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Beyond the Pitch Episode 99: Mega Guest Monday with Clare McEwen!
11 Plays1 month ago
Catherine is joined by academic and author Clare McEwen, to hear all about her book 'She Can Kick It' - the history of women's football around the world from the persepctive of a fan.
She Can Kick It is available now on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/She-Can-Kick-Football-Beautiful/dp/B0DMPQPFKZ. You can also follow Clare on BlueSky and Instagram at @claremcwrites.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Overview
00:00:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello, welcome to Beyond the Pitch, a daily women's football podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network. I'm really excited today because I'm Catherine, by the way, you all probably know that by now because I talk a lot and I like to talk a lot. um but I'm really excited today because I'm here with a very special guest. She's the author of the new book, She Can Kick It, which if we have a video I'm holding up right now,
00:00:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
I own two copies now. I own a Kindle version and the physical version. um yeah It's out now on Amazon. It talks about the history of the women's game across the world and that's we'll get into it, but it's one thing I really loved was focusing on different countries and different parts of the world as well.
Claire McEwen's Football Journey
00:00:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
um She's also a Manchester United fan, so I had to wear my United shirt and Lioness's fan, ah so I'm sure we'll talk about those too throughout the episode. But please join me in welcoming Claire McEwen. Hi.
00:01:05
Clare
Hi, thank you very much firstly for inviting me on but secondly for buying my book twice.
00:01:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
You're very welcome. I was very, very happy to do it. I just think it's such a great thing a great thing to do and to have out there. So I know you do go into this in the book, so we won't spoil a huge amount, but I just thought we could get to know you a little bit first. um So how did you get into football?
00:01:33
Clare
Well, I think mostly from my dad watching. My dad was used to watch football a lot um and ah shout at the TV a lot. And I guess I just sat in the room and was interested and learnt from there.
00:01:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:01:48
Clare
It wasn't long before I wanted to be kicking the ball around myself. um And quite early on, I was probably eight or nine. I was absolutely obsessed. I was in the park, in the playground, kicking it up and down the hallway much my poor mum's horror um and yes just escalated from there really yes he was yes yes to be fair during the 80s it very much did early the eighty s yeah yeah
00:02:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah that's amazing I think it was your dad at Manchester United fan as well. That explains the shouting.
00:02:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. pre Sir Alex Ferguson and the beginning of Sir Alex Ferguson, definitely a lot of shout outs. And what about when did that kind of transition into what watching or going to see women women's teams play?
00:02:34
Clare
That was definitely a lot, lot later, much more recent. um I grew up in Cornwall, so there really wasn't much in the way of football to watch anyway, um live. So I never i never really went to to matches then.
00:02:46
Clare
And I think um as it as it increased on TV and we started seeing it more on TV, ah I watched it whenever whenever it was on. that I mean, it was only major tournaments in the FA Cup final once a year, but I would just watch it wherever whenever I could.
00:02:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Sure.
00:02:59
Clare
And I think it started, I played at university briefly, And that would have been 96 probably.
00:03:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mm-hmm.
00:03:08
Clare
And then after that, I guess though, the women's World Cup, the 1999 World Cup, watershed World Cup. And then since then, just watching it and watching it. And it wasn't until I think 2019, I went to my first women's match, which was the friendly against Germany at Wembley, which packed it out.
00:03:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
and Did we win that one?
00:03:26
Clare
And what changed my life? Yeah.
00:03:33
Clare
Oh, it was, ah yeah, yeah, from there, really, I guess more increased much more quickly, just the absolute yeah overwhelming feel of being there. at Wembley watching women was quite a big thing, having some grown up in the 80s where it was, I was, you know, odd to be playing.
00:03:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Writing 'She Can Kick It'
00:03:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
and What about what about writing the book? How did you first kind of get the idea ah to to write a book?
