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PoshUnfiltered - The Women's Podcast · PoshUnfiltered

0:00
SPEAKER_03: Hello and welcome to Poption Filter.
0:03
SPEAKER_03: This is episode one of the Posh Women's Special, and I am joined today by former HP Active Women's Player Meg Lawler, and we're also joined by Keir Perkins.
0:13
SPEAKER_03: And between you, you've got 426 appearances for Posh.
0:18
SPEAKER_03: Kier is slightly ahead and also still playing.
0:22
SPEAKER_03: She is probably going to pull away from you, I think, when it comes to Appearance.
0:26
SPEAKER_03: Great to have you both here.
0:28
SPEAKER_03: And I wanted to discuss a little bit about how you two met because obviously you've been part of Posh Women for so long.
0:33
SPEAKER_03: Can you remember the first time that you uh clapped eyes on that one there?
0:38
SPEAKER_01: It was a while ago now, wasn't it?
0:40
SPEAKER_01: A long, long time.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to think how old it would have been.
0:44
SPEAKER_01: Like eight, nine?
0:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think I was around eight, I think.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when it was the Posh Foundation.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: I can't remember the the technical term for it, but um I I just remember trialling and then you obviously trialed, or you were in the team right there, something like that.
1:01
SPEAKER_03: And then um she was in the team straight away, was she?
1:03
SPEAKER_03: No trial and leave, but quite a few years.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: There was a few trials actually, I think, wasn't there?
1:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:08
SPEAKER_02: We've actually got photos of some of them.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: And us in kits, matching little kids.
1:12
SPEAKER_01: I remember when uh Russell Martin came down as well.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: And we've got some pictures of him.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: He looked so young.
1:18
SPEAKER_01: We've got some really cute photos.
1:20
SPEAKER_03: So did you two did you should you should play football at all before you joined the Pidgeon?
1:24
SPEAKER_03: You were playing for teams at the time, was that right?
1:26
SPEAKER_03: What were you playing for?
1:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I was playing for Fourney Colt's boys' team when I was younger, but then obviously at that time you could only play until I think it was going to secondary school.
1:37
SPEAKER_01: So my mum and dad wanted me to get ahead of joining the girls' team and do the year before, and that's when I travelled for posh.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: Thankfully got in and met a key.
1:46
SPEAKER_02: And and did you do any trials at all for any other club or uh no, I can't, I'll be honest, I can't actually really remember.
1:53
SPEAKER_02: Is that long as a proper team, yeah, or that I actually played for.
1:56
SPEAKER_02: I can't remember if it was genuinely posh or um I know I was at Hampton for a while.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if they m ended up mixing up at points and stuff like that, but um definitely my first memory in football is playing for posh, and I still have some of the kit from when I was that age as well, and I can never get rid of it.
2:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, I think my first memories are a posh.
2:17
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
2:17
SPEAKER_03: So was football something that you were always interested in from a really young age then, or how did you end up getting the bug for the game?
2:23
SPEAKER_02: I got the bug from the game because my sister played football, um, and I would just be lingering around her training sessions.
2:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then I started joining in and very quickly found out, sorry, sister, that uh I was better than she was.
2:38
SPEAKER_02: Um and I was actually getting asked to play for the team.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah, and I loved it from then.
2:43
SPEAKER_02: So I was the lingerer and then the joiner-inner.
2:46
SPEAKER_03: Nice, and all about you, mate.
2:47
SPEAKER_03: How did you end up uh getting the bug?
2:48
SPEAKER_03: Sometimes it comes from family, sometimes it can come from just as you say, it might just be the case that your friends were kicking them all about and you fancy the joining in.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: Exactly that.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: I think I was always quite a tomboy when I was younger as well, and naturally just gravitated towards the boys and playing football, and then I thought, oh actually I'm quite good at this, like um, and then yeah, trial for a team got in it, but I think for me it's the social element of it as well as just enjoying the football, and yeah, just went from there really.
3:16
SPEAKER_03: Is that really is that a really important thing that probably gets overlooked at more so in the women's game than maybe the men's game in terms of those friendships you make?
3:22
SPEAKER_03: Because you two are sitting here, obviously, and you're not sitting here as ex-teammates, you're sitting there as friends, right?
3:28
SPEAKER_03: So I mean football can provide that for you.
3:31
SPEAKER_03: Is that how you how you sort of found the early years as well?
3:34
SPEAKER_03: It's quite easy to settle in and find friends.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: I think even the team that we had back in the day, like I'd still consider them as people that I could have conversations with.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: And like one of my teammates when I was younger, she was my bridesmaid at my wedding, so you know, and and the the girls were invited, and and I think that just shows like how important those relationships are, and actually some of my best friends I made through football.
3:58
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, is that how you found it as well, Kia?
3:59
SPEAKER_03: Because as I say, you've obviously played with a lot of players down the years, and and and you've played such a key key role in in uniting those dress rooms over the years.
4:08
SPEAKER_03: Uh finding friends, has that become quite easy because of it because of football?
4:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
4:13
SPEAKER_02: I think the thing is you spend a lot of time together, especially now.
4:16
SPEAKER_02: Uh we're training a little bit more and stuff like that.
4:19
SPEAKER_02: So you spend a lot of your days together, you know, the cold, rainy nights and stuff like that, when you're all in the same boat.
4:25
SPEAKER_02: And you know, when you were kids, it it's the same back then.
4:27
SPEAKER_02: We used to not just play football, but we'd go out after and go for dinner and stay around each other's houses and have sleepovers.
4:33
SPEAKER_02: And I know we're adults now, but we still kind of do the same things.
4:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I've made some lifelong friends in football and some people that are really, really special to me and always will be important in my life whether I'm playing or not.
4:46
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I think that's football's special, but that's also another aspect of football that is really special and really important, and something can always be grateful for.
4:54
SPEAKER_02: I've made some great friends through football.
4:56
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's the thing, isn't it, mate?
4:57
SPEAKER_03: Because it I I look at um I look at the game as a whole, and and um, you know, when people stop playing football, that's the one thing they always say that they miss.
5:05
SPEAKER_03: It's not necessarily the training and the rain and the cold and the snow, it's it's that dressing room kind of vibe.
5:10
SPEAKER_03: Is that is that how you find it?
5:11
SPEAKER_01: 100%.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: I think yeah, you just miss being around the girls, but I also think one of the best things from football is the fact that um yeah, those relationships you build you still have off the pitch, but also you understand that it's such a busy schedule that the girls are under.
5:29
SPEAKER_01: So, like, I'm not expecting Kia to come back to me with a message straight away.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm also not expecting her to have a lot of free time to see me, but we just have that mutual understanding that life is busy, but we're always there for each other regardless.
