It was a pleasure to have Jared Roberts-Smith on the platform. Jared is someone who I have seen working firsthand in a sports science role and having worked in such positions at clubs including Charlton Athletic, Luton Town and Stoke City for the past 10+ years, he reflects on what is now the first period of him being out of work.

Jared tells me about his passion for his work and how he has used the current extended period for reflection, both on what he has achieved and what he hopes to do in the coming years. There are a host of nuggets Jared provides as we move onto discussion of the development of his own career trajectory and how he feels sports science has improved so vastly with time. To follow Jared on Twitter and keep up with his future endeavours, you can find him @jrs_performance.

As for myself, you can find me @georgemurray_ where I am always open to guest/episode ideas and ways I can improve the pod! #TheNextStep

My latest guest is football and sports lawyer, Daniel Geey. Daniel breaks down how he originally progressed in his career, merging his fervent interest in football with his university law degree. He recounts how he used to blog and made as many useful contacts as he could, and looks back on the transition from being a regulations lawyer to a sports one (as well as almost everything in between!) Before moving on to some discussion of the state of modern football and getting into added time, I ask Daniel about the day-to-day of his job and he tells me all about his book, “Done Deal: An Insider's Guide to Football Contracts, Multi-Million Pound Transfers and Premier League Big Business.”

amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07GBTL2TG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

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Leicester City and England Under 21s’ James Justin comes on the pod to talk about a host of topics, with his senior career already four years old at the age of 22. Firstly, James is full of gratitude for his hometown club, Luton Town, where he came through the ranks and made his debut in 2016, the same season our Under 18s team reached the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup as a category 3 academy.

James also looks back on the 90 appearances he made for Luton, how he will always be a fan of the club and the whirlwind that has been his first 12 months as a Premier League player. He joined Leicester in the summer of last year, assisted in a victory on his Premier League debut against Watford, and is now working hard to ensure that things “continue on this trajectory” for the foreseeable future. From a seven-year-old boy signing for his local professional club to sharing a changing room with English footballing legends and international superstars, the journey so far has been remarkable. This is just the start.

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This episode was a detailed dive into psychology and mental health in the game with high-performance coach Drewe Broughton. After falling out of the game and into the most trying period of his life at the end of a gruelling career almost 10 years ago, Drewe turned his life around and now enables elite athletes to perform mentally, as well as physically, at their maximum.

Drewe tells me what the past few months will have been like for players in the lower leagues of English football, where he spent the majority of his playing career. He also gave his unique insights on empathy, the genius of intense but emotionally intelligent coaches such as Jurgen Klopp and ‘the holy grail’ of consistency that so many aspire to. Next time, my guest is a current Premier League player and England Under-21 international…

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Over the course of a 40-minute chat with Leon, we were able to cover a range of discussion points. We started by building on his good friend and youth team-mate Jon De Souza’s comments about his work ethic and desire, which Leon agrees singled him out at a young age. He told me about his positive mindset enabling him to deal with setbacks, as well as the various highlights of a career in which he played in each of the top four English professional leagues.

Before added time, Leon talked openly about the shocking circumstances in which his career ended, also giving his thoughts on what is next for the Black Lives Matter movement and explaining the motivation behind his football coaching academy in the local area where he grew up.

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Colchester United’s Director of Performance Jon De Souza joins me to talk all things Luton (where I first met him once he became a coach after playing in the youth team) and how he has adapted his coaching style over the past decade or so. He says that his experiences at Luton — where he played with a number of players who have gone on to play internationally and in the Premier League — taught him about the importance of values such as a strong work ethic and desire are to make it to the top.

Jon also shared how his five years and the exposure he got at Brentford opened his eyes to a more holistic approach regarding coaching, along with the importance of luck and opportunity and what the future may hold for him.

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Episode 19 features an interview with Sky Sports and BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Kelly Cates. Kelly is a leading female figure in UK sport, particularly in football, and has covered some of the biggest sporting events across the world including the World Cup, the Champions League and the Premier League.

