This is The Guardian.

Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. It's the Christmas special.

Happy Christmas, everybody, a chance to reminisce on the year or more accurately try and recall anything that happened. I messaged producer Joel last night to ask if there'd been any highlights from this podcast in 2025. I can't remember a single pod we've done. But he can, and there have been. It's just your questions and some nice Christmas messages from favourite panellists. At some point, John Bruin will talk about 442, hit it to the big man, hit the channels, get it launched.

At some point, Jonathan Wilson will tell you to buy one sum, all of his books,

and at some point I'll try and compare a league football to my 40-year career as a target man slash CDM in Cubs school, University Sunday League football.

And at some point, we'll remember the real meaning of Christmas, Barry's header.

Welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly Christmas, Barry's header.

Welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly Christmas special.

And it's a repeat of last year's Christmas, such was the success.

You can't get three cheeryer Christmas faces than these.

Jonathan Wilson, welcome.

Ho ho, ho. Good. Very solid start. John Bruin, happy Christmas.

Happy Christmas. As the years pass by and the beard gets whiter,

and the battle with the waistline continues, I begin to feel a bit more Christmas, if you see what I mean.

There's a grotto waiting for you, John.

Hello, Barry Glendening.

Yes, Merry Christmas, everybody.

Chris, there's like the Hootanani recording it this far out.

It's June the 7th, everybody.

That's when we're doing this.

For the tape, December the 17th. So anything that's happened between then and when this is released on Christmas Eve,

you know, you have, we don't know what's happened.

...