5:41
SPEAKER_03: I wanted to talk about those sort of early years of playing for the football club before we sort of go and speak a little bit more about you as a as a person, which won't take along, of course.
5:50
SPEAKER_03: Um but from from where you first started at Peachbury United to the to where the team are now on the journey that you guys have been on.
5:58
SPEAKER_03: When you reflect back on those early years, do you look at it and think it seems more of a lifetime ago than the years it actually is?
6:05
SPEAKER_03: Because it wasn't 20 years ago, we're talking we're talking within the last what six, seven, eight years.
6:11
SPEAKER_03: Um I just wanted to say six, seven.
6:13
SPEAKER_03: Um sorry.
6:15
SPEAKER_03: Can't that outstanding?
6:18
SPEAKER_03: Um but how how has it changed?
6:20
SPEAKER_03: How do you feel that you've played a part in that change for for you in particular?
6:24
SPEAKER_03: Because obviously you're still playing.
6:25
SPEAKER_02: Gosh, the change has been massive.
6:27
SPEAKER_02: I I sometimes sit back and reflect on it, and some of these things and these changes other players haven't seen because you know, the newer players and stuff like that, they haven't experienced it.
6:36
SPEAKER_02: And I think back to our first season as Posh, and we were one big team, we didn't have a reserves team or anything like that.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: We had like 30 players signed, and they were rotating it so everyone got a game every couple of weeks and stuff like that, and you know, the difference in levels, the difference in leagues, the difference in uh stuff we're provided with, kits, stuff like that, like crazy little things.
7:00
SPEAKER_02: The fact that we were at the training ground and the fans coming to watch, you probably have like your parents and maybe an odd friend, and that would kind of be it.
7:07
SPEAKER_02: But the experiences, oh gosh, has changed so much, and it's actually incredible to see.
7:12
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's something that sometimes can get lost a little bit, um, because not everyone's experienced that.
7:18
SPEAKER_02: And I sat down and had a conversation with one of our new players the other week, and I said, We've only had our names on the back of our shirts for what two or three seasons, and they couldn't believe that.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, we've only been getting paid for two or three seasons, um, and again, they couldn't believe that as well.
7:33
SPEAKER_02: So the progress we've made, especially over the last few years, has been massive, incredible, incredible for the woman set up.
7:41
SPEAKER_03: It's interesting as well, because obviously when you guys started, it was all for fun, wasn't it?
7:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, really, it was all for fun.
7:46
SPEAKER_03: Um, obviously, as you progress and as you get older, fun is tinged with a little bit more serious nature because you're obviously playing in a league, you're representing a badge, you're representing the the city.
7:56
SPEAKER_03: How how did you find for both of you that kind of transition to more expectation coming on your shoulders?
8:01
SPEAKER_03: So start with you, mate, because obviously you um you you helped obviously get them into this tier but haven't played in this tier.
8:07
SPEAKER_03: So the journey that you you've been on, how did how did you find the sort of change in what was expected of you?
8:12
SPEAKER_01: I think we wanted it to go in that direction anyway, so like naturally it was quite welcome to us.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: It's something that we wanted to take on, but um I think probably this year's been completely different because of just the step up and the amount of training and work they have they have to do in the background, as well as probably having a full-time job or higher education, whatever.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, I think it was really welcomed, um, and yeah, just made us want to push on even more, really.
8:41
SPEAKER_03: What about yourself?
8:42
SPEAKER_03: Because you as you say, you you might just play in front of your family and friends, and now you've got people paying to watch you, it's a whole different vibe.
8:48
SPEAKER_03: Is it is that something that you found easy to adjust to?
8:51
SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, to be fair.
8:52
SPEAKER_02: I think that's because deep down it's something you're passionate about and something you want, and something that you always have hope hope for.
8:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think that's something that me and you especially had in uh year a few years ago when things weren't quite how they are now, is you would have always dreamt to have gotten to this point because it's something we wanted, and I think we grew alongside the expectations, and I think we just adapted to them and um they didn't all come at once, so it was like a gradual progression of it all, and I think that even this year it has been a big step up from last season to this season and expectations on and off the pitch.
9:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, but it's something I've always wanted, so something that when it's happened, I'm I'm gonna take and I'm gonna try and do my best to do that and stuff like that.
9:35
SPEAKER_02: So I think us especially have grown with the expectation, and it's really nice.
9:40
SPEAKER_03: One thing I learned about you, fellow, recently is you stated you were a Chelsea fan, and I was thinking to myself, well, whenever I've spoken to you in the past, obviously you love football, you love playing football.
9:49
SPEAKER_03: Um, but it's probably fair to say you you're not engulfed by the game, you're not someone who goes and you know says, I'm not going out to now I'm watching a game on a telly, that's never gonna never gonna be you.
9:57
SPEAKER_03: But it's quite interesting how you balance it off because you're a Liverpool fan, we're speaking early on, and yeah, you know the intricacies about who's in the team, who's not in the team, who should be in the team, who shouldn't be in the team.
10:06
SPEAKER_03: And you know, I it's so bizarre because in the men's game, there's not many people that would probably be like that, they would be more engulfed by the game.
10:14
SPEAKER_03: How do you separate the two between your life and football?
10:19
SPEAKER_02: I just think that I don't have that much time to think about football 24-7.
10:26
SPEAKER_02: So, with work and I'm busy and stuff like that.
10:29
SPEAKER_02: When I'm at work, I'm at work.
10:30
SPEAKER_02: When I'm at football, I'm at football.
10:32
SPEAKER_02: When I'm with my family, I try and be present with my family.
10:34
SPEAKER_02: When I'm with my friends, I try and be present with my friends.
10:37
SPEAKER_02: And whilst you have those conversations still when they ask how football's going and this and that, I just don't think, whilst I love football, um, for me it's important to be present with the people that you're with in those moments and not let it consume your whole life because there are also parts of football that um can be hard and can be challenging.
10:55
SPEAKER_02: Um, and if you let that consume you all the time, you're never gonna have a break and you're gonna feel like football, football, football.
11:02
SPEAKER_02: And for me, I think it's nice to be away from football.
11:04
SPEAKER_02: So then when I come to football, I'm like, I'm at football, I've missed it, I want to be here, and I want to be in that moment.
11:10
SPEAKER_02: So I think for me it's important to not let it consume you all the time.
11:14
SPEAKER_03: Is this something that triggered that, or have you always been like that?
11:16
SPEAKER_03: Because sometimes it can be um a moment that you think, actually, do you know what?
11:20
SPEAKER_03: I I I can't do that now.
11:22
SPEAKER_03: I need to focus on this.
11:23
SPEAKER_03: Is there something that triggered that, or is it something you've always tried to maintain that present nature of whatever it is you do?