Kelly describes what it was like growing up with a famous father and the impact this had in putting her “inside the bubble” of the industry from the outset. Among other things, we also talk through the importance of being yourself and Kelly becoming a leading female figure in football, as well as online love letters, the positive progression regarding sexism in the industry and Kelly’s moving chat about Hillsborough with her father in the wake of the 2016 inquests.

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Professional referee Ryan Atkin joins me to look back on his memories of football growing up and eventually taking a course before pursuing a career in “the art of refereeing”. Ryan also tells me about how he believes officials are misunderstood and that it is an overlooked profession in the game.

When he came out in August 2017, Ryan says the reception was an overwhelmingly positive one, full of support both from within football and outside the game. Being openly gay meant he became a better referee, which he explains, as well as offering his thoughts on how far football has to go in terms of sexual equality and the need to continue pushing for all forms of equality in light of the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Ryan also tells me about his work with Prides around the country and his campaigning with organisations such as Stonewall.

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Harriet Drudge comes on the pod to talk about her initial steps and how she acquired valuable skills before establishing herself as a Social Media Associate, a role which, 10 years ago, didn’t exist. In fact, social media helped her take her first steps into a career, of which she “was very steadfast in the fact that I wanted to make it into sport and into football”. Harriet describes the thought process in doing a Business Management degree and how it translated to and aided her social media work down the line. As the conversation progresses, find out what Harriet means in describing herself as an example of “do as I say, not as I do” as well as her playing, writing about and general thoughts on women’s football, a year on from England’s World Cup campaign in France.

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Ben Haines from 90min.com joins me for a chat, beginning with how “timing and the fortuitous nature of being in the right place at the right time” have had such a big impact on his life so far. He describes a specific moment during a difficult period at university which made him aware of the mindset it would take to be successful going forward, and we also go through the importance of building contacts and the importance of fans in football, given that 90min focuses on “handing football back to the fans”. We also talk about moving with the times in an ever-changing world of sports content and Ben tells me his thoughts on football’s return from the extended break.

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This week, I am joined by Irish 400m runner Chris O’Donnell, to examine the differences between football and athletics given his transition from one sport into the other. He tells me about his love of football, which started at a young age in a football-mad family and remains strong to this day. Chris describes the decision-making process at a point where he was encouraged to take up track and field due to his natural athletic abilities, and how dedicating himself to a breakthrough in athletics came at the expense of a similar path in football. Among other discussion points are the mentality needed to deal with pressure in elite sport, Chris’s biggest achievements and how he hopes to reach the peak of his career in the coming years (with the delayed Olympic Games in Tokyo providing an end goal for his current training).

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UEFA Communications Consultant and Media Officer Laure James joins me to discuss her unique start in the industry and how she has adjusted to working remotely since the start of lockdown. Laure looks back on her highlights so far and tells me how getting into sports media is slightly different compared to when she did. We discuss her experiences — good and bad — of being a woman in the media, and how she is less preoccupied by it now than when she started. As well as looking forward to the return of football across Europe in the coming weeks, Laure shares where she believes things in sports media could go next and how excited she, like me, is for Euro 2020 when it comes around in 2021.

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World record throw-in holder and elite throw-in coach of 16 years Thomas Gronnemark joins me on the pod. He discusses his history of playing the game and his “football superpowers” that meant he moved into athletics in his early twenties. Eventually, in 2004, he combined his interest in long throw-ins with his own sporting experiences (including representing Denmark in both bobsleigh and athletics) and explored his ability to help others by initially visiting the local library. When he realised that he had would have to develop his own philosophy rather than base it on someone else’s, Thomas got to work and still wants to disprove the misconception that throw ins provide only marginal gains and that huge advantages can be had through focusing on them. He also told me about his thoughts on the Rory Delap/Stoke era in the Premier League, what it’s like to work with the “funny guy” and “ambitious and very skilful” Jürgen Klopp, and identifies Danish football’s most underrated hero.

