The English Disease | Legacy
By Stak
Football hooliganism is a dirty phrase in England. Say it and people will think of the 80s – the dark old days. Today, those terraces look very different. But the stories – of organised fights, of pub brawls, of banning orders – haven’t gone away.
We see them everywhere on our social media timelines: a steady stream of violence swallowed by smartphones and regurgitated for hungry eyes online. This series digs deeper – beyond the stereotypes and tabloid headlines – to understand this violent subculture and why it’s forced its way back into our society in 2024.
Embedded in our national sport, this is a story of class consciousness, rebellion, and adventure turning to embittered violence, tribalism, and greed. It is a story of what happens when society disenfranchises its people, dismantles its social structures, and pits them against one another.
This is the untold story of The English Disease.
From Stak, this is Season Two of the award-winning Legacy. Extraordinary sporting stories that really matter.
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Latest episode
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Episode 6: This Thing of Ours
In the final episode, Sam returns to east London to confront some home truths and speaks to someone who might hold the key to understanding the English Disease…Extraordinary sporting stories that really matter. From Stak, this is Legacy… -
Episode 5: The Price of Brotherhood
Tensions are rising across the country until, one night in July, a single event changes everything…Enjoyed listening to The English Disease? We want to hear from you before the season finale – whether you have first-hand experience of t… -
Episode 4: The Mask Eats the Face
A WhatsApp group for football banter started as an escape from the real world. But it soon became a command centre for Britain’s culture war…Extraordinary sporting stories that really matter. From Stak, this is Legacy. -
Episode 3: Us vs Them
A young man in Sheffield attacks a rival supporter with irreversible consequences... But his story isn’t an anomaly. It’s a blueprint.Subscribe now to get the latest episode of The English Disease every Tuesday throughout October. -
Episode 2: The Englishman
Sam travels to Nottingham to meet a hooligan known as ‘The Englishman’ who used football violence to navigate the fractured ideals of working-class masculinity.Subscribe now to get the latest episode of The English Disease every Tuesday… -
Episode 1: Kicking Off
Sam goes to breakfast with an ex-hooligan friend to answer a question he’s circled for a decade, and sets off on a journey to reveal what’s really lurking beneath the surface of England’s game.Subscribe now to get the latest episode of … -
Introducing: The English Disease
There was a time when football hooliganism was everywhere. For decades it dominated headlines, merging the two things England loves most: football and fear.Over the course of six episodes, writer Sam Diss digs deeper – beyond t… -
Inside the Qatar World Cup | Episode 3
What does the future look like for Qatar, football, and the people we’ve spoken to?Sports broadcaster Kate Mason finds out more about the precarious situation of the LGBTQ+ community in the country and speaks to the only publicly gay Qa… -
Inside the Qatar World Cup | Episode 2
What does this World Cup mean for Qatar? Sports broadcaster Kate Mason goes inside the Qatar club game and finds signs of a very deliberate footballing project.But are Qatar’s intentions going to survive their first contact with reality… -
Inside the Qatar World Cup | Episode 1
How did we get here? Sports broadcaster Kate Mason travels back to 2010 and finds out how Qatar’s migrant worker crisis unfolded – and continues to endure to this day. She speaks to three workers about their experiences in the coun…
