BroPod

Steve Nicol is a Liverpool legend. With 5 league titles, 3 FA Cups, and one European Cup title to his name, he was part of one of the most successful English teams in history. He's played with them all. He's been coached by them all. In this episode, Steve Nicol shares with Markus Fjørtoft and Ciaran McKenna insight into the ability to remain consistent and dominant over several years, the distinctions in what makes a great captain (i.e. Hansen vs. Souness), the one manager he was scared of, the tragedies that defined a city and club and attempting to put the pieces back together + moving to America and becoming one of the longest tenured managers in the MLS.

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1 and Facebook. Please subscribe and review our podcast on iTunes and/or Spotify. #beother

  

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1 and Facebook. Please subscribe and review our podcast on iTunes and/or Spotify. #beother

In this episode, we have PART 2 of a 4-way chat between Markus Fjørtoft, Ciaran McKenna, Amir Lowery (@princelowery) and Liam MacDevitt (@Liam_macdevitt).

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1 and Facebook. Please subscribe and review our podcast on iTunes and/or Spotify. #beother

In this episode, we have PART 1 of a 4-way chat between Markus Fjørtoft, Ciaran McKenna, Amir Lowery (@princelowery) and Liam MacDevitt (@Liam_macdevitt).

We collectively discuss the recent Black Lives Matter protests, the rising activism from athletes on both sides of the Atlantic, and the ability of football players to take on different roles in society as a result of the skills learned through football. Liam gives his perspective on racial bias within media and among commentators, as well as breaking down some of the perceptions attributed to people of colour and their occupation. Amir tells us about the Open Goal Project he founded 5 years ago; how it overcomes some of the structural racism prevalent within youth soccer in America, and the success its had in creating an environment which helps build the confidence of kids, as well as giving us a preview into why he’s running for Congress. 

Amir Lowery is a Wake Forest Alumnus. He was selected in the third round (45th overall) by the Colorado Rapids in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. What followed was a 8-year-long career with various spells in the MLS, NASL and USL, most notably at the Carolina Railhawks (now known as North Carolina FC) where he enjoyed considerable success. Amir is now a Player Relations Manager for the MLSPA and Executive Director for Open Goal Project, a nonprofit dedicated to helping youth soccer players navigate the financial and logical challenges that persist in American Club Soccer. Earlier this year, Amir announced he will be running for District of Columbia’s Delegate to the United States House of Representatives.

Liam MacDevitt is an English/Irish broadcast journalist & former professional footballer. Liam has played for Yeovil Town, Swindon Town, and Stoke City to name a few, and he shared the same team and flat with Markus in New Zealand (lucky him!) playing at Southern United and then followed by Tasman United. While playing he divided his time between football and studying a BA Honors in English Literature and Journalism at the University of East London. He’s now at BBC working on Match of the Day Kickabout as a great content curator and presenter, and also works for the PFA. 

Tune in for part 2 next week!

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1 and Facebook. Please subscribe and review our podcast on iTunes and/or Spotify. #beother

Ada Hegerberg breaks records. For fun. While making a name for herself as an invigorating force to be reckoned with in Norway and Germany, it was at her current club Lyon she became the superstar we know today. Since arriving in France in 2014, she has won the 5 straight league titles, the cup on 4 occasions, and the Champions League for 4 straight seasons (oh yea, she scored a 16-minute hat-trick in the last one), cementing Lyon as arguably one of the most dominant teams in football history. And then there’s the individual accolades: Ada was awarded UEFA Best Women’s Player in Europe Award in 2016, was named BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2017 and 2019, and in 2018 became the first-ever recipient of the Ballon d’or Feminin. She also holds the record for most goals in a Champions League season, with 15 goals, and is the all-time topscorer in the Champions League. She's also on this year’s Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list. 

Due to her position as one of the best footballers in the world, she's inevitably become a big and and respected voice in the fight for equality of opportunity within the game. The respect and seriousness by which she treats that role is hard to look past, and the utilization of her platform through her record-breaking performances has in large part made the growth of the women's game inevitable. As she says herself, "it's impossible to be a women’s footballer and not be a feminist."

John Kerr has had a storied career, paving the way for young Americans who at the time had few football stars to look up to. Beginning at Duke University, Kerr led the team to their first, and only, NCAA National Championship in 1986, while simultaneously winning the Hermann Trophy, establishing himself as the best player in American collegiate soccer that year. He then began his professional career in 1987, which spanned over 12 years, and saw him play for 16 clubs, spread across 5 countries. Along the way, Kerr became the first American to play in the English First Division, now known as the Premier League, while at Portsmouth, as well as playing in the first season of the MLS in 1996 with New England Revolution, He also managed to gain 16 caps for the USA Men’s National Team, scoring 2 goals in the process. 

