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Soccer
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For all the changes implemented in the era, this was a quiet revolution. Quietly adopted as a mechanism to help adjust the number of teams in the First Division, it was quickly obvious that there was something to it and so, a dramatic end of to season was born. Richard Foster, author of The Agony and The Ecstasy: The Comprehensive History of the Football League Play-Offs, joins Martyn to explain why and how they began, those first matches and how it evolved into something very different.
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Season 1987/88 Episode 1 - The Game That Changed Football
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"Season 1986/87 Episode 7 - The Birth of the Play-Offs" is an episode of Nessun Dorma Retro Football Podcast. Runtime 1 hr 2 min. Published July 24, 2026. Hit play above to stream it here, or open the free Spot Sports app for background play and offline downloads.