Football Journeys Podcast

The pioneer.

Most famously one of West Bromwich Albion's so-called Three Degrees Brendon was part of the Windrush generation who came to the United Kingdom to work and to live but found a country that was often inhospitable and unaccepting. He had never played football when he arrived here but he quickly developed as a talent which resulted in a scholarship at Arsenal and ultimately resulted in him becoming Arsenal's first black player.

It's his time at West Brom, and the battles that he, and the much missed Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham, fought that stand him out as a pioneer and a hero to us at B5 Consultancy. He speaks beautifully and modestly about his incredible life experiences and we are honoured to have had him as a guest on the pod.
This episode has been produced in partnership with our good friends and sponsors at Sports Fusion. Sports Fusion are a tech company who have been supporting the sports industry for many years and we are proud to be associated with them. You can find out more about the company here: https://www.sportsfusion.co.uk/

Please do support us on Patreon - patreon.com/footballjourneys. For just £2 a month you can help fund the production of these episodes. You will also get early access to episodes, ad free content and benefits and content that non-Patreons don't get.

This is the second of our breakout episodes dealing with an issue rather than one guest and their football journey. This episode is on LGBT people and how football, particularly men's football, deals with those people.
We hear from sports lawyer, and talented amateur footballer, Jamie Feldman who talks about his experiences as a young man, his time playing for Stonewall FC and his work with Rainbow Laces. We also speak to Dr Sophie Cook, a trans woman and former club photographer at AFC Bournemouth who transitioned in 2015 with huge support from the club. Sophie was born Steve and, coincidentally, was at the club at the same time as player Steve Cook, who provides his recollections of the time and his support for Sophie. Finally, we speak to Crystal Palace women's goalkeeper, solicitor and Football Ramble presenter, Chloe Morgan about the lessons learned from the women's game.
Please do support us on Patreon - patreon.com/footballjourneys. For just £2 a month you can help fund the production of these episodes. You will also get early access to episodes, ad free content and benefits and content that non-Patreons don't get.

The brothers.

Imagine having a career in professional football but there's still debate about whether you were the best footballer in your house growing up. The McLaughlin brothers, a charismatic pair from Belfast, know exactly what that feels like. Whilst Ryan grabbed early headlines as a youngster coming through Liverpool's Academy, Conor was the one that ended up going to the Euros with Northern Ireland. The boys talk about the ups and downs of life in the EFL, Ryan's early days at Liverpool, projects off the pitch, representing Northern Ireland together as two Catholic boys and there are plenty of laughs in between.
This episode has been produced in partnership with our sponsor, Body Mind Performance. BMP, run by Emily Tillman, is a coaching company focused on helping young athletes with the mental and physical challenges of playing competitive football.

For more information about BMP visit:

https://www.bodymindperformance.org/ or find them on Instagram: bodymindperformance_

Please do support us on Patreon - patreon.com/footballjourneys. For just £2 a month you can help fund the production of these episodes. You will also get early access to episodes, ad free content and benefits and content that non-Patreons don't get.

The Paralympian.

Who holds the record as the male footballer with the most caps and goals for England? Peter Shilton and Wayne Rooney? Wrong. David Clarke holds both.

Born to two Scousers in Wigan, David is a lifelong Red but, having been born with glaucoma he can't have imagined that he would ever have been able to emulate his Anfield heroes. However, he perhaps outdid all of them. Winning 144 caps for his country, scoring 128 goals, including 5 Golden Boots at European Championships, as he puts it:

"Strangely I think my life has been potentially a lot more rewarding and a lot more enjoyable than it may well have been had I been able to see"

It's difficult to argue with that logic when you consider that he's played at several European Championships, helped light the flame at the London Paralympics, presented the FA Cup to Wigan, appeared on Strictly Come Dancing for Sport Relief, coached David Beckham, received a lifetime achievement award from the FA and many more achievements in football and in banking besides.

We loved him, and his dog Dennis, and we're sure you will too.

For more information on David, or to contact him, visit: davidclarkeblindfootballer.com
This episode is produced in partnership with the RNIB. You can find out more about this wonderful charity, and about what more you can do to support blind and partially sighted people, by visiting their website: https://www.rnib.org.uk/
Please do support us on Patreon - patreon.com/footballjourneys. For just £2 a month you can help fund the production of these episodes. You will also get early access to episodes, ad free content and benefits and content that non-Patreons don't get.

This week we have an update episode. Fraser and Matt chatted, shared recollections, updates and thoughts about guests from across both Series One and Two. We also have some clips, a few short follow up interviews, and a few other little bits and bobs.

If you're a keen listener of this podcast then this should be a lot of fun.

We are taking a summer break after this episode and we will back after that break with more guests and more pods. If you can support us in the meanwhile then please do we are looking for sponsors, social media shares and promotion and if you can support us on Patreon - patreon.com/footballjourneys that would be hugely appreciated. For just £2 a month you can help fund the production of these episodes. You will also get early access to episodes, ad free content and benefits and content that non-Patreons don't get.