00:04:00
Clare
That was, well, the first time I wanted to write a book, I was get about the same age, sort of eight or nine, i was but it wasn't about wasn't going to be about football then. um But yeah, writing about the history, I first came back to that same Wembley game in 2019 where I was just completely overwhelmed with all this emotion. of I spent most of 90 minutes crying because I was just like, I can't believe I'm seeing this.
00:04:23
Clare
And then I was like, what's it come from? We haven't really heard much about it here. um I mean, obviously, yeah the 1999 World Cup, but I was thinking, well, there must be more to it than that. And just from there, I kind of, it started growing as a small idea. And then once I sort of, ah before the Euros, I was thinking about it a bit more and was, um and after it, I started writing for the Women's Football Magazine, um sort of groaning confidence from writing. I thought, okay, now, now's the time.
00:04:52
Clare
and that
00:04:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
So I understand, were you an academic previously?
00:04:56
Clare
Yes, yes, i I still am, I'm a health researcher so I kind of, and I've been doing that for 25 years, so I've kind of, the research thing, you know, and the sort of gathering stuff together is pretty much second nature for me, so
00:04:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
So the research, definitely.
00:05:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh wow.
00:05:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, maybe we could talk about this off podcast because I don't want to ah tell everyone too much about who I am, but I definitely ah would be interested to talk to you more about that. um So just going into the book, I just found it so interesting, the range of sources and kind of things that you managed to pick up on. I mean, talking about references in the 1600s to women playing football, how on earth did you find them?
00:05:39
Clare
Well, actually the early ones were weren't that difficult. with The National Football Museum has a wonderful display now of, of so the early ones were where from that, the really early ones were things they had picked out.
00:05:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh, it's.
00:05:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah But was it the, was it the later ones that were a bit trickier?
00:05:51
Clare
um So yeah, so that was that was actually not yeah not that difficult. I just, one quick visit there and I was like, oh, here it goes, this is where it starts.
00:06:03
Clare
um Yeah I mean it probably was actually um because yeah the sort of in-between stories, you everybody's heard of Dick Care Ladies but not a great deal else really.
00:06:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mm hmm.
00:06:14
Clare
um So it did take a little bit more diving into, I mean the National Football Museum was a good source of all sorts of and I think probably once I knew the sort of some basics I could then fill it out by finding stuff.
00:06:26
Clare
um And actually the the the Euros, UEFA had lots of banners up when they were in the fan zones and they were you know they were they were sharing some history. So i'd I'd taken a load of photos of that as well. So that kind of helped sort of put the major pieces together.
00:06:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, UEFA is an absolute kind of goldmine. I was surprised because I was looking up, I was just thinking about managers who played football. So I wanted to look up all the different um women's managers.
00:06:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think this was ah last year's World Cup. And UEFA has kind of um match reports for matches going really far back, which which really amazed me, like PS Suntag,
00:07:02
Clare
yeah
00:07:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
was in a match report and I was like wow.
00:07:10
Clare
Yeah, yeah, but actually, I did use yeah, UEFA sources FIFA also have reasonable amount of stats and match and tournament reports and things like that, which are absolute gold mines as well.
00:07:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
but
00:07:20
Clare
ah Some good stuff out there if you look for it.
00:07:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
So yeah absolutely and I will shout out as well the National Football Museum has a great shop. I bought my stepdad actually something from there for Christmas which is um but they call coasters with cartoons of ah Bobby Charlton and Matt Busby on them for Christmas so yeah definitely shout out to them.
00:07:40
Clare
Fantastic.
00:07:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
um I was wondering with the book, I'm just fascinating about the whole process of writing the book as well as what you found out, what was most difficult?
Challenges and Discoveries in Women's Football History
00:07:55
Clare
Oh, most difficult. I think probably getting it into a book size that wasn't too overwhelming.
00:08:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
name
00:08:01
Clare
I wanted to make sure it was an accessible book, I think, because there's there's quite a lot of stuff I've been written, but some of it can be quite hard to read. It's quite dense.