11:29
SPEAKER_02: There there are moments even now, which I I do struggle with at times when you're getting phone calls and stuff like that.
11:35
SPEAKER_02: Like I can be at work and I can get phone calls from people at football.
11:38
SPEAKER_02: Um, so there are times where you have to adapt and you have to play both sides, but I have always tried to try and have a bit of a separation between the things.
11:47
SPEAKER_02: Um, so when I'm not at football, I can miss it, and then when I'm there I can enjoy it.
11:51
SPEAKER_03: It's quite an interesting outlook, isn't it, man?
11:53
SPEAKER_03: Because some people some people that love football do get consumed by football to the point whereby everything is football.
12:00
SPEAKER_03: How do you find it?
12:01
SPEAKER_01: I sorry, I was just gonna say as well, like I've always admired Key for how she's got loads going on in and outside of football, but she always makes time for everyone else, and I think obviously that's why she's captain for one.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: But how do you do that and separate like obviously you've got to focus on your game, but then you've probably got loads of other people that come with you about come to you about different things.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: But how do you do that?
12:26
SPEAKER_02: It is hard.
12:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I really appreciate that firstly, that's really nice.
12:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, it is hard, but I think part of me is because I care about other people and I see them as my friends, which we spoke about earlier.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, I think it's not just you're a teammate, you're my friend, and if you come with me with a problem, I'm gonna help sort that and I'm gonna do my best I can to help you through that.
12:46
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I guess that's just trying to be a good person, which is something I do try to be, don't always achieve, but is one of my goals in life is just to be a good person and help people when I can.
12:57
SPEAKER_03: I think one of the things when you look at traits of a person, I always see you as someone who's quite organised.
13:02
SPEAKER_03: You seem to have so much structure in terms of everything from day to day.
13:05
SPEAKER_03: Is that really important to you?
13:06
SPEAKER_03: Because I think structure can be something that when lost can make you a little bit crazy for you personally.
13:12
SPEAKER_02: No, yes, but something recently I've lost is a little bit of structure, and that's not happened before in my life, so I have found it quite challenging recently.
13:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I'm trying to find a new routine of how things work and what works for me and inside and outside of football now.
13:28
SPEAKER_02: So that has been challenging.
13:29
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I am quite OCD with having a routine and structure most days and most weeks, which kind of can probably sound quite miserable to some people, but in my mind, I just I'll be very forgetful if I don't have a set routine and stuff like that.
13:45
SPEAKER_03: So I feel incredibly guilty that we've taken you out of the routine to come and do this podcast now, but it's fine.
13:50
SPEAKER_03: We can continue in part two of Posh and Filter.
13:52
SPEAKER_03: We get to know Kia and Meg a little bit more.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: Special thanks to Global, Laurent Co.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: and Hudson Homes for allowing us to film Poshun Filtered in the hospitality box.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to the Posh Unfiltered, uh part two.
14:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm Meg and we were just talking to Kia about um basically how she balances her her work schedule as well as football and all the various other things that she has throughout her life.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I'd love if you could touch on that a little bit more if that's okay, Key.
14:19
SPEAKER_02: Yes, um firstly, it is a very hard balance, um, especially now we've progressed up a league.
14:27
SPEAKER_02: I think the expectations have gotten even higher, um, which is a lot more commitment.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: Um, I don't think it's spoken about enough, um, and I don't always think people actually understand.
14:37
SPEAKER_02: Some people come to watch a game on a Sunday and can go, oh, why is she so tired?
14:42
SPEAKER_02: Or why is she not doing this?
14:43
SPEAKER_02: Why is this person not doing that?
14:44
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think they realise what we go through throughout a week, just a standard week, um, to commit to football.
14:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we have full-time jobs.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: I'm personally really lucky with my job.
14:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm a teacher, so I've got nice working hours, and um, coming to training and doing all the gym sessions in an evening doesn't really affect me, but not every player is that lucky.
15:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
15:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, some people work a lot of hours, some people work less, some people struggle to some people come straight from training, uh, sorry, straight from work to training and expect to just buckle in and be right there in the session and be present there.
15:19
SPEAKER_02: And it is really hard.
15:20
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think that everybody fully understands that.
15:24
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think sometimes a little bit more grace with stuff like that could go a long way in the women's game.
15:30
SPEAKER_02: Um it it is tough to balance, it is tough, and like I said, I'm lucky, but there are some players that really, really have to put in the work to get the balance right.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: And with obviously new players joining and and the step up to tier three, how have the players adapted?
15:46
SPEAKER_01: Because obviously it's a lot more travel to go to all the different teams you're playing against.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: So, how how's that been?
15:52
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, balancing it all as well.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: Travelling's long.
15:55
SPEAKER_02: Um, especially there are some of us actually that are quite lucky they live closer to the away games than they do actually the home games.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, so you could kind of say that they're their home games kind of thing.
16:06
SPEAKER_02: Um, but for some of us, I think like games like Liverpool are like three odd hours, three and a half, four hours, Middlesbrough, so far away from where I live.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: I then have to travel to Peterborough.
16:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, luckily this season the club have put on a nice bus for us every week.
16:22
SPEAKER_02: So we then get on the coach, um, and then it's another couple of hours before we pick up the rest of the girls, have a stop off.
16:28
SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's a a long, a long day.
16:31
SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, which makes it feel like a long whole weekend, a long week.
16:35
SPEAKER_02: Um, so it is hard.
16:37
SPEAKER_02: We're very grateful for for the bus and the coach.
16:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, because even last year when we were having to drive to games, you would sit there and you'd be concentrating on driving and you'd feel exhausted when you get there because you focused for such a long amount of time.
16:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, so it is it is difficult, but some some of the girls bless them.
16:56
SPEAKER_02: Their home games are actually RAW games and they travel further to the home games, so that's quite hard as well.
17:01
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think many people realise that either.
17:04
SPEAKER_03: Kia has to concentrate when she's driving because she's such a bad driver, to be fair.
17:07
SPEAKER_03: But um brilliant.
17:09
SPEAKER_03: Um you you mentioned now about the the jobs, and every all everyone within squad are doing different jobs, right?
17:14
SPEAKER_03: You were working obviously when you you were playing and and and that was more of a nine to five job, right?
17:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: I I'm lacking the sense that it's hybrid, so it's a bit of remote work and office work.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: My office is in Cambridge, it's not really round the corner.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: So, for example, on Thursdays last season, I'd be getting into the office for half seven, leaving the house at half six, and then returning home at probably half nine at the end of football training.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, it's a big commitment, but I think also it's not just me that was doing that.
17:42
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of the team, and like you were saying, I think people don't realise that we have so much going on outside of just football, and I say just, but it's a lot, it's a big commitment.
