closest to the case, and those who think she's innocent, and those who think she's guilty. So you can decide for yourself.... Narrator Maisie Adam
Interviews: Charlotte Harpur and Tom Williams 
Voices for interviewees performed by: Janine George, Chyna Johnson, Tom Roberts and Colin Ryan. 
Voice Artist audio recording:  Thomas Hale at the Voiceover Gallery
Translation for the Aminatta Diallo interview: Laura Bennett
Script Consultant: Dave Bowler
Researchers: Rob Carroll, John Harrison and Janet Hughes
Assistant Producer: Jennifer Hanratty-Ball  
Editor: Kevin Hinde 
Assistant Commissioner for the BBC: Lizzi Doyle
Commissioning Executive: Stevie Middleton 
Executive Producer: Craig South 
Writer and Producer: Jonathan SidesA PDI Media production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

A French Football Scandal: Trailer

Warning: This episode contains strong language.In the eighth episode, Bruiser’s friends and family reckon with the aftermath of his death - and the wrestling world rallies round to remember one of the greats.Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind the truly unbelievable tale.
 
 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design: Artemis Irvine
Mix: Nigel Appleton
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: 8. Heel

In the seventh episode, Puerto Rico reels from news of the killing; but as Jose pleads self-defence, the police and courts struggle to get to the bottom of what really happened to Bruiser Brody.Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind the truly unbelievable tale.
 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design: Artemis Irvine
Mix: Nigel Appleton
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: 7. The People vs Invader One

In the sixth episode, Adam explores the extraordinary story of Invader One - Jose Huertas Gonzalez - as he prepares for a showdown with Bruiser Brody.Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind the truly unbelievable tale.
 
 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design: Artemis Irvine
Mix: Nigel Appleton
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: 6. Invader

In the fifth episode, as the WWE takes over the American market, Bruiser turns to the even more high octane and raw world of wrestling in Puerto Rico - where he once again encounters Invader One, a local hero who he’s feuded with before.Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind the truly unbelievable tale. 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design: Artemis Irvine
Mix: Nigel Appleton
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: 5. Island of Enchantment

Warning: This episode contains strong language.In the fourth episode, the increasingly confident Bruiser Brody starts clashing with managers and promoters, earning a wild card reputation that puts him in danger.Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind the truly unbelievable tale.
 
 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design and Mix: Mike Woolley
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: 4. Bruised Dick

In the third episode, Bruiser makes a powerful enemy - but also falls in love.Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind the truly unbelievable tale. 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design and Mix: Mike Woolley
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: 3. Beauty and the Feast

Warning: This episode contains strong language.In episode two, Frank Goodish fights for the first time - and makes quite an impression on the world famous wrestling impresario Fritz von Erich.Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind the truly unbelievable tale.
 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design and Mix: Mike Woolley
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: 2. Birth of Bruiser

In the first episode, Puerto Rico wakes up to the news of a brutal killing, and a young boy in Michigan starts taking his first steps towards superstardom in the ring.Bruiser Brody was a wrestling star in the 1970s and 1980s; a classic villain of the ring, and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery. Comedian and wrestling fan Adam Hills tells the story of the larger than life character behind this truly unbelievable tale.
 
 
Producer: Ilona Toller
Assistant Producer: John Rogers
Executive Producers: Robert Nicholson and Will Yates
Sound Design and Mix: Mike Woolley
 
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: 1. Life In Paradise

Coming soon to BBC Sounds, comedian Adam Hills tells the extraordinary story of the life, legend and death of Bruiser Brody, one of 1980s wrestling’s biggest stars and most enigmatic figures. Bruiser Brody was a classic villain of the ring and a foil for wrestling heroes like Bruno Sammartino and Ric Flair. When he was killed in the dressing room before a fight in Puerto Rico, it shocked the world of wrestling, and pulled back the curtain on a world full of rumour, fakeouts and mystery.