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Jack gives his advice on having a broad skillset and how the ability to “do everything” can be “a massive advantage” when entering the world of journalism and digital media. He tells me about the history behind his family’s love affair with Fulham, which has led to him seeing promotion to and relegation from the Premier League and joining the Fulhamish podcast in 2016. We also discussed the impending restart of football across Europe, led by the success of the Bundesliga’s return. Jack describes how the BR Football Ranks podcast was created and what singles it out, as well as how doing the podcast has allowed them to meet some huge names in the world of football. Finally, he tells me specifically about the games and storylines he is looking forward to the most in the coming weeks.

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Troy talks to me about his storied career in various sectors of the game, and explains Kick It Out’s ‘Raise Your Game’, the mentoring program that helped Troy initially get a job at the organisation eight years ago and connects people that want to work in the industry with professionals in seven sectors. He also details the work of Kick It Out and how the organisation was originally formed to empower black players with a voice.

Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go and Troy shares honestly that he feels we have “not made much headway” in the fight as “racism keeps rearing its ugly head” both in this country and across European football. Troy touches on the soft-handed punishments of social media platforms with regards to abusive language and the issues surrounding the Premier League’s ‘Project Restart’, as some players have been hesitant to return because of personal circumstances and recent data indicating that BAME people are at greater risk of contracting the virus.

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Josh Taylor tells me about his childhood playing in Crystal Palace’s academy and the regrets he has now about how his love for the game diminished for a while. When he regained his desire to play seriously, an opportunity arose for Josh to play and study at a high level as a student athlete in the United States. He looks back on that “amazing life experience” at St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, which I have had myself, and opens up about his highlights and some of the tougher times he’s had in his football journey so far. He describes the experience of completing a scholarship and gaining a degree in America, maturing and developing as a result, and how he now scouts to find players capable of doing the same thing as we did. In the next part of his own life, Josh has aspirations of making the step up in terms of his playing career, while also thinking ahead of time about what he can do when it ends at some point.

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I sat down with Arsenal and England’s Charlie Patino, who told me about the decision-making process involved when he joined Arsenal from Luton five years ago. He also shared his advice for younger players based on his own experiences, and discusses the natural comparison that has been made between himself and Jack Wilshere. Charlie explains how he has been using this period to improve himself and work on his weaknesses, while always wanting to learn as he believes that “better learners become better players”. He reflects on some of the stand-out moments in his flourishing career and believes he is at the best possible club for his development, with the pathway to the first team being demonstrated by the recent success of young players under manager Mikel Arteta’s guidance.

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My latest guest on the pod was Gareth Roberts of The Anfield Wrap. We discussed a variety of topics, including how the award-winning podcast started out and developed into one of the biggest in the world of football. Gareth told me about his first memories as a Liverpool fan, his early work including the ‘Well Red’ magazine, and his thoughts on the current Reds team, who he describes as the best he has ever seen. He also told me about what makes the club special, why he is described as a bad luck charm by his friends and we reflect on what long-awaited title celebrations would have been like. With football restarting this weekend with the resumption of the Bundesliga, Gareth shared which underdog he is rooting for in the coming weeks.

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Semra Hunter, host of La Liga TV, speaks to me about her sporting background, her transition into journalism and eventually broadcasting, and her passion for football, particularly in Spain. Semra shares how some of her experiences have given her a number of “pinch myself” moments and how she got to know some of the best players of all time on a personal basis. During a period of her life when Semra wasn’t sure about what to do next, she was given a brilliant idea by her mother to combine her passions for travel and sport, kickstarting her career as a result. Now, her job at La Liga TV sees her present shows on the Spanish game to viewers in the UK, North America, sub-saharan Africa, south-east Asia and Australia.

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Adam talks to me about his brainchild — exploring the bizarre, perplexing and often hilarious world of football clichés — and how it was born out of pub conversations with his brother and a friend. The trio started the blog in 2007, which Adam would later take over and raise as his own in years to come. He explains that the idea was originally an opportunity to write casually and for their own humour, about things they felt hadn’t been spotted or talked about before. Finding that niche has developed into Adam’s book (published in 2014) and podcast for The Athletic of the same name. Adam breaks down his favourite familiar football phrase and a certain manager’s quirky press conference routine. I also asked Adam about how he established himself as a funny tweeter, while he shares his belief that Twitter has become “too convenient” for football fans…

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