17:54
SPEAKER_02: So to be doing it a tier three as well, I think it's just credit to you all that you make it look so effortless, even though obviously behind the scenes, it's just I think the expectation as well when you're at football is you know, we've got a saying this year, bring the sunshine, and that's one of our things, and it's it's basically about when you're at football, be happy and all your stress and worries away from football, don't bring them to football.
18:18
SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's that's really nice and obviously easier said than done at points when someone's had a long, tough day at work and things haven't gone their way at work and stuff like that, to then travel an hour and a half, two hours to get to training, and it's only going to get worse when the winter comes and it gets a bit colder and it gets a bit more miserable outside.
18:37
SPEAKER_02: Those things do take a toll and they are really hard on players, um, and then that can affect your your training session.
18:43
SPEAKER_02: We try not to let it affect us, but sometimes it just does, and then you have a bad training session, and then it's a big cycle of I've trained really bad tonight, so you get angry at yourself, and then it's more pressure upon yourself.
18:55
SPEAKER_02: Um, so it's like a big cycle.
18:57
SPEAKER_02: I think you've just got to try and keep it as positive as you can and as easy on yourself as you can for as long as you can and not let it affect you as much as possible.
19:06
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because I was gonna say that the um the sacrifices you make, but you obviously need a really good employee often because you know if you if they don't understand what you do and how important that is to you, then ultimately they could really impact on your game, right?
19:20
SPEAKER_03: Because if they say no, you can't leave an hour early, then you're not gonna make training.
19:24
SPEAKER_03: Is that something that I think again needs to be highlighted that the the players in the women's game, probably below the WSL one and two, are all doing exactly the same thing and all using exactly the same sacrifices.
19:37
SPEAKER_03: Um, and as you said right at the top, people don't understand what goes on, and and even so much as um trying to work in like eating and and diet and nutrition, and I mean kids' food is just ridiculous, but um in terms of this is me saying on my diet, she'll say the same about me, but in in terms of that, how how do you sort of work food into your daily routine as well?
20:05
SPEAKER_02: I weigh every meal I eat out before I eat it, and that is hard work.
20:11
SPEAKER_02: And I'm not saying everybody needs to do that, it's so extreme.
20:14
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's not all also necessary at points.
20:18
SPEAKER_02: Um but part of my game as a footballer is being athletic and speed, being strong, being being fit um as a winger, especially.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: And I I take a real conscious effort to not let anything get in the way of that.
20:33
SPEAKER_02: Um, and food and diet can impact that massively, and you know, I'm not I'm not the most technically gifted player in the world, I'm not the most talented player in the world.
20:42
SPEAKER_02: So a massive part of my game is all of those things.
20:45
SPEAKER_02: So I need to keep them tiptop, and then to do that, I need to make sure my diet's right.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: I need to make sure I'm smashing the gym and doing the right things there, which also requires your diet to be right.
20:55
SPEAKER_02: So, again, something that goes unseen, it in the long term will help me as a player.
21:01
SPEAKER_02: Um, and you've got to you've got to do what helps you, and I think that's such an important thing for me, um, which some people actually are quite lucky they don't have to do that.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: I wish it's something that I didn't necessarily have to do, but it's something I actually almost as well do enjoy doing at points and something that keeps me in a routine, which we spoke about earlier.
21:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm very routine-oriented, and also then has an effect up here for me as well, knowing I've done the right things, knowing I've I've fuelled properly, I've put the right things in my body.
21:31
SPEAKER_02: Um, my Saturdays all pretty much look the exact same because I'm three litres of water.
21:37
SPEAKER_02: I've got to make sure I get that in me.
21:38
SPEAKER_02: I've got to get my electrolytes, I've got to do some foam rolling and stretching in the gym on a Saturday.
21:43
SPEAKER_02: I I make a checklist every week and I go through it and tick it all, even to little things like making sure your nails are done and stuff like that.
21:52
SPEAKER_03: It's amazing, and again, it's it's another thing that it does get over look because obviously in the men's game, you might have a nutritionist, you might have someone who provides food for you, you might have You know, breakfast and dinner provided for you.
22:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, but again, when you when you're working and you've got a training scheduling evening, what time do you eat?
22:07
SPEAKER_03: How do you eat?
22:08
SPEAKER_03: Do you eat when you get back?
22:09
SPEAKER_03: You know, on a Sunday, if you're travelling to Middlesbrough and you're on the on the bus, you rock up with about 26 cucumbers or whatever it is you have in your your mixed grill of salad.
22:17
SPEAKER_03: Um, but but that's all planning, right?
22:20
SPEAKER_03: You know when you're gonna eat, you know what time you're gonna eat, you know what you're gonna eat afterwards, yeah.
22:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, and and you won't be the only person within women's football doing exactly the same thing.
22:28
SPEAKER_03: And we're already talking about a job, a training session, two trainings, three training sessions, gym work, food, drink, um, and a weekend game before you've even got to a life, right?
22:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:39
SPEAKER_02: I I do want to say though, you definitely don't have to be as um OCD with that as I am.
22:44
SPEAKER_02: I'm very OCD with it, and it's not great.
22:47
SPEAKER_02: I do love the odd cookie and stuff though, so it's I do want to be good at making them as well.
22:51
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for trying my best.
22:52
SPEAKER_03: I was a bit disappointed actually.
22:53
SPEAKER_03: I thought that's why she was late this morning.
22:55
SPEAKER_03: I thought she was gonna bring me some cookies in there.
22:56
SPEAKER_03: You don't need any more cookies.
22:57
SPEAKER_03: No, this is probably true.
22:59
SPEAKER_03: Do you find do you find baking relaxing?
23:01
SPEAKER_03: Um do you I just had a vision of you in the in the in the kitchen with like an old chef sat on just like making making mess tidy, making mess tidy.
23:10
SPEAKER_02: No, yeah, I I am a bit like that.
23:12
SPEAKER_02: I just don't want to sound soft and it's a really soft thing to say, like a really wet thing to say.
23:17
SPEAKER_02: I just like making people happy by giving them like all the football girls, for example, love it when I bake, and I know it makes them happy, so I do it to make other people happy.
23:26
SPEAKER_02: I do also enjoy doing it.
23:28
SPEAKER_02: Um but I am O C D.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: I I dirty one thing and I have to clean it.
23:33
SPEAKER_03: It's interesting, Megan because I was I've always I've said this before publicly when we when we did sort of interviews at the end of last season about her as a captain, but yeah, what she just said there is actually so true.
23:41
SPEAKER_03: It's like she wants to make other people happy so much.
23:44
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but what makes you happy?
23:46
SPEAKER_03: That making other people happy.
23:48
SPEAKER_02: That's what makes you happy.
23:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, making other people happy makes me happy, and that's what I do things because it makes me happy.