The Ballad of Bruiser Brody: Trailer

Coach Anthony: Like we said at the start, Anthony Curcio is the most unexpected person you will ever meet. A suburban dad and former football star turned felon. He pulled off one of the most creative bank heists in US history, robbing an armoured car and escaping down the river in an inner tube. But his final act might be the most astonishing thing of all. From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents, Friday Night Heists. In episode 08 of 08, host Johnny Marr walks us through the winding road Anthony Curcio drove, in order to restore his relationships, and create the life of his dreams. You don't just rock Cactus Jacks without a bag of some sort, right?

Friday Night Heists: 8. Coach Anthony

Double Solitary: Anthony Curcio never imagined himself in prison. He was too smart. Too clever. Too unassuming to ever get caught. But he never expected a homeless man to act as his foil, ruining the perfect crime by witnessing and then acting on the one detail Anthony forgot. The error caused Anthony and his family to see the double life he'd been living. And he embarked on a journey more perilous than any police chase. From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents, Friday Night Heists. In episode 07 of 08, host Johnny Marr takes us inside the prison system to show the path Anthony had to walk to make it out alive.

Friday Night Heists: 7. Double Solitary

News of the robbery spreads around the state. Everyone is talking about the way the armoured car robber got away.

Friday Night Heists: 6. The Hunt For DB Tuber

Back From the Brinks: It's game day in Anthony Curcio's hometown. Only this time, he's robbing an armored car instead of catching touchdown passes. He had everything prepped and mapped out, down to the tiniest of detail. But nothing, not one single thing, could have prepared him for the rush of actually setting the plan in motion. From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents, Friday Night Heists. In episode 05 of 08, host Johnny Marr steps aside and lets Anthony, his accomplices and eyewitnesses and local police tell the story of the robbery. With new documents, and previously unreleased audio, we bring the legendary robbery to life.

Friday Night Heists: 5. Back From the Brinks

The Playbook: Anthony Curcio was in desperate need of cash. The housing hustle left him deep in debt. But he couldn't get any cash. No one could. No one, except large banks, bailed out by the US government. They had all the cash he needed. So he decided to steal it. But creating a method to rob a bank would take the type of planning and preparation generals use for war, or rather, football coaches use to win. From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents, Friday Night Heists. In episode 04 of 08, host Johnny Marr tells us how Anthony Curcio planned one of the most creative heists in US History, showing all the meticulous details, timing and misdirection involved. Enough to make Danny Ocean proud. If you want to learn what it takes to rob an armored car, not that we'd advise it, this is the episode to hear.

Friday Night Heists: 4. The Playbook

Good Form: Anthony Curcio loved the life of crime. The double life. He fancied himself a blue collar Thomas Crown, pursuing pills over Pissarros. His various heists enabled him to live the American Dream, own a house, marry his high school sweetheart and start a family. He was also close to walking away from crime, until he bought that house and learned that an even bigger hustle was happening across the US. He wanted in. From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents, Friday Night Heists. In episode 03 of 08, host Johnny Marr walks us into the lawless world of real estate, a place where Anthony Curcio could ply his craft. He rode the housing bubble to its zenith, and then was left to fend for himself when it popped.

Friday Night Heists: 3. Good Form

Just Say No: Anthony Curcio had used his second chance at football. Used it well. He built his body and refocused his mind on the sport. But football is football, a sport loved for its precise brutality. And Anthony tears a ligament in his knee. His dreams of playing are over. And yet, for once in his life, he doesn't care. It's all due to a little pill prescribed to him from a doctor. This little pill unlocked something inside Anthony. Pretty soon, he'd do whatever it took to get more. From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents, Friday Night Heists. In episode 02 of 08, host Johnny Marr takes us to the rolling fields of Eastern Washington State, where Anthony attempts his first heist and discovers that while he was good at football, he's absolutely gifted at crime.

Friday Night Heists: 2. Just Say No

Anthony Curcio is the most unexpected person you will ever meet. At first glance, he appears as simply a suburban dad who wears khaki pants, Cactus Jacks, coaches his daughters in basketball, and drives a modest truck. You soon learn that he was once a high school football star, with the dream, and, more importantly, the speed, to play professionally. But that's not the interesting part. Anthony Curcio pulled off one of the most creative bank heists in US history, robbing an armored car and escaping down the river in an inner tube. It makes you do a double-take. You're left feeling puzzled. How did this normal seeming guy end up at a point in his life where he thought that was a good idea? And then, how did he pull it off? From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents, Friday Night Heists. In episode 01 of 08, host Johnny Marr takes us to the small logging town that would soon become famous for a hometown football star's turn to crime.

