Ho, ho, ho everybody. It's Chriiiiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaas. And that can only mean one thing. It's time for the 2020 AFTN Soccer Show Christmas special - our self indulgent episode where we talk football, talk nonsense, play some of our favourite tunes, and bring you some bizarre interviews. Oh wait, sorry, that's every episode. But at least this episode has sleigh bells!

On the footballing side, we look at the Whitecaps News of the Week, which included a trade, transfer rumours, and call ups up to the next Canadian men's national team camp. Plus we unpack our chat with head coach Marc Dos Santos from last week some more, find out his favourite jam, and what books he's a fan of.

We also chat about another MLS team falling just short in the CONCACAF Champions League, talk MLS wacky trades, look at two Canadian clubs getting a new identity in 2021, and hear from York United's Angus McNab.

Away from the football, there's splatterings of some excellent Christmas songs and our feature interview is with the lead singer from the band The New Royal Family, David Barnett, the man behind the cult AFTN section and song that is "Anyone Fancy A Chocolate Digestive", as we talk biscuits, football, Adam and the Ants, Suede, and general nonsense.

Here's the rundown for the main segments from the episode. Enjoy and Merry Christmas to all of our listeners. We hope you have a wonderful festive period:

04.25: Peat and Diesel - Fairytale of Stornoway
10.03: Whitecaps News of the Week
21.38: Marc Dos Santos' favourite jam
22.55: Canadian camp call ups
30.14: Keith TOTP - I Believe In Father Christmas
34.40: Marc Dos Santos on football books
44.25: Re-entry draft peak MLSness
47.03: MLS still waiting for first CONCACAF Champions League winner
51.04: Gurr featuring Eddie Argos - Christmas One and Only
54.45: New Royal Family's David Barnett interview - part one
84.11: Frank Sidebottom - Christmas Medley
87.15: New Royal Family's David Barnett interview - part two
114.55: New Royal Family - Thank Christ It's Christmas
119.23: York 9 and Montreal Impact rebranding featuring audio from Angus McNab
138.34: Goldie Lookin' Chain - Covid Christmas

The latest AFTN Soccer Show is out for another packed show of Vancouver Whitecaps and Major League Soccer chat.

It's the time of year where football in North America winds down and the focus is on both reflection of the year past and looking ahead at the year to come. In the current Covid world, the latter is harder to do than it's ever been before, but we look at the current state of play with three MLS clubs in this episode.

Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Marc Dos Santos joins us for our annual State of the Whitecaps chat. We look back at the difficult year that was and ahead to what the club are doing to improve for 2021.

What kinds of DPs will be coming in and from where? Will we finally get a true number 10 difference maker in Vancouver or will it be a hybrid multi-position player? Will those defensive holes be plugged? And are the club prepared to do a blockbuster GAM deal to land some MLS experience? We talk with Marc about all of that a lot more too in a 45 minute chat.

We also look at the season past and future plans of another Canadian side, Montreal Impact, as their season finally came to an end this past week, and hear from head coach Thierry Henry about his first year in charge, Sporting Director Olivier Renard, and Canadian midfielder Samuel Piette.

Plus we look at a busy week for expansion side Austin FC and hear from head coach Josh Wolff and Sporting Director Claudio Reyna, and we cover the exciting action as the CONCACAF Champions League wraps up. Can LAFC make history for a MLS side? We hear from head coach Bob Bradley, along with NYCFC's Ronny Delia as he looks ahead to next season.

Here's the rundown for the main segments from the episode:

03.30: The State of the Whitecaps with Marc Dos Santos
56.30: Unpacking MDS
65.33: Wavelength - Parlour Flames - Pop Music Football and Girls
73.13: Austin FC's busy week, with audio from Claudio Reyna and Josh Wolff
95.41: CONCACAF Champions League wraps up as history awaits LAFC - with Bob Bradley and Ronny Delia audio
109.05: Montreal Impact end of season review with audio from Thierry Henry, Olivier Renard, and Samuel Piette

The latest AFTN Soccer Show is out for another packed show of Major League Soccer chat as we bring you something a little different this episode.

Saturday night saw the 2020 MLS Cup takes place in Columbus, as the Crew saw off the challenge of Seattle Sounders. AFTN did our first live watchalong on YouTube and we bring you that now in podcast form for your aural pleasure.

But don't worry, this episode isn't just us talking about the match. In fact, far from it! We do chat about the main action as it takes place but this episode sees Michael McColl, Steve Pandher, Zachary Adam Meisenheimer, Navid Mashinchi, and Will Silver delve into a number of topics and issues affecting Vancouver Whitecaps and Major League Soccer as a whole.

Just how far behind the top of the league are the Whitecaps? Why can't they recruit and perform better than Columbus? Can they turn things around or will they simply get left behind? And where would the Whitecaps actually have a player ranked in the all time list of MLS players?

Plus we talk MLS expansion in Austin and Sacramento, hear from Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff and Sporting Director Claudio Reyna about building their squad and Tuesday's expansion draft, the rumours of MLS and Liga MX merging, how far MLS has come in its 25 years, the top 25 players of all time, Commissioner Don Garber's State of the League address, what lies in store for next season, and much much more, including hearing a little bit from both head coaches after the MLS Cup itself.

There's no timestamps or breakdown for this episode as the chat was fluid and we want you to enjoy it all as it played out.

The latest AFTN Soccer Show is out for another packed show of Major League Soccer and Canadian soccer chat.

We kick things off with a look at the two MLS Conference finals and set up Saturday's MLS Cup. Plus with it being awards season we talk about the trophies handed out by MLS, the CPL, and Canada Soccer and hear from Alphonso Davies, Stephen Hart, Kyle Bekker, Triston Henry, and Mo Farsi..

We also look at Forge FC's quest for success in the CONCACAF League, hear from head coach Bobby Smyrniotis, talk about David Edgar's retirement, and hear from the man himself.

Plus we also chat with Paul Varian about his new book "Don't Blame The Soccer Parents" and The Vandals feature in this week's Wavelength.

Here's the rundown for the main segments from the episode:

01.50: The MLS Cup final is all set
34.55: CPL awards with audio from Stephen Hart, Kyle Bekker, Triston Henry, and Mo Farsi
64.56: Canada Soccer awards handed out featuring a chat with Alphonso Davies
88.36: Paul Varian interview about his new book "Don't Blame The Soccer Parents"
112.50: Wavelength - The Vandals - Soccer Mom
119.15: Forge FC still searching for CONCACAF glory
136.58: David Edgar retires featuring a chat with the man himself

The latest AFTN Soccer Show is out for another packed show of Vancouver Whitecaps and Major League Soccer chat.

The league season may be over for the three Canadian MLS sides but the busy work is really just now getting underway and we chat about what's been an eventful week in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, hearing from two Sporting Directors along the way.

First up is our Whitecaps chat as we look at the roster moves announced this week, then sit down for a one-on-one chat with Sporting Director and CEO Axel Schuster as we look back on his first year in the job, what lies ahead, building a winning team for next season, and a lot more.

Turning our attention east next, we look at the roster moves announced by both Toronto and Montreal, Greg Vanney stepping down as TFC head coach, the rebranding of the Impact, and we hear from Montreal Sporting Director Olivier Renard about his plans for the strengthening the team next season amongst all the uncertainty.

Here's the rundown for the main segments from the episode:

03.25: Whitecaps end of season roster moves
11.54: Axel Schuster one-on-one interview
63.06: Toronto FC players and manager moves
67.35: Montreal Impact end of season roster moves
71.43: Olivier Renard audio