Esme Morgan & Charlotte O'Neill: Leading the way in women's football

This episode was previously released on  May 10, 2022. Orla Chennaoui is an extraordinary woman who has many talents including being a multilingual TV sports presenter. Having worked at Sky News and Sky Sports, Orla is now a Lead Presenter for Eurosport, working across cycling, MotoGP and the Olympics.With her background in hard-news and investigations, Orla has always had an open and frank approach to sports reporting whether that’s in front of the camera or hosting podcasts and writing regular columns for Rouleur magazine and the Metro newspaper. Amongst her many accolades Orla’s also just been nominated as sports presenter of the year at the Sports Journalists Awards 2022. In this fascinating episode we explore Orla’s work as a broadcaster, including her move from news to sports presenting, the perception of female broadcasters and why it’s been so important that she retains her authentic style on screen. Ahead of a massive summer for women’s cycling with the Tour de France Femmes in July, we discuss the growth in coverage and whether cycling needs to be re-packaged to attract new audiences.  Orla talks openly about why she stopped drinking, as she, and podcast host Sue Anstiss, celebrate the huge positives of living a life without alcohol.  Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

This episode of the Game Changers was previously released on June 15, 2021.Dr Pippa Grange is a highly sought-after, influential sports psychologist and a culture coach working across elite sports and business internationally. In this episode, Pippa talks about family turmoil growing up, her formative years travelling and working in Australia, her first reaction to the job offer with England Football and the media spotlight she faced in the aftermath of the 2017 World Cup.Within football, Pippa has worked to change the culture of a sport historically steeped in bravado and hyper-masculinity. She has recently written an incredible book, "Fear Less: How to Win at Life without Losing Yourself" to address fear, understanding the role it plays in your life and how to combat it.Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

In today’s special episode of The Game Changers podcast, we talk to two trailblazing women from Man City Women – Esme Morgan and Charlotte O’Neill.Lioness Esme Morgan was a lifelong City fan who joined the club at under 15 level and quickly progressed through the regional talent squad into the Man City Women’s first team. She’s featured throughout all youth levels of the England national team set-up having first been called up to the under-17 England team in 2017. Esme won her first England senior cap in October 2022 and was included in the FIFA Women's World Cup squad in 2023.Charlotte O’Neill, Managing Director of Man City Women, is a former England and Super League netballer who held key positions at British Swimming, the Olympic Games in Beijing and London, and the Rugby World Cup before joining Manchester City in 2015. As Director of Operations and Development, Charlotte oversaw strategic direction and delivery at Man City’s Boys’ Academy and was appointed Managing Director of Man City Women in December 2023.The Man City Women’s story combines success on the pitch with continued progression off the field, as the club continues to break new boundaries, playing a significant role in the growth of the women’s game.  It was fascinating to hear from these two incredible women as they openly shared their career stories and experiences at Man City as the club celebrates its 10th professional season in the WSL.A big thank you to Nissan, a long-term partner of Man City Women across the past decade, for sponsoring this special episode.Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

This episode was previously released on November 15, 2022.Rimla Akhtar, Wendy Taylor, Tess Howard and Holly Bradshaw join Sue Anstiss to consider the impact of sports kit for women and girls. There's been much talk about women's sports kit recently, from issues around Wimbledon whites, girls forced to wear skorts for PE and women not allowed to wear the hijab to play sport to extremes of female athletes objectified and sexualised with revealing clothing, high cut leotards & bikini bottoms.This panel of game changers addresses some of the challenges and provides practical recommendations that will enable more choice for more women.Our four game changing guests were: Rimla Akhtar – former Chair of the Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation and the first Muslim woman to sit on the Football Association Council. Rimla was awarded an OBE for her contribution to equality and diversity in sportWendy Taylor - Lead on girls work at the Youth Sport Trust including the hugely successful ‘Girls Active’ initiative which is delivered in partnership with This Girl Can and Women in SportTess Howard - a GB Hockey player who’s team won gold at the Commonwealth Games this summer. Tess is a real sports Kit activist, helping to change the guidelines to make sports policy more inclusiveHolly Bradshaw – an Olympian who’s been very publicly outspoken about the challenges facing female track and field athletes.Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