Friday Night Heists: 1. Friday Night Lights Out

Friday Night Lights Out: Anthony Curcio is the most unexpected person you will ever meet. At first glance, he appears as simply a suburban dad who wears khaki pants, Cactus Jacks, coaches his daughters in basketball, and drives a modest truck. You soon learn that he was once a high school football star, with the dream, and, more importantly, the speed, to play professionally. But that's not the interesting part. Anthony Curio pulled off one of the most creative bank heists in US history, robbing an armored car and escaping down the river in an inner tube. It makes you do a double-take. You're left feeling puzzled. How did this normal seeming guy end up at a point in his life where he thought that was a good idea? And then, how did he pull it off? From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents, Friday Night Heists narrated by Johnny Marr.

Friday Night Heists: Trailer

Two decades on, fresh intel from a mafia source threatens to blow the case wide open. Italian journalist Lorenzo Bodrero takes us through the present day-inquiry, and the shocking new evidence that has come to light. New witnesses, new theories, and new evidence all surface - nearly 20 years on, are we any closer to finding out what really happened to Marco Pantani?Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain Ferrier and Helen RoperSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 10. The Pirate and The Mob

Mystery bruises, missing cash… driven by Tonina Pantani, 2 inquiries into Marco’s death follow. Family members present new evidence, alleging that Pantani was beaten, forced to drink cocaine, and murdered - but it all comes to nothing. The second inquiry is dismissed - and it seems like the pirate has been put to rest for good.That is, until 2020…Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain Ferrier and Helen RoperSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 9. Prima Facie

Italy, and the world, are struck by grief at the death of the pirate. But as mourners throng the streets of Cesenatico, those closest to Marco are possessed by an undercurrent of suspicion.We speak to the woman who knew Marco best - his mother, Tonina Pantani - about the Marco she knew - and about her gut instinct that something about the ‘crime’ scene seems wrong..Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain Ferrier and Helen RoperSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 8. The People's Pirate

After his disqualification from the 1999 Giro, Marco Pantani is devastated and withdrawn. His cocaine abuse worsens, and he becomes obsessed with clearing his name. Friends and family watch on, helpless, as his career begins to slip away - and then, on Valentine’s Day 2004, some devastating news shocks Italy: the Pirate has is dead.Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain Ferrier and Helen RoperSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 7. A Sad Day For The Sport

As corruption allegations run rampant, all roads seem to lead back to the mafia. But what connections did organised crime have to sport? And is there even any such thing as ‘The Mafia’?Today, we’re giving you an episode you can’t refuse as we delve deep into the heart of organised crime in Italy, with the help of mafia expert Professor John Dickie, and Italian journalist Lorenzo Bodrero. New episodes released Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen to the full series of Sport’s Strangest Crimes - first on BBC Sounds - bbc.in/3PbXQxvNarrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain Ferrier and Helen RoperSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 6. An Episode You Can't Refuse

Convinced of a setup, Pantani is paranoid and following the money adds fuel to the fire. Why was there so much money in 90s cycling? And who was trying to get their hands on it?With the help of leading cycling historian Professor John Foot, Italian historian Dr Francesca Billiani, and Phil Liggett MBE, we learn how, over the course of the 90s, cycling went from a niche continental sport, to a billion-dollar industry - and how one man winning all the time might not have been in everyone’s best interests. From sponsors and gamblers to commercial and criminal enterprises - many had a vested interest in seeing Pantani fall.It’s time to follow the money.New episodes released Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen to the full series of Sport’s Strangest Crimes - first on BBC Sounds - bbc.in/3PbXQxvNarrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voice of Iain FerrierSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 5. All The World's A Stage