23:55
SPEAKER_03: What makes you happy, Meg?
23:57
SPEAKER_03: I don't know how good one of that, yeah, yeah, exactly.
23:59
SPEAKER_03: That's such a big question.
24:01
SPEAKER_03: Well, we're here to ask the questions, we're here to get to know you.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: I think me and Kia are quite similar in the fact that we're very family-oriented and we come from big families of lots of siblings, but also lots of nieces and nephews, and for me that really fills my cup.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, like for example, my granny and grandad, they're in their 90s now, and I will make sure every Saturday I go and see them because you don't know how much time you get left of them.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: But for me, like that is priority, and it's actually nice now that I don't have a busy schedule like you have to focus on other things as well as like seeing family and and stuff like that.
24:35
SPEAKER_01: But for me, that would that would be the main one.
24:36
SPEAKER_03: And do you know both of you are very similar in terms of on a match day having those people there present supporting you means so much to you, or we're almost to the point whereby it's not that you're looking for them when you come out, but it's almost like a yeah, but it's almost like a cover blanket, right?
24:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, I do look for you.
24:53
SPEAKER_03: You can pay for the 2,000 people, but the most important people are the family, right?
24:57
SPEAKER_01: 100% without a doubt, because they're the ones that have got us to this point as well, without their support, like it would have been a lot more difficult.
25:03
SPEAKER_01: But 100% like knowing your parents as well, they're they're very similar to my parents in the fact that they're so supportive, but they also will tell you how it is.
25:11
SPEAKER_01: And I think if you can't listen to your parents, you can you listen to, but yeah, like they're always the first people that I would certainly look in the crowd, and I'm sure they'll listen to it.
25:20
SPEAKER_02: 100%, but it's also like the special moments and opportunities that football brings to your family, like uh playing here, for example, and us getting to walk out with our mums, and when I get to walk out of my nieces and nephews and stuff like that, moments like that are so special, and I'm so grateful that football can give me those moments because it's just as special to them as it is to me.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: And like you said, you you probably didn't actually mean it, but like I do look for them when I when I walk out, I'm like, where are they?
25:47
SPEAKER_02: Where are they all stirred?
25:49
SPEAKER_02: Or um when I'm playing and I can hear my nephew cheering me on or screaming my name, I have to look at him and I have to wait, no matter what point in the game I'm in, because I can hear him, and it's just so sweet and such a special moment and stuff like that.
26:02
SPEAKER_02: I think it's really important, and that is something we both definitely relate to and really appreciate as our families.
26:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he definitely means a lot to you.
26:09
SPEAKER_03: I was speaking to, wasn't I?
26:11
SPEAKER_03: Again recently asked him what what track you wanted me to play on the uh on the PA, and I was like, oh, can I play that?
26:16
SPEAKER_03: I'm not too sure.
26:17
SPEAKER_03: Um but he is he is your biggest fan, right?
26:19
SPEAKER_03: He's he's he's he's someone who means a lot to you.
26:22
SPEAKER_02: You've got a really special bomb with him.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: So special.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: I I love him so much.
26:26
SPEAKER_02: Like, I can't explain how much you ask me how I just can't.
26:30
SPEAKER_02: I just love him with my whole soul.
26:32
SPEAKER_02: He is such a beautiful person, and I'm I'm just lucky to have him.
26:36
SPEAKER_02: And I love the fact as well that he kids don't have very a very good attention span, but when he comes to football, he comes to football to watch me play, and he is so bought into it.
26:46
SPEAKER_02: And there's a video from last season when we played Northampton, and I scored, and I can just see him in the background of the video with these bright yellow trainers on, and I'm running towards a goal, and he's looking, he's proper bought into it, and then I score and he starts doing some strange dance that kids do.
27:03
SPEAKER_02: But he was so happy, um, and stuff like that is just so special.
27:07
SPEAKER_02: I I'm so grateful for the family I have.
27:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I'd just like to know as well, Kitty, what's the meaning behind auntie boggle?
27:15
SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay, so that's all that they called.
27:19
SPEAKER_02: So, this is one that's composed on the money.
27:23
SPEAKER_02: So apparently, that's obviously this is what I'm told.
27:26
SPEAKER_02: When uh my mum used to say the word boggle when I was a kid, it used to make me laugh.
27:30
SPEAKER_02: Like it used to make me hysterically laugh.
27:32
SPEAKER_02: So they started calling me boggle.
27:34
SPEAKER_02: So my nickname was just boggle.
27:36
SPEAKER_02: So now to to my nieces and nephews, I'm auntie boggle.
27:39
SPEAKER_02: To my dad, I'm boggle best friend, which is something, yeah.
27:42
SPEAKER_02: He got on a little bracelet for me.
27:43
SPEAKER_02: It's like BBF, so Boggle Best Friend, and that's my at-home nickname, which I'm sure most people have.
27:49
SPEAKER_02: Meg Star 7.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh my gosh.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: Never gonna live that down.
27:52
SPEAKER_01: I still don't call that now.
27:54
SPEAKER_03: I'm definitely asked what my nickname would be.
27:57
SPEAKER_03: Um anyway, we'll go into part three uh posh unfiltered, the final part with with Kia and Meg.
28:02
SPEAKER_03: Um just gonna discuss a little bit more about life and football.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: Join us at Pyms Park for the next women's home game against Huddersfield Town women on Sunday, the 11th of October.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: You can get your tickets via poshtickets.com.
28:16
SPEAKER_03: Welcome back to part three of Posh Unfiltered, the Posh Women podcast.
28:20
SPEAKER_03: We're here with Meg Lawler and Kia Perkins.
28:22
SPEAKER_03: Final part of the show.
28:24
SPEAKER_03: Meg, you're just telling me something off camera there about um back here's routine, John Sherlock's work.
28:29
SPEAKER_01: It's one of our quirks, and I've never really understood it to be honest.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: I found it quite weird.
28:32
SPEAKER_01: Is um podcast on the battery?
28:35
SPEAKER_03: Let's ask some weird questions.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what you're gonna say.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: That um you like getting ready, watching horror films, and I just How do you remember that?
28:45
SPEAKER_01: And I've always found it strange.
28:47
SPEAKER_01: But like, talk me through that, Kim.
28:48
SPEAKER_02: What I just it's just something that you don't have to like watch, so you can just listen to the story.
28:54
SPEAKER_02: To the sound of people's bones getting like.
28:57
SPEAKER_03: I know it's like a radio, right?
28:58
SPEAKER_03: You can listen to music.
28:59
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's true crime though.
29:01
SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
29:02
SPEAKER_02: So not just like That's interesting.
29:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, really interesting.
29:04
SPEAKER_03: Do you have a true crime that?
29:06
SPEAKER_02: Uh I think I've I've watched everything at this point.
