Jonny Gould’s Jewish State

6: Champions League Jews, Ivor Baddiel & David Bolchover: "Y Word" & football's top Jewish hero

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Episode notes

This episode goes some way to explaining the Jewish relationship with football, both today and in the twentieth century.

My guests today are Ivor Baddiel, the comedy writer and biographer David Bolchover, who wrote "The Greatest Comeback", the amazing story of football's greatest Jewish hero, Bela Guttmann.

If you've been to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, you'll almost certainly have heard the word, "Yid" chanted in support of Spurs - or worse, AGAINST them by opposition fans. You may have even chanted it yourself.

But what does it mean exactly? Do you think it still has a place on football's terraces?

Campaigner Ivor Baddiel and his brother David began a campaign eight years ago with a short film, "The Y Word" which explained that it's a derogatory term for Jewish people - like the P or N Word.

The podcast includes an excerpt from Ivor and David’s short film, The Y Word starring Gary Lineker and Frank Lampard.

Would you like to help Jonny in the production of these podcasts which support Israel and the Jewish diaspora? You can do so here and also see his full set of episodes too.

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