The Socially Distant Sports Bar

Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero are back in their respective studios after their trip to Clapham, and there's still plenty to discuss from their adventures in London.

While Elis was bolting across the capital to get back for childcare, Steff was making an equally urgent dash for the toilet. Meanwhile, Mike was enjoying a period of sobriety that lasted right up until he spotted a pint of Madri.

Several pints later, he's holding court on a train and somehow managing to steal a job from Elis as Great Western Railway's Cymru...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 302: Piccalilli's Like Pegging"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod that way, head...

We're back at The Cheerful Earful Festival in Clapham for the second half of our live show, and this time we've brought in someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

Kate Mason is back!

The brilliant journalist, broadcaster, podcaster and previous Socially Distant Sports Bar guest joins Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero for more sporting clips, stories and the sort of conversations that are almost certainly better conducted in front of a paying audience.

Kate brings in the magnificent Shane Williams and a reminder of what happens when England football...

Welcome to the first half of our live show from The Cheerful Earful Festival in Clapham, available early and advert-free for Apple subscribers.

Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero are back on stage, where Mike has a slightly awkward Edinburgh double-booking to explain.

Once that's dealt with, there's Mike Ditka, some questionable half-marathon preparation and the usual amount of nonsense.

Mike: Mike Ditka

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTrMqi7Di6m/?igsh=MWQ1dXJqaTA2MDlmag==

Elis: Half-Marathon, Half-Cut

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeL1...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 152: A Circle Thank"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod that way, head...

Welcome to the second half of this week's Socially Distant Sports Bar, where Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero turn their attention to the documentary and book of the week.

This time we're travelling back to 1988, when England's future football stars were being moulded at a residential school in Shropshire, before heading across the Atlantic to meet a man who helped create the only perfect season in modern NFL history.

Two very different approaches to sporting excellence. Both involving a considerable amount of shouting, presumably.

Documentary of...

Another week at The Socially Distant Sports Bar, where Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero once again tackle the big sporting issues of the day. Or at least watch some clips and see where the conversation takes them.

This week we're heading across the Atlantic for a bit of ice hockey, digging out some tennis rackets that should probably have stayed in the garage, and bringing together two of football's greats.

Mike takes us to NHL opening night, where the Americans once again demonstrate that nobody does sporting spectacle quite...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 293: George Lewis"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod that way, head here...

Welcome to this week's Socially Distant Sports Bar with Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero.

This week we're taking a trip back to the golden age of television game shows, before heading into the tactical revolution that has changed football from the Champions League to the lowest reaches of the non-league pyramid.

Two very different approaches to sport. One involving meticulous tactical planning. The other involving Jimmy Tarbuck and a set of rules nobody appears to understand.

Documentary of the Week (Sort Of)

Steff: Full Swing

Another week at The Socially Distant Sports Bar, where Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero once again prove that talking about sport is entirely optional on a sports podcast.

This week, Mike reveals how his habit of leaving his audio recorder running might eventually prove to be his downfall, the boys uncover some deeply unpleasant Roman bathroom techniques that will put you off your dinner, and Mike explains just how far he'd be prepared to go if someone offered him a bit of land.

And it's quite a length.

...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 160: Parking The Bus"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod t...

This week’s Socially Distant Sports Bar with Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero sees Mike choosing the Documentary of the Week.

And it’s a story that took more than two decades to reach its conclusion.

Documentary of the Week

Mike: Rory McIlroy — The Masters Wait

Rory McIlroy: The Masters Wait traces McIlroy’s relationship with Augusta National from watching Tiger Woods win there in 1997 to arriving as a 21-year-old capable of winning the tournament himself.

What follows is a story of talent, expectation, heartbreak and missed opportun...

Another week in the life of the world’s most fearless podcasters at The Socially Distant Sports Bar, as Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero once again manage to just brush the shoulder of actual sports chat.

Mike tells the tale of an unexpected night on the town with Chemical Tommy — and the fairly inevitable consequences — while the boys tackle one of the great technological questions of our age:

If AI is so clever, why can’t it make your laptop turn on faster?

Eventually, sport does make an appearance.

In the c...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 120: That's Earnie From the Two Ronnies"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod t...

Tom Craine is still here

Which is excellent news for us and slightly less good news for anyone hoping this podcast might eventually become a tightly controlled discussion about sport.

This is Part 2 of our guest episode with the comedian, writer and co-host — with Elis James and Chris Scull — of Oh What A Time...

Tom has also launched Last Match Then Bed, a new podcast dedicated to the game responsible for millions of people knowing far too much about obscure Scandinavian footballers: Championship Manager.

Having got ours...