It’s 1999, and Marco Pantani is riding high after his Tour de France victory - both the bad boy of cycling, and the saviour of the sport. The 1999 Giro D’Italia seems to be made for him, and he leads the race by over 20 minutes - until a late-stage disqualification stops the pirate in his bike tracks.With the other riders overjoyed, rumours about criminal betting, conspiracies - and even the mafia - abound, but the pirate refuses to go down without a fight.As Pantani flies too close to the sun, who might be watching from the shadows?New episodes released Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen to the full series of Sport’s Strangest Crimes - first on BBC Sounds - bbc.in/3PbXQxvNarrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voice of Iain FerrierSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 4. Icarus Falls

When cyclists begin dying in alarming numbers, all eyes are on a mysterious new drug. But what is EPO? How does it work? And could it be used to manipulate a race result?.With the help of Professor David Cowan OBE, we hear how it might have been possible to take performance enhancing drugs, and successfully evade detection. But we also hear how playing with your body’s chemistry has a darker side - as the rising body count of dead cyclists would attest to.New episodes released Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen to the full series of Sport’s Strangest Crimes - first on BBC Sounds - bbc.in/3PbXQxvNarrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voice of Iain FerrierSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 3. Bad Blood

With doping, drug funds, and dawn raids, the 1998 Tour de France is one of the most infamous races in cycling history. In the aftermath of the Festina Affair, it looks like the Tour will be damaged for good. But one man emerges victorious - Marco Pantani, the plucky underdog, and new-found saviour of the sport.But not everyone is thrilled with his seemingly super-human victory... and the voice of cycling himself, Phil Liggett MBE, talks us through the dirtiest Tour in history.Narrated by Hugh DennisSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon HolmesNew episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Sport’s Strangest Crimes first on BBC Sounds - bbc.in/3PbXQxv

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 2. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

In February 2004, 20,000 mourners lined the streets to pay their respects at the funeral of superstar cyclist, Marco Pantani.In November 2021, a new inquiry into Pantani’s death was announced - this time investigating the theory that the Italian mafia might have been involved in his murder.But in episode one, it’s 1990, and promising amateur Marco Pantani is just beginning to make his mark… With the help of Marco’s biographer, Matt Rendell, we meet the man behind the legend.New episodes released Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen to the full series of Sport’s Strangest Crimes - first on BBC Sounds - bbc.in/3PbXQxvNarrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain Ferrier and Helen RoperSound design: Rich Evans
Additional production: Lorenzo Bodrero, Matt Kenyon and Ed MorrishWriter and producer: Katie Sayer
Executive producer: Jon Holmes

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: 1. The Cursed Champion

When Italy’s greatest cyclist is mysteriously found dead, sensational allegations of mafia involvement see the world of cycling collide, headfirst, with the murky underworld of organised crime. Over the course of this podcast, we’ll travel from the mountains of rural Italy, to the shady commercial underbelly of a sport on the rise, as - two decades on - the police, historians and our cycling-obsessed host Hugh Dennis try to answer once and for all what really happened to Marco Pantani.With allegations of doping, race-fixing, gambling, and corruption, 90s cycling provides the backdrop for one of the most dramatic questions in sport - and criminal - history… would the mafia really kill a cyclist? Welcome to Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate.New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to the newest episodes of Sport’s Strangest Crimes first on BBC Sounds.

Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate: Trailer

The 2007 Formula 1 season remains a source of high drama and heated debate. With Lewis Hamilton’s stunning debut, his bitter rivalry with Fernando Alonso, and a driver’s championship that went right down to the wire – it’s one of the most controversial in Formula 1 history, with more twists and turns than a racetrack.In this bonus episode of Sport’s Strangest Crimes: Spygate, F1 journalist Sarah Holt is joined by BBC Chief F1 Writer Andrew Benson and former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestly to set the story straight. They’ll go through emails and messages from listeners, to answer your questions, expand on the coverage in the series, and give their takes on what really went down.

