Report: York Festival of Ideas 2026

 

On Saturday 6th June we had the great pleasure to host North East subculture hero Robert Nicholls (lead singer of Shrug, editor of England's longest-running football club fanzine 'Fly Me to The Moon' and internet message board, and sport heritage/history/archaeology practitioner to name just a few things from his varied career).

The audience was treated to Rob's knowlegeable (and at times amusing) take on football stadiums, heritage projects, and the real and virtual spaces and places that help to define football.

The 30 minute presentation was followed by a further 30 minutes of audience questions, which led to some finer details and humorous anecdotes, and afterwards attendees had the opportunity to take home samples of Rob's football zine.

This event was back-to-back with another presentation by our Uni of York colleague Jess Hargreaves, all about the use of statistics in modern football. Two very different angles on 'the people's game' but together made for a highly interesting couple of hours.

Thank you to Rob and to the Festival Team for excellent organisation and hospitality. See you again!

Football's Physical and Virtual Spaces

We are once again proud to announce our involvement with the York Festival of Ideas, this year with guest speaker Rob Nichols.

From the archaeology of football grounds involving community engagement to giving walking tours of historic football sites, to editing and hosting Middlesbrough FCs fanzine and internet chat forum, Robert Nichols reflects on his work championing the people’s game.

Join Robert in conversation with the University of York’s Soccer-Mad Boffins Alex Gillett and Kevin Tennent, as they examine football’s places and spaces and look ahead to this year’s FIFA World Cup.

• Date and time:Saturday 6 June 2026, 3.15pm to 4.15pm
• In-person only:
  Law and Sociology Building, Campus East, University of York (Map)

As our events are usually very well attended we strongly recommend reserve a place in advance by booking your ticket here. 

Report: York Festival of Ideas with author Daniel Gray 'The Delights of Football'

On Saturday 7th June 2025 we had the honour of hosting author Daniel Gray at the University of York's Festival of Ideas.

Daniel has been on our radar since 2018, when his book Saturday, 3pm, was recommended. It was therefore a treat to finally meet the author and to share with our audience the opportunity to hear him read.

Daniel read selected passages from three of his books, including several from his more recent 'Delights of Football' series.

Daniel's writing has drawn comparison to the artwork of Lowry, for his ability to find delight in every day life in a way that resonates with his audience.

There was something for everyone in his observations on receiving the fixture list, watching referees fall over, the smell of pies and fried onions in and around the stadium.  He paints pictures with words and even the few people in the audience who weren't fans of football enjoyed the poetic prose.

Sighted in the audience was our guest speaker from last year, Dr Tosh Warwick, who kindly photographed the event.

Photo with thank to Dr Tosh Warwick

The Soccer Mad Boffins series within the York Festival of Ideas continues to draw and sizable, enthusiastic and diverse audience. We thank everyone who attends and to the university and especially the festival organisers, in particular Joan, Naomi and Caren, who have believed in us since we began and without whom these events would not be possible.

A complete list of our Festival of Ideas appearances is included below, with links to Youtube for those which were recorded and still available to watch online. Note that this does not include appearances at other events such as York Researchers Night, at which you may also have met us:

2025 with Daniel Gray 'The Delights of Football' click here to watch

2024 with Dr Tosh Warwick 'Lost Football Grounds' click here to watch

2023 with  Dr Alexander Jackson 'Curating the World's Game: An Audience with the National Football Museum'  click here to watch

2023 with Dr Duncan Stone 'Different Class: The Untold Story of English Cricket' click here to watch

2021 with football Referee Keith Hackett 'Rules of the Game: On and Off the Pitch'

2019 with investigate journalist David Conn 'The Business of Professional Football'

2019 with football agent Daniel Geey 'Done Deal: Premier League Big Business'

2018 with former FA Chairman and Director-General of the BBC Greg Dyke on 'The Business of World Cup Football'

York Festival of Ideas 2024: Rediscovering Lost Football Grounds and Terraces with Dr Tosh Warwick

On Sunday 9th June 2024, we presented at York Festival of Ideas, University of York, with Dr Tosh Warwick of Sheffield University on the topic 'rediscovering lost football grounds and terraces.'

A packed room heard Tosh present a short slide show about his research on the topic and announce his new book, that he is currently researching.

Alex and Kevin then began a panel conversation by asking Tosh a couple of questions, before opening to the questioning to the attendees.  All three of us then answered questions relating to football in England and Scotland, the business of football, Barcelona's new stadium development, and Darlington's infamous Reynolds Arena. 

After the event we joined Tosh for a pizza in York city centre and were joined by Rob Nichols, editor of Middlesbrough FC fanzine 'Fly Me To The Moon' who also attended the event.

Alex, Tosh and Kevin

The previous day was notable for an interview with Kevin on BBC Radio York to promote the event at which he discussed what to expect and answered questions from DJ Freya Cox, famous for appearing on the 2021 edition of Great British Bake-Off, about her home town teams of Scarborough and their stadium history.