1. The Promised Land
From Nottingham to North Korea - how conman Russell King took the oldest club in the football league to the brink of oblivion with promises beyond their wildest dreams.
From the world鈥檚 oldest football league club to the communist dictatorship of North Korea, this incredible story has it all.
It鈥檚 a tale of greed and intrigue that takes us on a journey from the streets of Nottingham to the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. At the heart of it, a conman who fooled football bosses, a London bank and foreign regimes. Russell King鈥檚 audacious multi-million pound scam brought the world鈥檚 oldest professional football club Notts County to the brink of oblivion.
The story begins at the club鈥檚 ground Meadow Lane. It鈥檚 2009 and the team has just managed to maintain their Football League status after years of fighting for survival. Out of the blue comes a knight in shining armour with promises of untold wealth from the Middle East and ambitions to catapult the club from the lowly fourth tier to the Premier League.
Enter former England manager Sven-G枚ran Eriksson and England and Arsenal legend Sol Campbell. All of a sudden Notts County are surfing the crest of a wave 鈥� they鈥檙e off to the promised land. But is all as it seems? Or are their dreams about to be shattered?
Sound designer: Paul Lewis
Producer: Nick Southall
Series Producer: Ben Robinson
Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston
Podcast
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