
The Rodfather
Inside the Beautiful (Ugly, Ridiculous, Hilarious) Game
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $18.88
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Roddy Collins
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
Roddy Collins is a football man—now in the sixth decade of a career as a player (at 16 clubs), manager (12 clubs) and commentator. And he is a funny man: an unequalled raconteur with a sharp eye for the absurdities of the professional game and spectacular recall. He has made friends wherever he has gone, along with some high-quality enemies. When John Delaney said he could get Roddy a job if he'd just stop criticising him, Roddy replied that he'd 'rather dig holes in the road'.
Now, with the brilliant Paul Howard, Roddy puts it all down on paper for the first time—the adventures, the rows and the craic—in what will be not only one of the funniest but one of the most eye-opening books ever written about professional football.
©2022 Roddy Collins and Paul Howard (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Windswept & Interesting
- My Autobiography
- By: Billy Connolly
- Narrated by: Billy Connolly
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life. Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of fourth and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all the odds.
-
-
brilliant read, loved every second
- By Amazon Customer on 10-21-21
By: Billy Connolly
-
Gambler
- Secrets from a Life at Risk
- By: Billy Walters
- Narrated by: Billy Walters
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anybody can get lucky. Nobody controls the odds like Billy Walters. Widely regarded as “the Michael Jordan of sports betting,” Walters is a living legend in Las Vegas and among sports bettors worldwide. With an unmatched winning streak of thirty-six consecutive years, Walters has become fabulously wealthy by placing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in gross wagers, including one Super Bowl bet of $3.5 million alone. Competitors desperate to crack his betting techniques have tried hacking his phones, cloning his beepers, rifling through his trash, and bribing his employees.
-
-
Good but
- By Amazon Customer on 08-30-23
By: Billy Walters
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
We Don't Know Ourselves
- A Personal History of Modern Ireland
- By: Fintan O'Toole
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history. O'Toole narrates the once unthinkable collapse of the all-powerful Catholic Church, brought down by scandal and by the activism of ordinary Irish. He relates the horrific violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which led most Irish to reject violent nationalism.
-
-
Relentlessly Negative
- By John on 06-02-22
By: Fintan O'Toole
-
What a Flanker
- By: James Haskell
- Narrated by: James Haskell
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of rugby’s most ferocious flankers and biggest characters, James Haskell has had an extraordinary, global experience of the game, having played for the Lions, Wasps, England and in New Zealand, France and Japan . After 17 years and with 77 international caps under his sizeable belt, he has a shitload to say about rugby life - from pitch to pub and everywhere in between. In What a Flanker, Haskell sheds fresh light on the dynamics and the day-to-day of the game.
-
-
Great View into the Interesting life of Mr Haskell.
- By Jeff on 01-19-23
By: James Haskell
-
Surrender
- 40 Songs, One Story
- By: Bono
- Narrated by: Bono
- Length: 20 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As one of the music world’s most iconic artists and the cofounder of the organizations ONE and (RED), Bono’s career has been written about extensively. But in Surrender, it’s Bono who picks up the pen, writing for the first time about his remarkable life and those he has shared it with. In his unique voice, Bono takes us from his early days growing up in Dublin, including the sudden loss of his mother when he was fourteen, to U2’s unlikely journey to become one of the world’s most influential rock bands, to his more than twenty years of activism.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Josh on 11-04-22
By: Bono
-
Windswept & Interesting
- My Autobiography
- By: Billy Connolly
- Narrated by: Billy Connolly
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life. Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of fourth and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all the odds.
-
-
brilliant read, loved every second
- By Amazon Customer on 10-21-21
By: Billy Connolly
-
Gambler
- Secrets from a Life at Risk
- By: Billy Walters
- Narrated by: Billy Walters
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Anybody can get lucky. Nobody controls the odds like Billy Walters. Widely regarded as “the Michael Jordan of sports betting,” Walters is a living legend in Las Vegas and among sports bettors worldwide. With an unmatched winning streak of thirty-six consecutive years, Walters has become fabulously wealthy by placing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in gross wagers, including one Super Bowl bet of $3.5 million alone. Competitors desperate to crack his betting techniques have tried hacking his phones, cloning his beepers, rifling through his trash, and bribing his employees.
-
-
Good but
- By Amazon Customer on 08-30-23
By: Billy Walters
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
We Don't Know Ourselves
- A Personal History of Modern Ireland
- By: Fintan O'Toole
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 22 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society - perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history. O'Toole narrates the once unthinkable collapse of the all-powerful Catholic Church, brought down by scandal and by the activism of ordinary Irish. He relates the horrific violence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which led most Irish to reject violent nationalism.