00:08:11
Clare
It's not not necessarily in a sort of timeline that's easy to get your head around. So actually finding just the right amount to to sort of make the story but not overwhelm people I think was probably the hardest
00:08:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I can just say from an accessibility standpoint, I really like the size of the writing, the size of the font, because I have, ah I know it sounds really simple, but I have pretty poor eyesight and um I really struggle with a lot of printed books.
00:08:33
Clare
but
00:08:40
Clare
Hmm yeah well I mean I think as I'm getting older my eyesight's not quite so great so that was perhaps
00:08:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
definitely um Did you learn anything when writing the book that really surprised you?
00:08:47
Clare
but for me
00:08:54
Clare
Yes, I mean quite a lot to be fair but the one thing that really sticks out is that when I was playing as a sort of 9-10 year old in the mid 80s I assumed I was the only girl in the world who wanted to play and then later learned that um not only was there an England women's team but they had played in the final of the first UEFA Euros in 1984 and then won the
00:08:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
And. Yeah.
00:09:18
Clare
what was known as the Mini World Cup, the Manti Alito, the year later, um instead of having sort of male role models, I really could have had female role models. that was that That's the one that sticks out the most for me.
00:09:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
I know when I was reading, it was really making me think about how women in football, even even when we were banned and not supposedly playing it, we never went away. We've always been there. It's just the attention that people have paid to it has kind of gone from kind of this massively negative thing because, well, I'm putting um an assumption on there, but because it took attention away from the men's game.
00:10:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
And because ah they wanted to come up with a way of not letting women do things by saying, oh, um physical physicality of it, you know, bad for reproduction and all that sort of stuff.
00:10:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
But yeah, it really actually made me quite emotional when I was reading through that and thinking, we've never we've never gone away. We've always been there.
00:10:24
Clare
Mm hmm.
00:10:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
But it's just the attention that people pay to it. And I think, go back to what you said at the beginning about being at Wembley and experiencing thousands of people going to see a women's game. I just wish that kind of someone like Lily Parr could be around and to see us win the euros, especially at Wembley in front of, I think it was 83,000 people,
00:10:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Yeah, it's very moving as well.
00:10:57
Clare
Yeah.
00:10:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's a very moving story.
00:10:58
Clare
Yeah, I mean, it's kind it's kind of heartbreaking in a way, isn't it? Because you think all the I spoke to Carol Thomas, ex ex lionesses captain about this and and and she was much more sensible and like, ah, well, it was what it was.
00:11:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:11:11
Clare
We did our bit.
00:11:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
you
00:11:12
Clare
um And I was like, absolutely raging that I didn't know about her. Yeah, and it is it is a little bit heartbreaking as well. There's ah a lot of emotion around it really, isn't there?
00:11:24
Clare
Like he's been there, he's never gone away. 100 years of it, never gone away. um But yeah, it was well hidden, not least, because yeah, that they ah there was a ah concern that that it would take crowds away from from from men's games.
00:11:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
The Global Sports Podcast Network is changing the face of football podcasts with dedicated daily content for every Premier League team, women's football, fantasy football and a daily Premier League wrap-up broadcast in five different languages. This is your one-stop shop for your daily football fix. Find GSPM wherever you find your usual podcasts.
00:12:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And I really loved one of my favorite parts of the book were kind of the icon profiles in little boxes that have separated something was that anyone that you had not heard of at all and that you were really like why haven't I heard about this person.
00:12:16
Clare
Obviously loads of them.
00:12:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah
00:12:18
Clare
know but it like I cannot believe that these are absolutely huge stars and I i hadn't in their in their country and I hadn't heard of them. um I hadn't heard of all the ones in in England. I hadn't heard of um Sheila Parker or Margaret Macaulay who were in the first official match. England versus Scotland. I hadn't heard of Carol Thomas when I started. Samhain, Linda Medelen, Birgit Prince. I mean, let so many, I probably knew the US stars, but apart from that,
00:12:46
Clare
hardly anyone.