29:09
SPEAKER_02: Well you won't.
29:11
SPEAKER_02: Everything, everything, but yes, I I am into stuff like that, and I do put it on all the occasional horror film while I get ready.
29:18
SPEAKER_02: Horror films don't scare me.
29:19
SPEAKER_02: So sometimes, right?
29:21
SPEAKER_02: The last few nights I've had a few nightmares, and I was actually telling some of the footballists, and they were like, Oh, so what do you do when you wake up?
29:28
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, Well, I'll go back to sleep, try and finish the dream, see what happens.
29:31
SPEAKER_02: Because do you know what I mean?
29:33
SPEAKER_02: Like, I need to know the ending.
29:34
SPEAKER_02: I I want to know, obviously, I'm gonna win.
29:37
SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I mean?
29:37
SPEAKER_02: So I need to know how I'm gonna win.
29:39
SPEAKER_02: It just doesn't scare me.
29:40
SPEAKER_02: I don't get scared about stuff like that.
29:42
SPEAKER_03: What does scare you as anything?
29:43
SPEAKER_03: Uh apart from obviously present company.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: Uh I'm not gonna give a deep answer.
29:53
SPEAKER_03: Give as many answers as you like.
29:55
SPEAKER_02: Um smelly people.
29:57
SPEAKER_03: Smelly people scares you.
29:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:01
SPEAKER_02: I wasn't expecting that to be on it.
30:05
SPEAKER_03: That's why you were over there and kids being that smelly people.
30:09
SPEAKER_03: Okay, um you were scared of loving anything.
30:12
SPEAKER_03: I'm scared of a bit of flying and um needles.
30:16
SPEAKER_03: Scared of needles.
30:17
SPEAKER_02: I don't obviously love needles, I don't go brilliant, but I just I just try not to look, but I'm not like horrifically scared.
30:24
SPEAKER_02: I I don't mind flying.
30:26
SPEAKER_02: Um You're quite tough though.
30:27
SPEAKER_01: Like I can't imagine much scaring you, to be honest.
30:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: But if you smell bad, if you smell bad, that will tip you over the edge.
30:36
SPEAKER_03: One of our players, Men's players, said the other day that actually blew my mind that he'd never been to the cinema.
30:41
SPEAKER_03: Like he never he didn't watch films, so has never been to the cinema.
30:44
SPEAKER_03: I think I saw that.
30:45
SPEAKER_03: And I was trying to think to myself whether that's a really weird thing to say, but then I was trying to think of the last film I watched at the cinema, and it's a long time ago.
30:53
SPEAKER_03: Really?
30:53
SPEAKER_02: Um because you've got no one to go with.
30:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:55
SPEAKER_03: Alright.
30:57
SPEAKER_03: Are you cinematic?
30:58
SPEAKER_03: Do you do you watch films?
30:59
SPEAKER_03: Are you a big film buff?
31:00
SPEAKER_02: I love films, I do love films.
31:02
SPEAKER_02: I I do find it hard to find time to watch films and like actually engage in them.
31:07
SPEAKER_02: Um, I watched Spider-Man at cinema, that's a good film.
31:10
SPEAKER_02: I'm really into Marvel.
31:11
SPEAKER_02: I quite like Marvel stuff like that.
31:12
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you see, I I can't go into that, Meg.
31:14
SPEAKER_03: I'm just gonna go.
31:15
SPEAKER_03: Marvel.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've not really watched one many of the Marvel films, but I'm similar to you.
31:20
SPEAKER_01: If I watch a film at home, nine times out of ten, my phone's gonna buzz and I'm gonna look at my phone and then get distracted.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: But that's why I enjoy going to cinema quite regularly, because you kind of switch off and you focus and it's a good way to look at it.
31:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you can actually focus on the film in the cinema.
31:34
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: But at home it's makes it a bit more special as well, like going up to the cinema.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: Good snap, getting out the high, yeah, exactly.
31:41
SPEAKER_01: Wait out, of course.
31:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you've got the scales in your bag.
31:48
SPEAKER_03: If I have a break, I'm done.
31:50
SPEAKER_03: Um that's a joke, by the way.
31:52
SPEAKER_03: That isn't no just imagine you're wrapping up with that there's you are you someone because because actually there's so much going on in your life.
32:00
SPEAKER_03: Are you someone that um is okay leaving your phone over there?
32:03
SPEAKER_03: I mean, are you someone that needs your phone close?
32:05
SPEAKER_03: Are you someone that couldn't could go switch off from your phone?
32:07
SPEAKER_02: I make a real effort to not have my phone.
32:09
SPEAKER_02: You're good at that.
32:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah I really like WhatsApp turning it off, everything I want do not disturb a lot, a lot of the time, and even at those points, like I'll put my phone the other side of the room, and if I want to watch something or go on something, I'll go on my iPad or I'll do something else, or um, when I'm downstairs in the house with my family, I'll leave my phone upstairs and stuff like that.
32:29
SPEAKER_02: So I I think that's so important because if I was engulfed in my phone 24-7, I feel like I would actually never get off it, and I need time away from everything and just to focus on being present.
32:44
SPEAKER_03: I I think you said about nine days earlier.
32:46
SPEAKER_03: I was trying it interesting that the amount of things that are going on in your life, how you sleep.
32:52
SPEAKER_03: Did you sleep easily?
32:53
SPEAKER_02: Uh I used to be a really good sleeper, like 14 hours.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: What?
32:58
SPEAKER_02: Easily.
32:59
SPEAKER_02: Oh, with ease.
33:01
SPEAKER_02: 14 hours.
33:02
SPEAKER_02: With ease, and and also like I'd still need the alarm to wake me up.
33:05
SPEAKER_02: I'm I used to just like my body used to just absorb sleep.
33:09
SPEAKER_02: Like I was all over it.
33:10
SPEAKER_02: Um recently not so much.
33:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, probably the opposite, if anything, but I'm slowly getting back into my routine of getting some more sleep in because it's so good for it's like the best form of recovery.
33:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
33:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, for your mind and your body.
33:23
SPEAKER_02: So that's really important.
33:25
SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, I'm working on it, Phil.
33:27
SPEAKER_03: Do you know what else that whenever someone says, oh, what is Kia like?
33:31
SPEAKER_03: I always think Starks or coffee or I didn't have time today, but I was gonna get you a pumpkin spice latte.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: Then I thought if she's had one today, she's probably not gonna want another one.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: You they also know me so well.
33:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
33:42
SPEAKER_03: Have you got a coffee machine at home?
33:44
SPEAKER_03: Can you make the do the new swirling machine?
33:47
SPEAKER_03: You could possibly need at home for coffee.
33:49
SPEAKER_03: I know you are you a talented like swirler and you can make that swirler.