We’ve got a guest in The Socially Distant Sports Bar this week as comedian, writer, podcaster and Elis James’ other podcast friend Tom Craine joins Elis, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.

Tom already spends a significant amount of his working life with Elis on the brilliant history podcast Oh What A Time..., alongside Chris Scull. Now he’s launching another podcast based around one of the great threats to productivity, relationships and exam results of the late 1990s: Championship Manager.

Last Match Then Bed sees Tom return to the legendary Champi...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 123: The Party Line"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod that way, head...

The Special One

In this week’s The Socially Distant Sports Bar, Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero have a documentary and book which take us into two very different stories of coaching, leadership and sporting history.

Documentary of the Week

Elis: Mourinho

Elis chooses Part 1 of the new Netflix documentary about José Mourinho, tracing his journey from working alongside Bobby Robson at Barcelona to announcing himself to English football with that extraordinary first spell at Chelsea.

Before the fallouts, sackings and rather more complicated cha...

Incredible scenes at The Socially Distant Sports Bar this week with Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero.

Elis’ talk of his “vivacious vicar” has everyone reaching for the Cambridge Dictionary, Steff self-diagnoses a nasty case of “anti-trapezius syndrome”, and Mike reminisces about the days when he was quite literally a shadow of his former self.

Eventually, some sport forces its way through the door.

We discover that if you want to play American Football, it’s apparently much better to “be a dawg” than a cat. Mike explains exactly how he’d have br...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 289: Snoring"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod that way, head here 👇

It's another pick from the Netfllix "Untold" series for the "Documentary of the Week". It features Rachel Gunn "Raygun" and her appearance in the breakdancing competions at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Mike, Elis and Steff talk about her rise to the Olympic stage, how someone who described herself as a "dorky white woman who's an academic" ended up being globally humiliated after her performance at the Games. 

Steff Documentary: Raygun, Breaking Badly https://www.netflix.com/watch/82048542?trackId=284616272&tctx=NaN%2C1%2Cc5ae2730-71a4-43c2-b000-9cd65f7e67a9%2Cc5ae2730-71a4...

Welcome to another week in the world of Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero at the Socially Distant Sports Bar. 

If you've ever had a day that promised so much and turned into a living hell then you will sympathise with Elis' attempt to watch Swansea City at Southampton. It's straight out of a bad sitcom. Mike reveals why he thinks he has Phil Bennett's Barbarians blazer in his bar which leads to reminiscing about Kim Cattrall on the back of a motor bike, there is a connection....honestly. 

The lads chat ab...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 287: Fabio's Goose"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod that way, head here...

Welcome back to this week’s Socially Distant Sports Bar with Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.

This week, Steff and Elis are attempting to have a perfectly sensible conversation about a sports documentary and a book.

Unfortunately, Mike has decided to spend much of that conversation sending them an increasingly large number of photographs of himself dressed as a cowboy while very clearly not working as a cowboy.

Cowboy at home. Cowboy out and about. Cowboy going about his normal business. Cowboy, potentially, at the Little Tesco.

...

The Rizla Stadium

Welcome to this week’s Socially Distant Sports Bar with Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.

This week Mike reports back from a less-than-luxurious holiday rental in Liverpool, while Steff comes up with a potentially foolproof plan to solve the financial problems in Welsh rugby using nothing more than some enormous halogen lamps and the seemingly limitless supply of Welsh rain.

We’re sure the WRU will be in touch.

There’s also plenty of actual sport. Mike celebrates the great Billy Boston, Steff brings in Jonathan Agnew...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 252: Just Put A Towel Over My Head"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supportin...

This week's second helping from the Socially Distant Sports Bar with Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero is another fascinating documentary choice. It's Steff's pick and tells the interesting and sometimes moving story of Bilal Fawaz, current British and Commonwealth Super Welterweight Champion. "Fight For Freedom" documents his inability to fight outide of Britain because he has never been able to hold a passport. 

Elis has picked the "Book of the Week" which is another one to add to your collection. It's "Domestique" by Charlie Wegelius. The book explores the life of a "domestique", a r...

Come and join Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero in the Socially Distant Sports Bar for their usual weekly catch-up and the first round of clips.

We get an update on Mike's new initiative of trying to make friends with everyone he meets, there's hot debate on whether you talk to your builders and sexy professions.

There's some accidental sport as well including the wonderful Laura McAllister talking about how football executives like her should be "custodians of the game" along with Wham! playing football in China.

ENJOY!!

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 246: The Race Is Back On"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod that...

More from Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero on this week's Socially Distant Sports Bar. It's Documentary time and it's Elis' choice this week. From the BBC archive it's an edition of "Man Alive" in 1969 contrasting the lives of two football managers. Bertie Mee of Arsneal and Laurie Brown at Bradford Park Avenue. It also includes former Wales manager Bobby Gould getting a bit upset at a referee.