00:12:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
that That's really interesting as well about, um as I said earlier, I found it really interesting ah that you didn't just focus on the UK or even England. you and talked about different countries in Europe. One of the things that I um noticed and I found it quite interesting was talking about the times that um different football associations implemented bands. And England was quite early actually in 1921. I hadn't realised that that was early because I'd assumed that kind of after the war, when kind of women had, to my mind, shown that we could do
00:13:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
hu you know hard labor, fizzle physical jobs. Some football associations actually put their bands in place after the Second World War, which was just amazing to me.
00:13:40
Clare
Yeah, it was really weird. um The way it's sort of the bands were sort of, I mean, yeah, England started it because and we were world leading as far as football was concerned, people followed us. um And they started it in 1921 when they yeah realized that maybe it was becoming popular. And then all the, it sort of, that sort of fanned out across the world as well. And it found out across most of Europe, but not Scotland, they didn't officially ban it, but they did,
00:14:09
Clare
stop women playing on the pitches in the same way as England did, they just didn't call it a ban until many years later. ah Germany did the same actually. um But yeah, it basically then just fanned out all across and then across Europe and then across the Commonwealth. Yeah, I think Germany and and Scotland were a bit later banning, um officially banning, but they they essentially stopped them women playing in the same way everybody else did.
00:14:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, I think Germany was 1948. I did underline it. I think it was 1948, which again, I just think ah i would I just would have thought that we'd shown that it didn't have a huge detrimental impact to our physical health as women ah to do physical jobs.
00:14:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
I just would have thought that would have shown.
00:14:53
Clare
I think think that probably demonstrates that it was less about um our wellbeing, more about the wellbeing of the men's game and reputation and what they wanted to protect.
00:14:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
you
00:15:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:15:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
Absolutely, especially men coming back from war um at that period of time. What can we what can we point to to say that sir the the women's game, which is becoming quite popular, shouldn't shouldn't be.
00:15:11
Clare
yep
00:15:18
Clare
yeah yeah Yeah, it was basically about making excuses. The first time was the first time is the medical stuff and also that the charitable games, that there were some they were taking the money and doing something else with it and not giving it to charity, which of course the women never had any control over anyway. yeah And then after that, it was all, oh no, it's terribly bad for them. We should look after them.
00:15:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, that one really made me angry. so um the I'm not sure who it was, the government or the patriarchy in some form, said that all these charity matches that the women were playing, because that was the main focus of the games you'd play to raise money for charity.
00:15:56
Clare
Mm hmm.
00:15:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
And raising really large sums of money as well, many thousands, many tens of thousands of spectators.
00:16:00
Clare
Yeah.
00:16:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
and there was criticism saying that women were taking the money that they raised, stealing it and running off with it.
00:16:12
Clare
yeah
00:16:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you're very right, as you say in the book, the women weren't in charge of the finances. It was the male managers at the of the
00:16:22
Clare
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I can't imagine the women had any kind of control over what went on then, to be honest, outside of the football itself.
00:16:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
No.
00:16:29
Clare
So, yeah, again, just sort of kind of fabricated a little bit to help help the agenda.
00:16:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, of course. And um on that kind of note, was there anything, I don't want this to sound really negative, but what made you the most angry reading about?
00:16:46
Clare
Um, I think constantly having to reinvent it and come back again and again and again, and the sort of stifling it, I mean, some ways that UEFA eventually realized that they had to do something about it, took it under, under their control, and and then basically just stifled it for years. um So it was that it was kind of, yeah, always, we want to play,
Misconceptions and Growth in Women's Football
00:17:09
Clare
we want to play. Oh, yeah, all right, then. No, you're not going to. And again, and again, and again.
00:17:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think and I have a psychology background. ah That's my background. One of my big kind of thoughts is about how a lot of people don't realise, especially kind of the men who go online and write comments under Facebook posts, under um if you ever see England and the lioness is sharing Instagram posts, the comments are just not something you want to look at.
00:17:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
But it always makes me think when people talk, men talk about the standards of the women's game, they talk about things like this, and I always just want to go, but don't you realise that this is all because of what's come before?