This episode was previously released on April 14, 2020Jacqui talks about her lifelong obsession with football, how she changed careers at 27 to re-train as a journalist and how lonely and isolated she felt after the hideous build up to her first appearance on BBC’s Match of The Day. Being the first female commentator on Match of the Day is how Jacqui is best known to many. She went on to present the show in 2015, and in 2016 was awarded an MBE for her services to broadcasting and diversity.  Jacqui presented the BBC’s flagship sports news show Sportsweek, hosted Euros and World Cups for BBC and ITV and now hosts football and darts for ITV. She recently became the first female host of Sky Sports Sunday Supplement show. It’s no wonder that in 2015 Jacqui was named as the 8th most influential woman in sport by the Independent.Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

This episode was previously released on October 29,  2019.Paratriathlon World Champion and Paralympic Silver medallist, Lauren also enthralled us all as a semi-finalist on  Strictly Come Dancing in 2018.Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

This episode was previously released on June 4, 2019 as the very first episode of The Game ChangersHaving won 11 Paralympic Gold medals and the London Marathon six times, Tanni now sits as an independent peer in the House of Lords and is Chair of ukactive. Find out more about The Game Changers hereThank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

This episode of The Game Changers was preiously released on July 7, 2020.Captain of the Lionesses and Man City, Steph has represented her country at every level, with over 100 appearances for England.   Steph’s also led Man City to two Women's FA Cups, three Continental Cup successes and the FA Women's Super League title, as well as landing the PFA’s Merit Award in 2019.  Representing Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics, Steph became a household name by scoring in all three group matches, including the winning goals against New Zealand and Brazil.   Steph proudly led the Lionesses to their World Cup semi-final last year in France, watched at home by almost 12 million viewers. Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

“It was such a shock for me and it still is. I still don't understand it to this day. I actually didn't sleep that night because I didn't want to wake up and it be something I had to deal with again.”Mo Hunt discussing her surprise exclusion from the Rugby World Cup squad in 2023Ahead of this weekend’s start of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, I’m thrilled to say that my guest today is Mo Hunt, a much-celebrated international rugby player who's represented her country for over 13 years. Mo was part of the England team that won the World Cup in 2014, won numerous Six Nations Championships and, as a Sevens player, has represented Team GB at the Olympics in 2016 and 2021 and England at the Commonwealth Games. Mo is captain of Gloucester Hartpury, the PWR club that won the Premiership title in 2023 the same year that Mo helped England lift the inaugural WXV Trophy in New Zealand.Mo’s now back in the England programme with a full-time contract as the team works towards a home World Cup in 2025.It was fabulous to talk at length with Mo – one of the most popular players in today’s Red Roses squad.We explore her route into rugby (spoiler alert: she was a high-level netballer) and her rapid progress into national representation and winning a World Cup.Mo shares her experience of the journey from playing for England as an amateur to today’s fully professional era, the challenge of switching between playing 15s and rugby 7s for England and Team GB and the importance of female coaches in the game.Mo is incredibly open about how she, and her family, were affected by her surprising exclusion from the Rugby World Cup squad in 2023 and how that decision has gone on to impact her life and her playing career today.It’s such an exciting time for the game and players like Mo, as she reflects: “I don't feel like I've ever really achieved my true ability in an England shirt, which is why I'm so excited by this new campaign and new coaches coming in…”Get your tickets to watch Mo and the Red Roses play in this year’s Women’s Six Nations here: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/rfu/Events?preFilter=23Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production

My guest today is Lisa O'Keefe, a former Scottish international rugby player who was a director at Sport England for 14 years and is now Secretary General of the International Working Group on Women and Sport, the world's largest network dedicated to gender equality in sport and physical activity. Lisa is responsible for leading the Secretariat while it's hosted in the UK until 2026.A passionate advocate for women's sport and breaking down barriers to participation, Lisa led groundbreaking insight work at Sport England, which paved the way for much innovation, including the globally recognised This Girl Can campaign.Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangersHosted by Sue AnstissProduced by Sam Walker, What Goes On MediaA Fearless Women production