Best of 2020 on talkSPORT includes Simon Jordan vs Mino Raiola, Tyson Fury’s lockdown highlights, hilarious Ally McCoist Gazza tales and more

It hasn’t been the year any of us expected, but here at talkSPORT we’ve given our all to give listeners a lift with some great content on air and online.

While a lot of sporting action was curtailed for a large chunk of 2020, we’ve still had some remarkable sporting highlights; from Tyson Fury’s rematch win over Deontay Wilder, Liverpool ending their wait for the Premier League and, more recently, Lewis Hamilton becoming the most successful Formula 1 driver in history.

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It’s been a tough 12 months, with sadness in how the coronavirus has affected millions of lives and the passing of some of sport’s biggest legends, but it may be easy to forget there have been positives and plenty of joy too.

Marcus Rashford has emerged as a great example for us all, supporters perhaps learned ‘you don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone’ as they mourned the loss of football and then celebrated their return to stadiums – despite it being quite short lived in some cases.

And, remarkably, despite having almost nothing to report on for months, we still managed to talk about sport and keep you lot entertained.

From Simon Jordan’s flamboyant phrases and on-air bust-ups, to Tyson Fury’s lockdown workouts, Ally McCoist rustling up MORE Paul Gascoigne stories and Freddie Flintoff’s hilarious spell on the Breakfast show – there has been no shortage of highlights from a year we’ll all remember, for various reasons.

So, here’s a selection of some of the most memorable talkSPORT moments from 2020.

Thanks for reading, thanks for listening, and raise a glass for 2021.

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Simon Jordan vs Mino Raiola

We start with one of the most explosive interview in talkSPORT history, as Mr Opinion himself Simon Jordan traded blows with Mino Raiola live on air.

Any talkSPORT regular would know Mr Jordan is not the biggest fan of agents in general. In fact, he loathes them – his words, not ours – and so he had plenty to say to so-called ‘super agent ‘Raiola when he joined the Jim White show back in February.

The pair then had round-two live on air in November, as Jordan called the agent a ‘parasite’.

So grab some popcorn, and watch the highlights below!

Tyson Fury’s lockdown madness

It’s easy to forget that Tyson Fury’s huge rematch win against Deontay Wildey happened this year.

Fury’s win was hailed as one of the biggest in British boxing history, but the Gypsy King would soon be hitting the headlines for very different reasons – his lockdown workouts.

Fury’s had a frustrating year with fights being put on the back burner due to COVID, and what better way to keep the public entertained and in good shape by broadcasting his daily workouts on social media.

What he didn’t account for, though, were his kids were in lockdown with him.

Swearing, weeing on the floor – let’s just say if the Furys aren’t given their own TV show when the Gypsy King retires, we’ll be very surprised.

Fury has also become an advocate for speaking about mental health issues, and had an inspiring message for talkSPORT listeners when he spoke to us in November.

Lost legends

Sadly, we’ve had to say goodbye to a number of football legends in 2020, including four members of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team, Jack Charlton, Nobby Stiles, Norman Hunter and Peter Bonetti.

And, arguably, the greatest to play the game ever – Diego Maradona.

talkSPORT was flooded with tributes for the England legends and the Argentine maestro – here’s just a few of them.

Freddie Flintoff’s amazing story featuring Steve Bruce and Jamie Oliver

The England cricket legend’s stint on the talkSPORT Breakfast Show may have been short, but it was not short of entertainment.

Here’s the pick of Freddie’s top stories he told us this year, from when Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce bailed him out of playing for a slap up meal, and they tried to kick celebrity chef Jamie Oliver out of his own party!

Here’s a lesson for you: Do not swear in front of Brucey.

More Paul Gascoigne tales with Ally McCoist

Everybody loves All McCoist… but what’s better than Ally McCoist? Ally McCoist telling one of his hilarious stories about former Rangers teammate, Gazza.

We’ve all heard the one with the fireworks, and the late-night trip to Coisty’s fridge… but McCoist proved he still has plenty more top tales locked away, as he blessed us with a few new ones this year.

Including the first time they met – in Las Vegas… carnage – and Gazza’s favourite pranks he liked to play on his teammates.

McCoist fooled by Ibrahimovic moving to Scotland prank

And speaking of pranks, Coisty appeared to lose track of what day it was, as he was sucked into this brilliant joke from Laura Woods and the talkSPORT Breakfast team.

It seems all those early mornings are taking their toll!

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Simon Jordan – Turdgate

Oh yes, how could we leave this one out?

Simon Jordan didn’t pull any punches and made an enemy of Ryan Fraser after calling the winger a ‘turd’ and a ‘weasel’ for refusing to play for Bournemouth and sealing a deal to Newcastle United instead.

It prompted a response from boss Steve Bruce, who obviously was not too impressed.

But we hail Jordan for his honesty… and for ensuring the word ‘turd’ was on the back page of newspapers.

With the year we all had, we needed a laugh.

FIGHT! – When it kicks off behind the scenes

The good thing about former players and managers chatting to talkSPORT, is that they can reveal just what went on behind the scenes after years of keeping everything under wraps.

It was a recurring theme this year, perhaps because there was no sporting action to speak of for months on end.

And another recurring theme was violence. Apparently it’s a daily occurance at a football club, where the pressure cooker environment often causes players to snap.

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara and ex-England boss Sam Allardyce were among those to tell us about when stars saw red on the pitch, in the dressing room… even in the manager’s office!

Alan Brazil’s savage VAR rant

Love it or hate it, VAR is here and it’s apparently here to stay.

We may have been short of football action this year, but there was certainly no shortage of VAR controversy.

And it’s fair to say Big Al is not a fan. He hates it. So much that his face turns a worrying shade of red every time he talks about it.

Easy Al!

talkSPORT callers – never change!

And lastly, it’s you lot.

We love opening up our phone lines to hear what you’ve got to say about your club, and we get all sorts.

Carefully considered views, furious rants, quite ridiculous claims.

And we love them all. Here’s a selection of our favourite – and most bonkers – from 2020.