00:17:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
And yeah.
00:17:55
Clare
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, that's what makes me the most angry.
00:18:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
00:18:01
Clare
wait but but And the constant Oh, well, there isn't much history to it.
00:18:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
I have to, yeah, I.
00:18:07
Clare
ah Well, there is a lot actually.
00:18:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
Ah.
00:18:10
Clare
it's
00:18:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
And no no one, what gets me, no one no one watches or no one cares. It's like, well, 83,000 people were at the Euros final.
00:18:18
Clare
Yeah.
00:18:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
um There was a number of the millions who have been watching the WSL on YouTube this season since it shifted away from the FA player, which was quite difficult to use.
00:18:25
Clare
here
00:18:30
Clare
right
00:18:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Yeah. And people do care. People have cared. Again, not just women have been involved in the game, but but people have cared about the women's game for centuries.
00:18:40
Clare
yeah Yes, and is it frustrating to keep saying the same thing, isn't it? They just don't want to know, do they?
00:18:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
No. um And it always, it it really always reminds me as well of the kind of, well, if it's not about, if they don't have, if they don't comment about, oh, the standards, it will be, no one cares.
00:18:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then it will be, they'll keep finding something else, something else to say.
00:18:59
Clare
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We have to try not to convince, try and waste our energy trying to convince them. Yeah, I mean, I think yes, I mean, it's very hard to improve your standard if you're stifled and not allowed to play on pitches and not allowed to practice and train and be professional and, you know, all of that.
00:19:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:19:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely.
00:19:18
Clare
But yeah.
00:19:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
And um yeah, I always, yeah, I just find it interesting from a psychological standpoint, like how far how far people will go to dig themselves into that belief.
00:19:24
Clare
Hmm.
00:19:28
Clare
yeah Yes.
00:19:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
And but then not related to other things like then they'll go and celebrate female tennis players and um and just not see why that's a contradiction.
00:19:36
Clare
yes and yeah No, no, I never understand. Yes, it is like you say, it's fascinating to it really riles some people up, doesn't it?
00:19:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:19:49
Clare
That women and football in particular.
00:19:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. And then you think about, well, we know that there is something special about football because we care so much about it.
00:19:57
Clare
Hmm.
00:19:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
um I was i was you know united women's team.
00:20:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
I feel just as upset when they lose as I do when the men's team loses. um I have more experience lately of the men's team losing, but yeah.
00:20:12
Clare
Yes, yes indeed. In fact, I would go so fast to say that I feel more upset with the women's team losing now because I kind of got used to the men's team losing.
00:20:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. And yeah, it's just, ah yeah, it's a definite, yeah, maybe that is something to do with it. We, we become so tribal about football and so emotionally invested. And because women didn't even have the access to football pitches, you know, to go to so watch games, I mean, that um I hadn't realized that ah some of the stadiums in Saudi Arabia, women were only allowed in to actually watch the games in like 2022.
00:20:51
Clare
that's insane absolutely insane isn't it it's different yeah it's different isn't it yes yes yeah be improving everywhere
00:20:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then you get the criticism, the comment, women don't care about football. It's like, no, women want a loud, slightly different feeling.
00:21:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, let's hope. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. Zancaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing that automatically removes all of those ums and ahs, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently. So if you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster.
00:21:34
Clare
like
00:21:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
um So I wanted to kind of, with the last segment, talk a little bit um about something quite hopeful and kind of where the game is moving. And so I wanted to ask, you know the game, obviously, the history
Future of Women's Football and Projects
00:21:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
of it. Where do you hope that it goes next?
00:21:56
Clare
I hope that we can stop having these conversations ah apart about it being nobody caring and nobody watching, um but actually I really hope that it that women's football forges its own path and creates its own sort of product, a word I'm not overly keen on using, but um
00:22:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
one
00:22:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:22:17
Clare
Yeah, to try and make it different and not no follow exactly what's happened with the men's game and embrace what we have, embrace the sort of, everybody's everybody's allowed, it's all very um inclusive.