Kerr gathered coaching experience through short spells as an assistant for the Duke Men’s team during his summer breaks in 1992 and 1993. He then gained some more experience in the final year of his playing career when he was named player/coach for the Boston Bulldogs, then competing in the A-League (a league which featured teams from Canada and the USA). Kerr was then named head coach for the Harvard Men’s Soccer team in 1999, and managed them until 2007, where he was then appointed head coach for the Duke Men’s Soccer team, and remains their head coach today.       

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1 and Facebook. Please subscribe and review our podcast on iTunes and/or Spotify. #beother

Markus Fjørtoft rides solo for this episode as he talks to presenter, journalist, consultant and social media guru (not bad...) Aaron West (@oeste). An authenticity coupled with a deep-seated passion for football has helped Aaron build himself up through Twitter and further on within the digital media landscape. 

Aaron is a Davidson College alumnus, where he spent 4 years playing college soccer. Aaron started a blog about soccer, and progressed to writing for outer outlets working as a digital strategist and freelance writer (including Goal.com). He was an early adopter of Twitter and was eventually recognized and subsequently hired by Fox Sports. He went on to work for Copa90, a video-first soccer media outlet, and he's now host of Bleacher Report’s “Out here”, as well as being a pitch-side reporter for the Champions League games.

We've also hit the double digits for number of episodes so that's pretty cool... thanks to everyone that's still listening!

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1 and Facebook. Please subscribe and review our podcast on iTunes and/or Spotify. #beother

Back with another episode to keep you good people entertained during this unprecedented social lockdown. This time we speak to Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73), former EPL and SPL winner, and now notoriously known for his no-nonsense football punditry. 

Starting right at the beginning of an illustrious career, Chris spoke to us about his breakthrough at Norwich, going for a British record fee and winning the Premier League with Blackburn, the "Arsenal incident", playing for Dalglish and O'Neil, his regrets of not playing more for England, as well as his incredible 6 years at Celtic. Amongst this, Chris also reflects on his reputable strike partnerships with legends Henrik Larsson and Alan Shearer and their mental strength and relentlessness. Chris also discusses how his own self-critique was a huge driving force throughout his career.

Chris Sutton, totalling 409 professional club appearances and 148 goals, spent 9 years playing in the English Premier League spread across 3 clubs, Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, and Chelsea, before heading North of the border to spend 6 years with Celtic, and then ending his career back in England with brief spells at Birmingham City and Aston Villa. Chris remains in the spotlight through his tell-it-like-it-is punditry where he voices his opinion on BT Sport and BBC Radio 5, as well as through his columns at the Daily Mail and Daily Record. 

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1 and Facebook. Please subscribe and review our podcast on iTunes and/or Spotify. #beother

Vidar Riseth (@RisethVidar) had one of those chats with his dad when he was 7. He wanted to play professional football and he asked his dad what a perfect career would look like. His dad said, "son, first you play for your local club and then you go on to play for Rosenborg, the best team in Norway. You can then play professionally in (one or two of) the four biggest leagues in the world (England, Spain, Germany, and Italy), and then represent your country in the World Cup. And lastly, you have to play in the Champions League. If you do all that, you'll have played in the same competitions as the best players in the world." And we'll just leave it at that for those that might not know what followed...

Vidar Riseth has played for 8 professional clubs in 5 different countries, represented Norway 52 times and scored 4 goals, beat Brasil in the World Cup, and scored the winner in a Scottish cup final. He is now executive sponsor director of Rema 1000, a multinational grocery chain. We talked about selling potatoes and Christmas trees to get by at the start of his career, the culture shock that first met him abroad, the different pressures that followed throughout his career, Henrik Larsson's bet on him for the cup final, transitioning into life after football, a certain champagne deal + much more!

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1. Please subscribe and review our podcast on iTunes and/or Spotify. #beother 

Jan Åge Fjørtoft (@JanAageFjortoft) shares his thoughts on the challenges football is faced with amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Following UEFA's meeting yesterday in which logistics surrounding remaining fixtures in various competitions were accounted for, we discussed the financial, legal, and logistical complications that could arise, the football community's show of solidarity and how long it will last, getting to grips with a "new normal", football's ever-important role during these challenging times + much more!

Follow BroPod on Twitter @BroPod1 and Facebook. #beother