Spygate: Bonus: Listener Questions

A whopping 17 seasons have passed since the ‘Spygate’ controversy and Lewis Hamilton’s debut rocked F1. That’s a long time in a highly technical sport, so what does F1 look, feel and sound like now? And with Hamilton and Alonso still racing, how has their fierce rivalry fared over the past 15 years?As the 2023 season approaches, Sport’s Strangest Crimes: Spygate returns for a bonus episode to chart some of the biggest regulation changes since 2007 and, for better or worse, how they have impacted the sport. Sarah Holt is joined by F1 journalists Andrew Benson and Ben Edwards to answer the big questions. With a new set of regulations dropping in 2026, where do F1 insiders hope the sport will go? And now that the tech has moved on, does ‘spying’ between teams continue to this day? As Hamilton chases a record eighth title and Alonso begins a new chapter with Aston Martin - could this be the last season we see both drivers in F1?

Spygate: Bonus: F1's Technological Evolution

The 2007 season reaches a nail-biting climax. McLaren and Ferrari are neck-and-neck down the final straight – but Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are at each other’s throats. The World Championship is decided by a single point in a thriller that will go down in F1 history. But even as the season officially ends, the Spygate scandal leaves a lasting legacy: reputations are wrecked, relationships are broken and tragedy strikes. Co-host and script consultant: Sarah HoltProducers: Matt Nielson and Rosie Stopher Sound design: Alex Portfelix Showrunner: Sarah Stolarz Any questions about this podcast: spygate@bbc.co.uk

Spygate: 8. The Winner Takes It All

If the 2007 F1 season is a game of chess, then we’re just one move away from checkmate. But whose piece will fall? Following Alonso’s revelations in Hungary, McLaren is dancing on the ledge - and the FIA know it. With new evidence and new allegations, they summon the team back to Paris for a second hearing, and this time, the risks are even bigger than before – and their rivals Ferrari are ready to strike. Is this the end of the championship for McLaren?Co-host and script consultant: Sarah HoltProducers: Matt Nielson and Rosie StopherSound design: Alex PortfelixShowrunner: Sarah StolarzAny questions about this podcast: spygate@bbc.co.uk

Spygate: 7. Seeing Red

Long: It’s all quiet on track and in the garages during Formula 1’s summer shutdown, but F1’s halls of power are very much open for business. And if you want a seat at the table then you need to know the rules of the game or you won’t survive. McLaren’s prodigal son has returned with his tails between his legs, but the damage has already been done. Concerned that his personal honour is on the line, team principal Ron Dennis must make one of the most painful decisions of his life. But is his agony all in vain? Three of the biggest fish in F1 have been circling in the background and they’ve got the taste of blood in their mouths.  Co-host and script consultant: Sarah HoltProducers: Matt Nielson and Rosie Stopher Sound design: Alex Portfelix Showrunner: Sarah Stolarz Any questions about this podcast: spygate@bbc.co.uk

Spygate: 6. Piranha Club Rules

Violent g-force, cockpit temperatures over 40C, and the constant threat of a crash: Formula 1 drivers are under intense physical pressure on the track. But what happens when emotional pressures boil over? At the Hungarian Grand Prix in August, McLaren is about to find out…and how. An extraordinary incident in the pitstop seems to suggest Fernando Alonso is playing tricks on Lewis Hamilton - but as is often the case in Formula 1 things are not always as they seem. Tensions boil over, culminating in a season-changing ultimatum for Ron Dennis.  Co-host and script consultant: Sarah HoltProducers: Matt Nielson and Rosie Stopher Sound design: Alex Portfelix Showrunner: Sarah Stolarz Any questions about this podcast: spygate@bbc.co.uk

Spygate: 5. Drivers Behaving Badly

The 2007 Formula 1 season is hotting up, but it’s the action off the track that is really starting to burn. While Hamilton, Raikonnen and Alonso battle it out in Germany, It’s time for McLaren to face the guard dogs of Formula 1 - or, as they’re better known, the FIA. The team is off to Paris to defend themselves against charges of misconduct. But this isn’t any old trial. It’s one not only of rights and wrongs, but also of personal wills, big egos, and power struggles. Strap in, because Spygate is going on trial… F1 style.Co-host and script consultant: Sarah HoltProducers: Matt Nielson and Rosie StopherSound design: Alex PortfelixShowrunner: Sarah StolarzAny questions about this podcast: spygate@bbc.co.uk