33:54
SPEAKER_02: Latte art, that sort of thing.
33:56
SPEAKER_02: Latte art, see?
33:58
SPEAKER_02: Maybe not I'm not that good at that, but what I'm good at is like uh I decorate with little caramel sauce.
34:03
SPEAKER_02: So I've got one of the, you know, the proper caramel bottles with the like fine tip, and I write little messages in what in there on top of the coffee for my family, um, which they find funny every time where I do a little picture or something.
34:15
SPEAKER_02: So I do really enjoy drinking and making coffee, but I do uh mainly a Starbucks.
34:20
SPEAKER_03: Because it's probably a thing though, you know, like in terms of coffee art and in terms of it seems to be that everybody sort of gravitates towards doing it themselves rather than I don't even put Starbucks on.
34:29
SPEAKER_02: You know the stencils that you have like a stencil and then you do the like the dusting, that's a scam.
34:34
SPEAKER_02: So no one buy that because that is an absolute scam.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I mean?
34:38
SPEAKER_02: The little stencil you put on the frothy bit of the coffee and you put the chocolate dusting on a cappuccino, yeah, and then you take off the stencil and it looks absolutely nothing like what you've just tried to make it look like awful.
34:48
SPEAKER_03: Don't find the colour.
34:49
SPEAKER_03: I did not expect to walk into this podcast today and you're talking about it.
34:54
SPEAKER_03: What scam is and I should avoid it.
34:56
SPEAKER_03: Thankfully, I don't drink tea or coffee, so it's not really a problem to me.
34:59
SPEAKER_03: But um going back to um to football web, and I suppose more pertinent in in the women's game, definitely more pertinent than the women's game is um obviously periods, everything involved in terms of um week to week, game to game, training session to training session.
35:16
SPEAKER_03: Um nobody really talks about it.
35:18
SPEAKER_03: Um and it doesn't appear to the naked eye, as someone like me, that it affects you in any way, shape, or form.
35:25
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and affects a lot of players in every way, shape, or form.
35:27
SPEAKER_03: Of course, you're very good at hiding it, you're very good at um that.
35:30
SPEAKER_03: How how do you manage to play it as much as you do um given the challenges that you obviously face?
35:37
SPEAKER_02: I think uh as a teacher, I have that at school, and you know, you get some of the year six kids come up to you and say, I can't do P today because of this and because of that, and but I just say to them, that's the rest of that, that's the rest of your life.
35:51
SPEAKER_02: That's your life.
35:52
SPEAKER_02: You're gonna have that for a long time now.
35:54
SPEAKER_02: Like you can't just give things up because of that.
35:58
SPEAKER_02: It's part of who you're gonna be for the next how many years.
36:00
SPEAKER_02: So unfortunately, the answer is you you have to get on with it.
36:04
SPEAKER_02: Um and I I do understand that uh different women have you know have different symptoms and find different things harder than others, and some are lucky lucky and some aren't.
36:15
SPEAKER_02: Um so it's about managing yourself, isn't it?
36:17
SPEAKER_02: Like individual responsibilities to find the best way that you can deal with coping with things like that.
36:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, but for me, I'm obviously very, very lucky.
36:25
SPEAKER_02: Um but my answer is that's a life.
36:29
SPEAKER_02: You've got to get on with it, and whilst it does affect things, and I do think uh, especially in football and sports, things need to be managed and monitored.
36:38
SPEAKER_02: Um, we have a wellness form, so we answer a couple of questions about how we're feeling and periods are on there.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: Um, so all of the staff will be aware if we're feeling feeling a certain type of way, um, because it can make you fatigued, it can make you you know you can not feel great mentally, you can be really tired and stuff like that, and it can be in pain.
36:55
SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's really good and that's really well thought about in our club and stuff like that.
37:00
SPEAKER_02: And I I don't think it's so taboo anymore.
37:02
SPEAKER_02: I do think it's quite an open thing, and especially women, women just say to other women how they feel, and you you get on with it.
37:09
SPEAKER_02: But um, I'm I guess maybe that's easy for me to say because I am one of the luckier ones and I understand people have it harder, but what would be your experience?
37:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean I've mine are quite heavy when I have mine, but I would say it's something you just get used to, like it's just part of that cycle as such.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: But I think for me, like going older, there's su um getting older, sorry, there's been such a increase in the amount of people doing their ACL, especially women, and actually that's linked to your cycle, and I think that's something that I've probably been a bit more conscious of over the last couple of years of my career was yeah, being kinder to myself and like not pushing myself if there's something doesn't feel right.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: Because I remember Drizzy Sen the game where she did her her ACL, her knee wasn't feeling right, and actually she said, Oh, I just wish I did listen to my body, and I think that's something that's really important is listen to your body and not pushing your body too much.
38:04
SPEAKER_03: Um Yeah, I think that's such an important thing to say, isn't it, in terms of that, because I always find and I always give this advice myself that no one knows your body better than you.
38:13
SPEAKER_03: You can have the best physio in the world, you can have the um the best people around you, you can't transfer how you feel to that person and then be able to make a judgment call, right?
38:22
SPEAKER_03: So um whether it's whether it's uh a knee, whatever it might be, but have the confidence to speak out and and and can go back to the original point.
38:31
SPEAKER_03: You were talking about wellness forms, and I suppose trust is the most important word there, right?
38:35
SPEAKER_03: You you need to have an environment whereby people understand and people can accept your your your view on things, right?
38:43
SPEAKER_03: Because ultimately, if you're if you're just being made to push through things, that's where things like that can happen, and that's where people disengage with sport, right?
38:50
SPEAKER_03: You've seen up and down the country that you know one little thing can put someone off the game for for life.
38:56
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I and you said it it's not a to-boo subject anymore, and I think that's why I sort of raised it, because I think that you know it's alright for me sitting here as a as a as a man that obviously it's it's yeah, I can't I can't put myself in your shoes.
39:09
SPEAKER_03: So I think it's important to sort of share.
39:11
SPEAKER_03: And the message to young girls, I suppose, is what you said right at the top there, that um, you know, you can you can do it.
39:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, you can absolutely you can, and I think it's it's down to you to find how you can cope and how you can how how far you can push your body and what your limits are and what you can do when you are on your period or the week before, because it's not actually just when you're on your period, like which I think not just men, but a lot of people don't understand, um, especially before you start your periods and stuff like that, um, it can really take a toll, and it's maybe not until you're completely off afterwards that you actually feel better and you feel okay.
39:48
SPEAKER_02: There's not gonna be many times in a month where you feel a hundred percent, and and that's not just through periods.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: That's something I've I've learned a lot.
39:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, there's not gonna be many games of football I play where I feel a hundred percent in your whole career, whether that's mentally, physically, um, with periods, stuff like that, anything.
