This Football Life

Stuart Carrington: Inside the Psyche of a Referee

Today we're joined Sports Coaching Science Lecturer at St Mary's University, Stuart Carrington. He is also the author of the brand new book Blowing the Whistle: The Psychology Behind Football Refereeing (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blowing-Whistle-Psychology-Football-Refereeing/dp/1911121626/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5XSWJVY0702U&keywords=stuart+carrington&qid=1570267027&s=books&sprefix=stuart+carring%2Caps%2C327&sr=1-1) , which you can buy on Amazon.  This is one of the most eye-opening books I've read this year. It's as if your best friend was a psychologist and broke down the different psychological theories and how they applied to refereeing.    To switch gears a bit, last episode I mentioned I have a brand new podcast called Football Today (https://www.footballtodaypodcast.com/) . If you like this show, I promise Football Today will be better. It's going to be my full-time job so I'm putting my heart and soul into it. If you could listen to it, it would mean so much to me.  Essentially every episode I'll be doing a deep dive on 1 topic that's in the news in roughly 20 minutes. Much like The Daily or Today, Explained. It'll have music, news clips and feel like a mini-audio documentary. So please have a listen.    This show will still be going but the episodes may not be every two weeks. If you want more content like this I suggest the Training Ground Guru podcast which is monthly and is pretty similar. I also co-host and produce that.

Emile Heskey: Football's Misunderstood Man

Today we're joined by ex-England striker, Emile Heskey. Everyone listening will know who Heskey is, but in case you forgot, he's scored 152 goals in 720 games as a professional, most famously for Leicester City and Liverpool.  Those numbers do not include the 62 caps and two World Cups he appeared in for the English National team. He's also won the League Cup 4 times, as well as the FA Cup and UEFA Cup.    In our conversation, we discuss: how he battling the media's perception, how he struggled to adjust to the dressing room at Liverpool, and the loss of team camrederie in the modern game. He also answers the question, can you build a winning mentality or do you have to recruit players who already have one?   You can read about these topics in much greater depth, in Emile's new autobiography, Even Heskey Scored (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Even-Heskey-Scored-Emile-Story/dp/1785315005/ref=sr_1_198?keywords=football&qid=1565879179&refinements=p_n_publication_date%3A182243031&rnid=182240031&s=books&sr=1-198) .   For the book giveaway my email is: joshschneiderweiler@gmail.com    Lastly, I have a brand new podcast launching on October 7th with Jon Mackenzie. It's going to be called Football Today and essentially, it's football's answer to the New York Times' The Daily or The Guardian's Today in Focus. Each episode will be a 20-minute audio documentary on a specific subject. So please subscribe to that.

Eni Aluko: Fighting an Institution + Faith in Football

Today we're joined by pundit, solicitor and Juventus forward Eniola Aluko.  Eniola has won practically every honor possible in England, winning the League title multiple times with Chelsea and the FA Cup with Charlton. She's also made more than 100 appearances for England and was on the 2015 World Cup team that got 3rd place in Canada.   However, now she's more well known for being an accidental whistleblower having spoken up against racism and bullying within the England setup under ex-manager Mark Sampson. That idea of taking on an institution is one of the main topics we discuss in this episode.    We'll also explore, faith within football, why women players are more outspoken and the differences in childhood experiences between men and women footballers.   If you enjoy this podcast, then you will absolutely love her new book, They Don't Teach This (https://www.amazon.co.uk/They-Dont-Teach-Eniola-Aluko/dp/1787290417) . If you want to reach out to her, her twitter handle is @EniAlu (https://twitter.com/enialu?lang=en) .    And lastly, we'd really appreciate if you rate and review the show on iTunes like Hondafan18 did recently. It really helps the show and if you don't want to do that then please just tell a friend. For more info and updates visit @ThisFootballLif (https://twitter.com/ThisFootballLif)

Daniel Storey: Football's Most Prolific Writer

Today we're joined by award-winning writer and broadcaster Daniel Storey. If you're not already familiar with Daniel, you can read his work weekly on Football365, the i Newspaper, the Irish Examiner and Optus Australia. He's also a regular contributor to the Monday edition of The Totally Football Show podcast. In this episode we'll dive into: his football adventure to Africa and Eastern Europe, his approach to writing articles and columns, his views on the football media in 2019- including the Athletic- and more. You can follow Daniel on Twitter, his twitter handle is @danielstorey85. . A special thanks to Kings Place in London for hosting the episode.

Craig Cope: Recruitment in Non-League Football

Today I'm joined by Head of Analysis and Recruitment for Solihull Moors, Craig Cope. Cope has worked in analysis for several big EFL clubs, notably Notts County, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City. However, we are going focus on his role as Head of Recruitment. His club, Solihull Moors, are in the National League aka England's 5th division. So I wanted to find out, how do you recruit and identify talent in non-league football and how do you gather data when companies like Opta don't work in non-league? Cope will also answer those questions and reveal how he went from being a university student to leading a professional club's scouting department in less than 7 years. If would like to reach out to Craig and let him know what you thought of this episode, his Twitter handle is @Craig_Cope. Additionally, if you liked this episode or any of the previous ones please tell a friend, family member or colleague as it is the best way to promote the show.