Spygate: 4. The Iron Fist in the Velvet Glove

The British Grand Prix is always a highlight in the Formula 1 calendar, but in 2007, you can cut the tension with a knife. Whilst Lewis Hamilton prepares for his first home race, behind the scenes McLaren is rocked by allegations of spying from Italy. It’s a bolt from the blue for F1 insiders: Nobody saw this coming, and especially not from ‘squeaky clean’ McLaren. And to make matters worse, Ferrari are seriously challenging the British team for the Championship. Ron Dennis might know who’s behind the allegations, but how can he protect McLaren’s reputation and damage control this mounting scandal? Has he dropped the ball on what should be the season of a lifetime?Co-host and script consultant: Sarah HoltProducers: Matt Nielson and Rosie StopherSound design: Alex PortfelixShowrunner: Sarah StolarzAny questions about this podcast: spygate@bbc.co.uk

Spygate: 3. It All Goes Wrong for Ron

Ferrari receives an alarming email - subject line: “Industrial Espionage”. In a sport of continuous engineering innovation, the last thing you want is rivals peeping at your secrets. But the spying alert comes at an especially bad time for the famous Italian team. On track, they’re in the middle of a team makeover, and behind the scenes, they’re investigating what looks like an internal sabotage scandal. Who at Ferrari would want to harm their own team? And what does this all have to do with that mysterious package of documents in the Surrey photocopy shop? When police and lawyers get involved, information is uncovered that blows Spygate wide open.Co-host and script consultant: Sarah HoltProducers: Matt Nielson and Rosie StopherSound design: Alex PortfelixShowrunner: Sarah StolarzAny questions about this podcast: spygate@bbc.co.uk

Spygate: 2. A Strange White Powder

Excitement is in the air as the 2007 Formula 1 season gets underway. There’s a feeling that the World Championship is anyone’s for the taking. Michael Schumacher might have just retired, but Italian icon Ferrari is looking fierce and British powerhouse McLaren isn’t looking too shabby either. Under the guidance of legendary team boss Ron Dennis, the team looks like a strong contender once more with a fast car, driven by reigning world champion Fernando Alonso no less. But when their second driver - an unknown rookie called Lewis Hamilton - outperforms all expectations, it upsets the apple cart in ways that no-one can imagine. Meanwhile, in a photocopy shop in sleepy Surrey, a customer comes in to copy a package of documents that will change Formula 1 forever.Co-host and script consultant: Sarah HoltProducers: Matt Nielson and Rosie StopherSound design: Alex PortfelixShowrunner: Sarah StolarzAny questions about this podcast: spygate@bbc.co.uk

Spygate: 1. Rivals Awaken

In 2007 an improbable, low-fi crime nearly brought the high octane world of Formula One to its knees. Narrated by Pete Tong, Spygate draws in some of the most powerful men in the sports history and pits iconic teams McLaren and Ferrari against each other, all set against the backdrop of Lewis Hamilton’s record-breaking debut and his ferocious rivalry with Fernando Alonso. Buckle up - this season is one hell of a ride.

Spygate: Trailer

From Nottingham to North Korea - how conman Russell King took the oldest club in the football league to the brink of oblivion with promises beyond their wildest dreams. All episodes will be available on Monday 21st February 2022 on BBC Sounds.

The Trillion Dollar Conman: Trailer

From the world’s oldest football league club to the communist dictatorship of North Korea, this incredible story has it all. It’s a tale of greed and intrigue that takes us on a journey from the streets of Nottingham to the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. At the heart of it, a conman who fooled football bosses, a London bank and foreign regimes. Russell King’s audacious multi-million pound scam brought the world’s oldest professional football club Notts County to the brink of oblivion. The story begins at the club’s ground Meadow Lane. It’s 2009 and the team has just managed to maintain their Football League status after years of fighting for survival. Out of the blue comes a knight in shining armour with promises of untold wealth from the Middle East and ambitions to catapult the club from the lowly fourth tier to the Premier League. Enter former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson and England and Arsenal legend Sol Campbell. All of a sudden Notts County are surfing the crest of a wave – they’re off to the promised land. But is all as it seems? Or are their dreams about to be shattered?Sound designer: Paul Lewis
Producer: Nick Southall
Series Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