00:22:33
Clare
I would like to to see it continue to be you know inclusive, family friendly and grow at a sustainable pace in its own way that one day changes the world, meaning that girls never have to but even think about it. Girls, women, nobody has to worry about going to games or finding somewhere to play, that it's all just um nicer, nicer, football, but nicer.
00:22:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
I definitely agree with that. I always, um again, not to take this back to ah back to men, but when they say that it's different level to the men's game, I always think, well, yeah, but it's it can be different. That's fine. we're We're still just saying that we want just as much kind of attention and focus because it's still football.
00:23:24
Clare
Yeah, yeah.
00:23:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
and
00:23:26
Clare
Yeah, it can be football but different.
00:23:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
and Yeah, football but different. I always equate it to like ah watching the tennis. People get just as enthused about women tennis players as they do about men. And why is football different?
00:23:36
Clare
Yeah.
00:23:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
What is it about football that gets people and makes them different? And it's not always just men. Sometimes it's women as well.
00:23:44
Clare
I agree.
00:23:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. um And just because you're a Manchester United fan, I also really wanted to just finish off by having a quick chat about ah about United.
00:23:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
um what you think of the the current squad, who you've been really impressed with this season.
00:23:57
Clare
good
00:24:04
Clare
um Most impressed with is going to be Fallon in goal who has been absolutely ridiculous.
00:24:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes.
00:24:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
She is amazing.
00:24:12
Clare
um and Insane. I remember watching her warm up um Man United Chelsea FA Cup semi-final last year. And I mean, she wasn't in there long, but I remember but we were relatively close.
00:24:26
Clare
I remember watching her warm up and stop a few shots. And I thought, this is not going to be a problem when Mary goes. so She absolutely was amazing.
00:24:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
no
00:24:34
Clare
And she has not disappointed.
00:24:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
I mean, I mean, she's conceded what, three goals in the league so far in 10 games.
00:24:39
Clare
Mainly to say as well.
00:24:43
Clare
It's insane, isn't it? in a league that, I mean, there are lots of goals scored often out there in, in the WSL.
00:24:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:24:51
Clare
So yeah, absolutely amazing. Yeah. And Mayo Leticia has been amazing stepping up as captain.
00:24:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. No, I agree with that. She's my, she's, she's my kind of number one of the year. I just, and I think it's amazing kind of the impact that having the Captain's Arm Band has had on her performances and at England as well, because she's kind of, she's wanted to get some more minutes at England, which I'm really happy about.
00:25:03
Clare
Yeah.
00:25:10
Clare
Yeah.
00:25:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
And her performances have been really solid at England as well.
00:25:18
Clare
Very, yeah, very solid. edgege She's got a proper whole new confidence, hasn't she? And she's so young.
00:25:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Yeah, 22.
00:25:27
Clare
Yes. and
00:25:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
Singing 22, this is actually something that um I picked out in another podcast when I was thinking about how young she is as captain. There's something quite interesting because I watch a lot of Dutch football at the Dutch Women's League and the teams there are so much younger than
00:25:42
Clare
Oh.
00:25:46
Clare
oh
00:25:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
um than teams in the WSL and I did a little comparison of ages of um like average team age whenever they were playing so much younger you've got captains like the new captain of I think it's FC 20 is 21 and that's quite a common thing there because the teams are younger because um the best players go abroad and spend their later careers abroad and
00:26:04
Clare
oh like
00:26:15
Clare
and of course that's fascinating no no me either barely a functioning adult never mind a captain i don't know how they do it
00:26:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it's just it's fascinating to me because when I was 21, I could not be a captain.
00:26:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I could not leave my leave. I didn't leave my room very much. So definitely. Yeah. I also wanted to ask what are kind of your next steps are you going to be doing more writing? I know you mentioned the Women's Football magazine, which I do subscribe to.
00:26:46
Clare
good.
00:26:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mm hmm.