It's Steff's choice for the "Book of the Week", James Briggs' "From Ibiza To The Norfolk Broads" takes James and his bicycle on a David Bowie-inspired journey...

More from the Socially Distant Sports Bar as Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero tackle the important issues of the week including news of Elis wowing a packed tent at the Eisteddfod, much discussion of Mike's sunglasses collection and why he can't wear his Meta specs anymore.

The boys get all misty-eyed about former Wales scrum-half Robert Jones and go back to a Wales v England schoolboys international from 1984. There's also a really interesting chat about Lance Armstrong after he gives his thoughts on Tadej Pogacar winning his 5th Tour.

Elis: Wales...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

We've been back through our archive of episodes and we've selected our favourite stories, anecdotes and funny bits.

If you're new to the pod, then feel free to use these as a jump off point to find your way around our earlier episodes.

This clip is taken from "Episode 39: I Couldn't Bare To Think Of You Eating Cold Beans"

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

Welcome to this week’s Socially Distant Sports Bar with Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.

This week’s documentary and book both take us into much more personal sporting territory.

Mike brings in a documentary about Howard Winstone, the great Welsh boxer from Merthyr Tydfil who became world featherweight champion and one of the defining figures in Welsh boxing history.

Elis has chosen Without Robbie by Luke James, a deeply personal story about football, family and grief.

As ever, the documentary and book are merely the star...

xWelcome to this week’s Socially Distant Sports Bar with Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.

This week Mike revisits one of the most famous deliveries in Ashes history, Elis brings us the story of why Bobby and Jack Charlton’s dad missed England’s 1966 World Cup semi-final, and Steff has a clip from a brilliant advert campaign.

Three clips, several sporting eras, family stories, changing attitudes and, inevitably, a fair amount of stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with any of them.

Cli...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

 We’ve been back through our archive of episodes and picked out some of our favourite stories, anecdotes, and funny bits.

If you’re new to the pod, these are a perfect way to dip your toe in and then dive back into the full episodes from our early days.

This is from Patreon Tapes 2: The Shower Seat - we did 5 episodes that you will only ever be able to hear on our Patreon site - you can hear them here https://www.patreon.com/collection/1782817

Back after the interval for the second half of the Socially Distant Sports Bar live at the New Theatre, Cardiff. Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero dive into Warren Gatland's take on rugby team stereotypes alongside stories of getting shot in the backside in the Korean War and Chris Akabusi's secret love for Nietzsche.

......and why you should always wear a cricket helmet to a panto.

Elis: Cricket Fielding  https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp5CH78uMF5/?igsh=MTl3dDg3N3hwdHBoaA%3D%3D 

Mike: Gatland ht...

The first half of the 2nd night for the Socially Distant Sports Bar live at the New Theatre, Cardiff. Join Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero to find out what you missed if you weren't quick enough to get a ticket. 

Unsurprisingly Mike reveals a few "interesting" facts about himself, which one of the trio would never run for political office  and find out what "two decent sized tangerines in a sack" actually means 

Steff: Don’t fuck with Huw Ware https://www.instagram.com/reel/DV4Vmh4Cpqf/?igsh...

Welcome to Pint-Sized Distant Pod.

 We’ve been back through our archive of episodes and picked out some of our favourite stories, anecdotes, and funny bits.

If you’re new to the pod, these are a perfect way to dip your toe in and then dive back into the full episodes from our early days.

🛍️ NEW MERCH ALERT

We’ve launched a brand new merch store — mugs, hoodies, prints and more!

If you fancy supporting the pod that w...

Welcome to the Socially Distant Sports Bar.

Steff brings in Race Of The Century, Netflix's fascinating documentary about Australia's historic America's Cup victory, one of the greatest sporting upsets ever seen.

Elis has chosen Waters Gleaming Gold by Ben Jameson, a brilliant account of Olympic rowing, teamwork and what it takes to become the very best.

That wraps up the regular feed for this week.

If you'd like even more Distant Pod, Bonus EPISODE – Towelled Up is available exclusively to subscribers on Distant Pod Bonus Club via Apple Po...

Welcome to this week's Socially Distant Sports Bar with Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.

This week Elis brings in the emotional scenes as Mayo finally win an All-Ireland title after 75 years, Mike has Lloyd on the finer points of Cymraeg, and Steff has some valuable life learnings.

Clips

Elis: Mayo win their first All-Ireland title in 75 years

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbSKM8JhgOt/?igsh=MWtjN3R3MWhqamp5bA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbRkyIENoeM/?igsh=Yzl3aWtibWl1djRo

https://x...