The Trillion Dollar Conman: 1. The Promised Land

A consortium called Munto Finance has taken over Notts County – the oldest professional football club in the world. Supposedly backed by millions of pounds from the Middle East, the club are promised riches beyond their wildest dreams. Sven Goran Eriksson is hired as director of football and England and Arsenal legend Sol Campbell joins the club on in a multi-million pound deal. David Beckham is rumoured to be joining the club – Andy Cole, Roberto Carlos and Luis Figo are also in the frame.  The fans are ecstatic - on the threshold of new, successful era. But behind the scenes, all is not as it seems. Pulling all the strings is a businessman called Russell King. But he’s about to be outed as a convicted fraudster with a string of failed businesses behind him. Journalists begin to pick away at the façade and what they uncover makes for uncomfortable reading. Next, after just one game for the club, Sol Campbell walks off the training ground never to be seen in Nottingham again.Sound designer: Paul Lewis
Producer: Nick Southall
Series Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

The Trillion Dollar Conman: 2. Toy Story

Alice Levine heads to Jersey to delve deeper into fraudster Russell King’s criminal past. She discovers how King enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle on the island, living in a lavish multi-million pound home with a swimming pool and set in acres of beautiful grounds. How he owned a collection of fast cars, hired private jets and enjoyed flights in a company helicopter. He was behind a business called Belgravia - a company which provided investment funds for the rich - low risk and high returns. But, with a collapsed toy empire behind him and a two year jail sentence for fraud, King was getting himself a reputation. When he commits another fraud worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, the police are on his tail and he’s forced to flee the island for Bahrain.Sound designer: Paul Lewis
Producer: Nick Southall
Series Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

The Trillion Dollar Conman: 3. Treasure Island

Revelations about Russell King’s criminal past have done nothing to dampen the spirits at Notts County football club. The team and the fans are on roll, dreaming again, their sights set on promotion. Meanwhile, in one of the most bizarre episodes yet, the club’s director of football, Sven Goran Eriksson finds himself in North Korea – a guest of one of the most notorious regimes in the world.He’s with the man pulling the strings behind the scenes at Meadow Lane – Russell King , a convicted fraudster with the police on his tail. King has a plan – a trillion dollar con worthy of a chess grand master. It’s convoluted, multi-layered and audacious but could net him his biggest pay day yet. But can he convince the North Koreans to play their part?Sound designer: Paul Lewis
Producer: Nick Southall
Series Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

The Trillion Dollar Conman: 4. Fool’s Gold

Notts County were sold a dream of untold millions and Premier League football but it’s all come crashing down. Over the course of just a few months the club has racked up millions of pounds of debts and now they can’t even pay the milk bill. Sven Goran Eriksson has returned from his crazy trip to North Korea and conman Russell King has vanished. As the creditors come knocking, Sven and chairman Peter Trembling go hunting for new investors to save the club from impending closure. Meanwhile, the hunt for the trillion dollar conman is on...Sound designer: Paul Lewis
Producer: Nick Southall
Series Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

The Trillion Dollar Conman: 5. Pay the Milkman

There’s nowhere to hide for serial fraudster Russell King. Holed-up in Bahrain, time has finally run out for the trillion dollar conman. On his tail, a detective who has spent 10 years trying to bring him to justice for his crimes on the island of Jersey. But Russell King has one last throw of the dice. Meanwhile Notts County, the football club he used and abused to satisfy his own greedy endeavours, are storming to glory in the most memorable season of their long, long history. Despite being brought to their knees financially, the club, its fans and its players, have rallied. It’s time to celebrate.Sound designer: Paul Lewis
Producer: Nick Southall
Series Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

The Trillion Dollar Conman: 6. To Catch a King

Money laundering, the FBI, drug cartels, Ponzi schemes, extra marital affairs, off shore banks, and of course some cricket. For the past 12 months, Greg James has been trying to find out who exactly is Allen Stanford.