-
-
Relentlessly Negative
- By John on 06-02-22
By: Fintan O'Toole
-
What a Flanker
- By: James Haskell
- Narrated by: James Haskell
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of rugby’s most ferocious flankers and biggest characters, James Haskell has had an extraordinary, global experience of the game, having played for the Lions, Wasps, England and in New Zealand, France and Japan . After 17 years and with 77 international caps under his sizeable belt, he has a shitload to say about rugby life - from pitch to pub and everywhere in between. In What a Flanker, Haskell sheds fresh light on the dynamics and the day-to-day of the game.
-
-
Great View into the Interesting life of Mr Haskell.
- By Jeff on 01-19-23
By: James Haskell
-
Surrender
- 40 Songs, One Story
- By: Bono
- Narrated by: Bono
- Length: 20 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As one of the music world’s most iconic artists and the cofounder of the organizations ONE and (RED), Bono’s career has been written about extensively. But in Surrender, it’s Bono who picks up the pen, writing for the first time about his remarkable life and those he has shared it with. In his unique voice, Bono takes us from his early days growing up in Dublin, including the sudden loss of his mother when he was fourteen, to U2’s unlikely journey to become one of the world’s most influential rock bands, to his more than twenty years of activism.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Josh on 11-04-22
By: Bono
-
The Battle
- By: Paul O'Connell
- Narrated by: John Cormack
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There has never been a rugby player quite like Paul O'Connell. His name is synonymous with passion, heart and determination. But he is also the thinking man's rugby player, a legendary student of the game. As the heartbeat of Munster, British and Irish Lions captain in 2009 and captain of the first Ireland team to retain the Six Nations championship, O'Connell became the most beloved and respected of the golden generation of Irish rugby players - and was widely regarded as one of the very best players in the world.
-
-
Loved It!
- By Anonymous User on 03-23-24
By: Paul O'Connell
-
Champagne Football
- John Delaney and the Betrayal of Irish Football: The Inside Story
- By: Mark Tighe, Paul Rowan
- Narrated by: Johnny Candon
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the course of 15 years, John Delaney ran the Football Association of Ireland as his own personal fiefdom. He had his critics, but his power was never seriously challenged until last year, when Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan published a sequence of stories in the Sunday Times containing damaging revelations about his personal compensation and the parlous financial situation of the FAI. Delaney's reputation as a great financial manager was left in tatters. He resigned under pressure, and the FAI was left hoping for a massive bail-out from the Irish taxpayer.
-
-
incredible account
- By Albert on 08-19-24
By: Mark Tighe, and others
-
Phil
- The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar
- By: Alan Shipnuck
- Narrated by: Alan Shipnuck
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Phil Mickelson is one of the most compelling figures in sports. For more than three decades he has been among the best golfers in the world, and his unmatched longevity was exemplified at the 2021 PGA Championship, when Mickelson, on the cusp of turning fifty-one, became the oldest player in history to win a major championship. In this raw, uncensored, and unauthorized biography, Alan Shipnuck captures a singular life defined by thrilling victories, crushing defeats, and countless controversies.
-
-
Not what I’d hoped for.
- By Chad Smed on 07-04-22
By: Alan Shipnuck
-
On the Brinks
- By: Sam Millar
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1993, $7.4 million was stolen from the Brink's Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York, the fifth largest robbery in US history. Sam Millar was a member of the IRA gang who carried out the robbery. He was caught, found guilty, and incarcerated before being set free by Bill Clinton as an essential part of the Northern Ireland Peace Process. This remarkable book is Sam's story, from his childhood in Belfast to his membership in the IRA, his time spent in Long Kesh internment camps, and the Brinks heist and aftermath.
-
-
Simply Amazing
- By Amazon Customer on 02-28-22
By: Sam Millar
-
How to Be a Footballer
- By: Peter Crouch
- Narrated by: Peter Crouch
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Towering at six feet seven inches, Crouch is prized for his self-deprecating humour, having famously answered the question “what would you be if you weren’t a footballer?” with the one liner “a virgin”. At the same time, he has had an incredible career, from World Cups to Champions League finals. He has scored more headed goals than anyone else in Premiership history and has a better goals-to-minute on the pitch ratio for England than even Michael Owen. A humble professional with a great sense of humour, Crouch is one of the few players that is liked by fans of all clubs.
-
-
Fantastic Honesty
- By Anonymous User on 05-12-19
By: Peter Crouch
-
A Life Too Short
- The Tragedy of Robert Enke
- By: Ronald Reng
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why does an international footballer with the World at his feet decide to take his own life? On November 10, 2009, the German national goalkeeper Robert Enke stepped in front of a passing train. He was 32 years old. Viewed from the outside, Enke had it all. Here was a professional goalkeeper who had played for a string of Europe's top clubs, including Jose Mourinho's Benfica and Louis Van Gaal's Barcelona. Enke was destined to be his country's first choice for years. But beneath the veneer of success lay a darker story.
