BONUS SNEAK PEEK: Colombia Through Football ft. Professor Matthew Brown

About this episode

The episode explores the intersection of Colombian history, political violence, and football with Professor Matthew Brown.

In this sneak peek to a bonus episode of It Was What It Was on Patreon, hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper are joined by Professor Matthew Brown (University of Bristol) to deepen the series on Andrés Escobar by tracing how Colombian history, political violence and the drug economy intersect with football. Brown rejects Gabriel García Márquez’s claim that three events defined 20th-century Colombia, while explaining why the 5–0 win over Argentina in 1993 became a tipping point for football as a national identity marker. The discussion covers football’s emergence alongside other sporting cultures, the role of sport after the 1948 Bogotazo and during La Violencia, and Colombia’s later shift into guerrilla conflict and cocaine trafficking. They explore cartel money’s social and sporting influence, the effects of Pablo Escobar’s death and subsequent violence, the symbolic damage of Colombia’s 1994 World Cup collapse, Copa América 2001, and how the 2014 team helped build trust during negotiations leading to the 2016 peace deal, while noting ongoing violence tied to the illegal drug trade. You can listen to the full episode on Patreon On Tuesday, Rob Draper and Jonathan Wilson return…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jonathan Wilson, Rob Draper

Guest: Professor Matthew Brown

Topics covered

• Colombian football history
• political violence
• drug economy
• national identity
• sporting culture
• peace negotiations

Keywords

• Colombia
• football
• Andrés Escobar
• drug trade
• Pablo Escobar
• Copa América
• World Cup
• national identity
• political violence
• sport

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Bristol

Places: Colombia, Argentina, Chile

More episodes of It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast

• Football's Coming Home: How England Won The 1966 World Cup | Part One · June 9, 2026 · 55 min
• Brazil at the World Cup with Tim Vickery: Pelé, Maracanazo and Ancelotti's New Era · June 2, 2026 · 56 min
• The Greatest Champions League Finals of All Time · May 26, 2026 · 1h 3m
• Patreon Bonus Sneak Peek | Inside England: Southgate’s Culture Reset, EPPP and the Tuchel Gamble · May 22, 2026 · 16 min
• Breaking the Old Firm: Fergie's Aberdeen Revolution · May 19, 2026 · 58 min
• The FA Cup & The Broken Neck | Bert Trautmann The Nazi POW & Man City Legend · May 12, 2026 · 53 min