The LGBT Sport Podcast

We feature professional wrestling on the podcast a lot – but this is only the second time that we’re speaking to someone from the world of freestyle wrestling.

And honestly, what better way to do it than with Samantha Stewart?!

The Canadian is a multiple-time medallist and a Pan-American champion who has been involved in the sport for more than twenty years – and has seen it take her right around the world.

There’s a world championship bronze at Oslo in her trophy cabinet from 2021, along with a silver from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham a year later as well.

And having just come back from the Pan-American Games, we couldn’t have picked a better time to speak to this amazing athlete – who is an absolute gem of a guest, she really is.

Finding your sport, finding your identity, pushing boundaries and making memories – it’s all in this conversation which is an absolute joy with a guest who we wished we’d had on years ago!

But we’re making up for lost time with this episode, and we hope you love hearing it as much as we loved making it.

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‘It’s my church’ – that’s how Lucy Clark has previously described her love of football, and the meaning that she attaches to her involvement with the beautiful game.

Her appointment at the end of January as the new manager at Sutton United Women was therefore not just a moment of personal achievement, but a landmark for the game as well – with Clark becoming the first transgender woman to manage in the top five divisions of the UK women’s game, just years after she became the football’s first transgender referee.

And honestly, this is an amazing conversation with an individual who lives and breathes the beautiful game – in fact, when we tried to get Lucy to talk about anything other than football, it turns out she absolutely couldn’t do it!

We talk about Lucy’s love of the game growing up, coaching, refereeing, her return to management – and her personal journey as she discovered her authentic self and found a way to bring that to the beautiful game as well.

It’s a conversation that is genuine, uplifting, fun and everything you could want from a guest – and we’re massively grateful that Lucy took the time to join us for this chat.

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When Robbie Manson announced that he was hanging up his oars ahead of the Tokyo Games, he’d already achieved a bucket-load of amazing sporting achievements.

The New Zealander had competed at back-to-back Olympics in London and Rio, had secured a spot for Tokyo – and, with multiple World Rowing Cups and a World Rowing Championship bronze medal in 2015 under his belt, no-one would have blamed him for wanting to do something new.

But as much as he enjoyed coaching, something about the sport kept pulling him back – and, after returning to full time competition, Robbie has earned himself a spot at the Paris Olympics in just a few months from now.

So, we needed no further excuse to get Robbie on the podcast than that to talk all about his amazing journey and this is a fascinating conversation.

It’s considered, it’s powerful, it’s never anything less than real – and we’re really grateful for Robbie for making the time to join us for it.

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If you were watching professional wrestling in the mid-2010s, you’d have seen Gabbi Tuft in action – where she was better known as WWE superstar Tyler Reks.

There were matches at the Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, appearances on many of the WWE’s flagship shows – but it was only when wrestling came to an end that Tuft was able to become her authentic self as a trans woman.

She shared her story publicly in 2021 – and one look at her Instagram now shows Gabbi sharing her love for fitness, and teasing, potentially, a return to wrestling as well.

Hundreds of thousands of people follow Gabbi across all her platforms, and this is a chance to have a conversation with someone that we think you’re going to love.

If you love wrestling, you’ll love the stories about Dusty Rhodes and working with the Undertaker and how the business makes Gabbi feel – along with why she’s got the itch to return.

And if wrestling isn’t your thing, there’s still so much in this conversation for you – as Gabbi talks openly and authentically about the journey she’s been on discovering her true self, and sharing that truth with both herself and the world.

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For as long as Chris Paouros can remember, she’s been a proud supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.

But while she’s always loved her football team, she’s not always been sure that football has loved her back – which is why she’s spent years trying to transform the game into somewhere that everyone feels welcome.

Her CV is formidable enough – a vice-chair and trustee at Kick It Out, a Board Member at the Football Supporters’ Association, a Supporters Representative on the FA Council, and the co-chair and co-founder of Proud Lilywhites, to name just a few.

She’s also a brilliant talker and a fantastic guest to have with us on the podcast, as we talk about her love of football and her desire to change it for the better in whatever way she can.

There’s so much in this conversation with Chris – where that love of Spurs comes from, her drive to open the game up to everyone, some of her proudest achievements with Proud Lilywhites, where the game goes next, even some cheeky film recommendations as well – and it’s a cracker with one of our favourites on the pod.