40:06
SPEAKER_02: So you can do it, just find the best way that suits you in your body um and what you need um and look after yourself and you'll be absolutely fine.
40:14
SPEAKER_02: But don't give up things you want to do for something that's so natural and going to be there for for years and years anyway.
40:20
SPEAKER_03: And Meg, just from your point of view, obviously you retired from the game fairly recently, and whenever we speak to people who've retired, yeah, um, and I said it earlier on in the show, it's not necessarily the training, it's not necessarily the match day, really, it's it's the environment.
40:33
SPEAKER_03: Um, uh since obviously retiring, how have you have you found it?
40:36
SPEAKER_03: I mean, you've been to watch a few of the games, obviously, you've you've got um you know things that you wanted to do in life, and and and that's obviously taking you in the right direction.
40:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
40:45
SPEAKER_01: I think for me it was the right decision.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: I I I knew that this season was just gonna be a whole nother level of commitment, and as I mentioned, like got a very demanding job as well.
40:56
SPEAKER_01: So it's it's it it came to a head that yeah, for me it just I couldn't commit to it in the end, and also as we were talking about periods and and families, like for me, I I'm married I've been married four years now, and that really was the next step for us that we wanted to take, but I also wanted to make sure I was ready, and I'm lucky that my husband's very supportive in that as well and understands how important football is in your life, so yeah, for me it was like the perfect time really to call it an end with winning the league and what an ending, yeah.
41:28
SPEAKER_01: Like I kind of wished for more to be honest, especially after all the years that we didn't quite get there, so yeah, like I I've loved still being around and being on the board for the girls as well, and being that voice and advocate for them and knowing like the shoes that they're in at the moment, but yeah, I I said to you at the end of last season when we had the interview, like I'm not going anywhere, like I'm still gonna be a massive posh fan, and um that makes it a little bit easier, doesn't it?
41:54
SPEAKER_01: 100%, yeah.
41:55
SPEAKER_01: And it's just nice where when I get to see the girls, because it's not as often as what I used to, that we've still got that bond and relationship, and it goes back to what we were talking about earlier.
42:03
SPEAKER_01: It's just it's it's a lovely environment and it just feels like family.
42:08
SPEAKER_03: I always think, and there's been so many instances of this, when players get to the point of saying the word retiring, it's you can write it down, you can you can uh uh you can say it in your head as many times when you say it out loud, that's when you know, and and you your timing was obviously perfect because of everything that you've obviously achieved at the football club and also where it was going as well.
42:28
SPEAKER_03: Um, do you look back on your career?
42:30
SPEAKER_03: We spoke at the end of the season and and the journey that you went on.
42:33
SPEAKER_03: Do you look back and think, do you know what?
42:35
SPEAKER_03: I couldn't have asked for anything more.
42:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, literally, quite that.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: Like, I've made so many memories, made so many friends, and to finish the way that it did with the people that it did, around my family and friends and our supporters, like it was a bit of a fairy tale ending, so yeah, like don't get me wrong, I still miss being out there with the girls.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, now I can't, but like um, yeah, like that will always be with me, and I've got those memories to look back on.
43:03
SPEAKER_01: But I think at the end of the day, it's got to feel right for you, and you'll know when it's just your final like for years we were saying we want to win tier four.
43:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we that's our we'd have so many phone calls that this year's our year, yeah, yeah.
43:17
SPEAKER_02: Oh, year after year, we can do it.
43:20
SPEAKER_02: And to be fair, like you did it, we did it, yeah, and what a way to finish, like yeah, and it but it's not just I don't want it to sound like you finished your journey because you're not, you're still here.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: Look, you sat here today, yeah, you're still in and around the squad and stuff like that, and we we all love seeing you on a match day and doing your bits and bobs and helping the younger generation, like them little girls love you, and they love you bringing like uh you bring them all to us to get things signed and stuff like that, and I think it's still special that you're still a part of it, and but what a nice way to end that was for you.
43:49
SPEAKER_01: Unbelievable, definitely, and I think we've been on that journey as young girls and seen it evolve over the years to what it is now, and I think for me it was important, it kind of felt like a bit of a duty to sort of give back, like you do, like you make such an effort with the mascots and the fans after games, and I think to be honest, the squad are good at that in general, but it's so important, so important, it's so so important, and you you don't know how much that sort of little interaction with that fan means to them as well.
44:19
SPEAKER_01: But I think you do because you were that person back in the day and actually didn't have maybe what we've got.
44:26
SPEAKER_02: No, yeah, but it's really nice.
44:28
SPEAKER_02: How nice is it for you so nice to have ended with your targets all achieved, all ticks stop all ticked off, the amount of appearances, the amount of goals, contributions, stuff like that.
44:38
SPEAKER_02: Like you literally got the goal of the season, or the absolute worldly goal as well.
44:43
SPEAKER_02: That was such a good goal.
44:44
SPEAKER_02: Oh that's one of the biggest things I remember about your career is that goal.
44:48
SPEAKER_02: Oh that was unbelievable.
44:50
SPEAKER_03: I think you might have scored with your head as well, didn't you, during your career?
44:52
SPEAKER_03: So there's still things I can achieve, right?
44:55
SPEAKER_02: Um you scored a few of your head.
44:57
SPEAKER_02: You a few of your head and you had some proper good shots of your head that you know when you're like how they saved that?
45:02
SPEAKER_02: Oh last season, yeah, yeah, yeah.
45:04
SPEAKER_01: I know.
45:04
SPEAKER_01: How they how the keyboard I didn't even score last season and I thought give me a break.
45:08
SPEAKER_01: Give me a break.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: How are you saving that when you've not saved someone?
45:12
SPEAKER_01: No, honestly.
45:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, honestly.
45:14
SPEAKER_02: What a way to end.
45:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:15
SPEAKER_02: I'm really glad it was special because I also think it's good to reflect on some people don't actually get to choose when they retire, they get forced into retirement.
45:22
SPEAKER_02: So I think after everything you've given to the club and to football, how nice is it that you got that ending to your football story?
45:29
SPEAKER_02: I think that's so nice.
45:30
unknown: Definitely.
45:31
SPEAKER_03: It's a great way to end this podcast, actually.
45:33
SPEAKER_03: Uh we've got two two people here who are obviously role models now for the next generation coming through at uh Poshwomen.
45:39
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, they play their games at Pim's Park, obviously.
45:41
SPEAKER_03: So check out Fiction List, get down and support and support Kier.
45:45
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, Mate, hopefully, we'll be bringing the helping the next generation get that bug for football as well.
45:49
SPEAKER_03: Thank you very much for joining us both, and um, we'll be back for another edition, a poshwomen edition, every month.