00:26:48
Clare
Yeah, more of that. Um, you know, there were so many ideas flying around. I'd love to write more books. I just need to pin down the first idea I think and decide, decide what to do with that.
00:26:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:27:00
Clare
Quite fancy writing about um experiences of women in football, playing football from like across across the spectrum who just tried to play and couldn't like me, um who
00:27:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:27:13
Clare
played at different levels, who have, you know, just within stories of experience, just so everybody's story gets told a little bit more. So that's kind of my biggest idea for the moment, I think, for the next one.
00:27:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh, no, I love that idea. um Yeah, I'm the one who, well, I was always kind of interested and not really interested in football. I pretty much avoided it because my family was so invested in Manchester United. I avoided it for as long as I could and then had really, I didn't enjoy PE at school.
00:27:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
Um, I didn't get on well with the PE teachers, didn't like, like them very much. So it's interesting how those early experiences shape as well.
00:27:56
Clare
Yep, definitely.
00:27:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
Shape your approach.
00:27:58
Clare
That's one of my real pet hates is that PE teachers, the harm they've done and hopefully don't continue to, but yeah.
00:28:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:28:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. In, in saying that a lot of football coaches, ex PE teachers, Serena Riechmann, ex PE teacher.
00:28:13
Clare
Two actually, yeah, and quite a few players to be fair. Yeah, perhaps they were probably the good PE teachers.
00:28:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
let let's let's say
00:28:22
Clare
Let's say that, yeah.
00:28:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
Let's say...
00:28:23
Clare
but
00:28:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
How many games do you get to go to, I suppose, from football?
00:28:27
Clare
oh no Yeah, not very many, to be honest. I live in Oxfordshire now, so it's some it's it's a fair way.
00:28:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
right
00:28:35
Clare
I get to as many as I can, but not not that many. But I do coach my son's team, so I do see, unfortunately, clash with most women's games.
00:28:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
and I... Are you gonna be heading...
00:28:45
Clare
So I see football just different.
00:28:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Are you gonna be heading to Switzerland?
00:28:48
Clare
oh No plans to actually, no, it's probably a bit of a big ask with with my son as well. My husband's not an enormous fan of football.
00:28:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah Yeah I uh yeah my bank balance isn't thankful but but yeah I definitely um not for the whole period obviously just just for all four quarterfinals so we just have to bet and hope that England get to one of them.
00:28:59
Clare
You, you hoping to go?
00:29:05
Clare
Yeah.
00:29:17
Clare
Absolutely, I'm sure they will.
00:29:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah I'm sure yeah I'm so looking forward to it and hopefully going to do some podcasts from there as well.
00:29:19
Clare
Oh wow, what an experience though. how
00:29:25
Clare
Fabulous.
00:29:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
All right. Well, we'll leave it there then. um I'll let you go and enjoy your evening. Is there anything that I haven't asked that you would like to talk about or um anything that you really want to highlight from the book?
00:29:41
Clare
Well, I don't think so. I think you've covered everything. I think um what I would probably only like to say about the book is that it's not sort of too serious and academic. It is quite lighthearted and easy to read um and hopefully tells the story in a not too strict way and not too boring a way. So, yeah, and but that the stories in there, the women in there and indeed the men.
00:30:05
Clare
um who were allies um were, oh yeah, incredible, absolutely incredible.
00:30:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:30:12
Clare
It's kind of mind-blowing how many strong women there were who fought for this.
00:30:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, absolutely. I can attest to that. And it definitely isn't written in an overly academic way.
00:30:22
Clare
Thank you.
00:30:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, I can attest to that too. um i I found it. I didn't really want to put it down. um Yeah.
00:30:28
Clare
Excellent.
00:30:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah Well, thank you so much for agreeing to come on. I've really enjoyed this.
00:30:34
Clare
Me too, thank you for inviting me.
00:30:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
Okay, and thank you all for listening. That's all we have time for today. ah We look forward to welcoming you to the next episode. I'm not sure whose episode will be tomorrow, because I'm not sure. Yeah, but we look forward.