The Next Step

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

Follow me on Twitter: @georgemurray_ #TheNextStep

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.

Follow me on Twitter: @georgemurray_ #TheNextStep

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…

Follow me on Twitter: @georgemurray_ #TheNextStep

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.

Follow me on Twitter: @georgemurray_ #TheNextStep

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.

Follow me on Twitter: @georgemurray_ #TheNextStep