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Take a look at the CV of Jason Webber, and you’ll see that a passion for equality and diversity is burned into everything does.

For more than a decade, he was a campaign co-ordinator with Show Racism the Red Card – and since 2020, he’s been a key part of trying to make the beautiful game something for everyone in Wales as the senior EDI Manager at the Football Association of Wales.

That love of the beautiful game runs deep in this man – with stints as an Academy Coach at Cardiff City and Merthyr Town alongside his EDI work.

And now, it’s part of a commitment that runs through him to open up football to people who have traditionally felt the game isn’t for them.

So, that’s what we talk about in this episode – everything from starting Wales’ first LGBTQ+ supporters group for the national team, some of the challenges that still exist in the game, what to say to people who say football shouldn’t be ‘political’ – honestly, it’s a fascinating chat that we think you’ll love.

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If there’s anyone who knows about what it takes to make football inclusive, it’s James Laley.

As the founder of Rainbow Blades, he’s helped embed diversity in the heart of what Sheffield United does, and it’s not just us saying that either – as James has been recognised not once but twice as this year’s Football v Homophobia Awards.

So, we felt it was the perfect time to get James onto the podcast to talk about his journey in football, and the difference he’s making in the beautiful game.

We chat about how he discovered Sheffield United at university and fell in love with the club; about the incident that led to him starting Rainbow Blades (and how in some ways, the timing couldn’t have been worse); about the way it’s been embraced by the club; about some of the challenges and goals for the future – and being recognised by the Football v Homophobia Awards in two different categories this year.

It’s a cracking conversation with someone who just exudes positivity, and we think you’ll love it!

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In a way, Mikey Connor has his nan to thank for his love of football.

It was her who took him along to Everton games, who encouraged him to give the game a go, and told him that he should give refereeing a go as well.

So really, it’s her who Mikey has to thank for his love of the beautiful game which – by his own admission – is now a sport that he absolutely can’t live without.

As a former semi-pro ‘keeper, he’s done it as a player – and now, he’s making his way up through the pyramid as a referee, with his eyes firmly set on making it at the highest level that he can as a professional.

And as if all of that wasn’t enough, Mikey is also a content creator and a former star of the ground-breaking BBC Three reality TV show ‘I Kissed A Boy’ – so there’s absolutely loads for us to talk about in this episode, which is an absolute corker.

We talk about Mikey’s love of football, how it feels when he’s refereeing, his goals and ambitions in the game – as well as why he still fears receiving homophobia on the pitch, his time as a star of ‘I Kissed A Boy’, his own journey with his health and so much more in an absolute corker of a conversation.

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There are so many strings that Pollo Del Mar has to their bow that it’s hard to know where to begin!

A performer, journalist, activist, philanthropist and campaigner – but our interest today is in Pollo’s position as one of the most prominent LGBTQ+ wrestling personalities out there today.

First as a wrestling journalist, Pollo began participating in wrestling personally – as the host of EFFY’s Big Gay Brunch and a manager in various promotions across the West Coast and beyond as well, including as a key part of the NWA.

Although Pollo is reluctant to refer to themselves as a pioneer, that’s really what they are – because honestly, how many drag queen wrestling managers have you ever seen?! – and beyond that, they’re an extraordinarily eloquent individual who we think you’ll love.

We talk about so much on this pod – where Pollo’s love of wrestling came from, their most memorable moments in the industry, being recognised by others, driving yourself to succeed, the growth of the LGBTQ+ community in wrestling and so, so much more.

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With a mother and a father who amounted to bowls royalty, it’s really no surprise that David Gourlay found his way into the sport.

But David was determined to make his own way in bowls, and has amassed a whopping seven world indoor titles – including the 1996 World Indoor Singles Championship, as well as three World Men’s Indoor Pairs Championships and three World Mixed Indoor Pairs Championships.

And as if success as a player wasn’t enough, David also coached Scotland’s bowls players to four medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games – and as if that weren’t enough, he was also appointed as an MBE for his services to the sport.

David is now the longest-serving player in the World Bowls Tour Top 16 – and with the World Indoor Bowls Championship in full swing at Hopton on Sea, now seemed like the perfect time to get David on for a chat.

This is a cracking conversation with a brilliant guest in a sport that we’ve never covered before – as we talk about some of David’s top moments, his experiences in the sport, receiving that MBE, his personal journey and loads, loads more.

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