-
-
Depression is real, this story brings it home.
- By Bob Seavers on 12-13-19
By: Ronald Reng
-
Sevens Heaven
- The Beautiful Chaos of Fiji's Olympic Dream
- By: Ben Ryan
- Narrated by: Ben Ryan
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is late summer 2013. Ben Ryan, a red-haired, 40-something, spectacle-wearing Englishman, is given 20 minutes to decide whether he wants to coach Fiji's rugby sevens team, with the aim of taking them to the nation's first-ever Olympic medal. He has never been to Fiji. There has been no discussion of contracts or salary. But he knows that no one plays rugby like the men from these isolated Pacific islands, just as no one plays football like the kids from the Brazilian favelas, or no one runs as fast as the boys and girls from Jamaica's boondocks.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Karissa Townes on 06-13-23
By: Ben Ryan
-
Calling the Shots
- How to Win in Football and Life
- By: David Dein
- Narrated by: Arsène Wenger, David Dein
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There's no doubt that Dein has been one of the most significant and influential figures in British football for over three decades—operating at club and international level. He was a prime mover in the creation of the Premier League, hugely influential within the England set-up and, of course, was the mastermind—along with Arsène Wenger—in creating the glory days of Arsenal Football Club, leading the team for almost a quarter of a century.
-
-
Modern Day Herbert Chapman
- By Will on 02-10-23
By: David Dein
-
Lioness - My Journey to Glory
- By: Beth Mead, Ian Wright - foreword, Jermain Defoe - afterword
- Narrated by: Dipo Ola, Emily Spowage
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beth Mead is one of the world's most talented female footballers - Golden Boot winner and Player of the Tournament at the UEFA Euros 2022, Arsenal Player of the Season 2021-22, and nominee for the 2022 Ballon d'Or. But long before this, Beth was just an ordinary kid from Hinderwell, North Yorkshire who wanted to play football.
-
-
Very inspiring
- By R. Burroughs on 01-17-24
By: Beth Mead, and others
-
Call Me Mrs. Brown
- The hilarious autobiography from the star of Mrs. Brown’s Boys
- By: Brendan O'Carroll
- Narrated by: Brendan O'Carroll
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before he became the nation's favourite Mammy, Brendan O'Carroll was known, simply as Brendan. He's the youngest of eleven children from a poor family in Dublin, he's a boy whose father died when he was just nine years old; he's someone whose hope and determination meant he never gave up. Throughout the tough moments, Brendan always had humour and a good story to tell alongside the ever-guiding inspiration of his own Mammy, a formidable figure who became Ireland's first female Labour MP, all whilst raising eleven children by herself.
-
-
Definitely worth the wait.
- By Pooler Greg on 10-25-22
-
The Lives of Brian
- A Memoir
- By: Brian Johnson
- Narrated by: Brian Johnson
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brian Johnson’s memoir from growing up in a small town to starting his own band to ultimately replacing Bon Scott, the lead singer of one of the world biggest rock acts, AC/DC. They would record their first album together, the iconic Back in Black, which would become the biggest selling rock album of all time.
-
-
Brian’s accent Rocks!
- By CCFitz on 10-29-22
By: Brian Johnson
-
Darkness to Light
- A Memoir
- By: Lamar Odom, Chris Palmer - contributor
- Narrated by: Chris Palmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world knows Lamar Odom as a two-time NBA world champion who rocketed to uncharted heights of fame thanks to being a member of both the storied Los Angeles Lakers and the ubiquitous Kardashian empire. But who is Lamar, really? Fans have long praised his accessibility and genuine everyman quality - he is a blinding talent who has suffered a series of heartaches, setback, and loss.
-
-
Horrible choice of the narrator
- By Tdub on 07-14-19
By: Lamar Odom, and others
What listeners say about The Rodfather
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 06-22-23
Brilliant
Great listen and highly recommended it for anyone interested in a great life story. Up the Rodfather!!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephen
- 12-06-22
Give him the Ireland job!
It's sad to hear of all of the League of Ireland struggles over the year. It's financial health caused a lot of ruin in many peoples lives. Roddy lived to tell the tale. His open ambition takes him down many of the league traps. His story telling is second to none. There is a great authentic story here. It's fast paced and very funny. Highly recommended!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 09-04-23
A life lesson in friendship, charm and resilience
Bizarrely Life affirming.
A 100% must listen.
All the better for the coauthors narration which will have you laughing out loud and weeping like a child all in the same 10 minute window.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!