Allen Stanford: The Man Who Bought Cricket: Trailer

Lord's 2008. The most sacred ground in cricket had never witnessed anything like it. Across the London skyline a helicopter appeared and slowly descended onto the hallowed turf. From within emerged a tall, brash Texan who was greeted by the great and the good of cricket. With him was a box of money, and not just a few quid....$20 million. The man was Allen Stanford and he had an audacious plan to revolutionise the game of cricket. One match for $20 million - winner takes all, the loser gets nothing. But who exactly was Allen Stanford, why was he willing to splash out $20 million and why was he being entertained by the English cricketing authorities? Meanwhile thousands of miles away in the USA, unbeknown to those gathered at Lord's,  a file with Allen Stanford's name was passed to the FBI. Greg James sets off on his journey to tell the real story of Allen Stanford - The Man Who Bought Cricket.

Allen Stanford: The Man Who Bought Cricket: 1. Lord's

England's mens cricketers are preparing for a match that could change their lives forever. A one-off game that could net them $1 million each with one run, wicket or catch. It's a unique and extraordinary sporting prospect bankrolled by Allen Stanford. But how? Wasn't he just a washed up business failure from Texas?After the collapse of his gym business Allen is declared bankrupt. However a chance meeting with a mysterious European traveller in the Caribbean reveals a surprising new business venture in offshore banking on the island of Montserrat - a place known as the 'Wild West of Banking'. Stanford targets money from Latin America with clients seeking a safe haven for their finances away from corrupt governments at home. However the activities of Stanford's business dealings soon alert the attention of both the FBI and Scotland Yard, with both having suspicions that is all is not above board. In episode two of 'Sports Strangest Crimes: Allen Stanford - The Man Who Bought Cricket' , Greg James continues on his quest to find out who exactly Allen Stanford was and the truth behind his business empire.

Allen Stanford: The Man Who Bought Cricket: 2. The Wild West

After leaving the island of Montserrat, Allen moves his growing banking empire to the newly independent island of Antigua. Here he quickly realises that cricket is THE sport in the Caribbean, the game that everyone loves and follows and hatches a plan to invest in a new T20 tournament in the West Indies. He invests millions of dollars, signs up the greats of Windies cricket and sets the ball rolling on his cricket revolution.However while his banking business appears to be blossoming with thousands of customers investing hundreds of millions of dollars, behind the scenes law enforcement operations are still concerned and continue investigating the Texan and his operations. There are rumours of money laundering, bribery, lax accounting and even 'blood oaths' with senior regulators. Yet nothing seems to be able to stop Allen Stanford. He is the Lord of the Manor in Antigua and now he has his eye on revolutionising the game of cricket.

Allen Stanford: The Man Who Bought Cricket: 3. Antigua

Antigua, 1st November, 2008. Months after landing his helicopter on the Nursery Ground at Lord's, complete with a box of cash in tow, Allen Stanford's dream is now a reality. The waiting and talking is over. One cricket match for $20 million. The winning players will walk away with a cool $1 million each, the losers will get absolutely nothing. One catch, one wicket or one run could be the difference between winning a life changing amount of money or leaving the field with nothing. According to one player the pressure made him 'feel sick'. It was The Stanford Superstars versus England for a unique and groundbreaking cricket match organised and bankrolled by the billionaire banking magnate Sir Allen Stanford. The coverage would be beamed around the world as cricket fans across the globe prepared themselves for a cricket match like no other.However away from the glitz, glamour and headlines of a match likened to the 'OK Corral', there were growing concerns amongst some players. What would happen to squad players who didn't make the starting XI, should they get any money? What about coaches, physios, analysts and other team members? The concept of Allen's match might have looked simple on paper, but things are not always what they seem.

Allen Stanford: The Man Who Bought Cricket: 4. The Match

After the groundbreaking $20 million cricket match, Allen Stanford was headline news across the cricketing world and beyond. He had delivered on his proposal to create a unique piece of sporting theatre, a cricket match the like of which had never been seen before. So as England's mens cricketers headed home following their defeat in the million dollar match, their counterparts in the West Indies celebrated their victory.However away form the celebrations in Antigua a couple of former Stanford employees have started a chain of events that could have huge implications for Stanford and his huge business empire. But billionaires don't shy away from a fight, especially when everything could be at stake. Sensing danger Allen employs all the tools at his disposal to try and stop the whistleblowers in their tracks.