Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Director of Women's Football at the FA, former chair of UK Sport, co-founder of the Youth Sports Trust, oversaw Lionesses' rise and record Olympic medal haul.
On the island
Eight records
John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John
This music is very much dedicated to those people who resurrected the game in the 70s and to the present day lionesses and hopefully to the future lionesses.
Music of My HeartFavourite
this is my message that I would love to have given my mum and dad had they still been around, which is that they created in me the music of my heart, not just the sporting music, but relationships with people, the love of being out of doors. There are so many things which have kept me sane and happy throughout my life, and I owe it all to the two of them.
BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by James Loughran
Land of Hope and Glory sort of speaks volumes to me about being proud of your country, proud of who you are and proud to be part of something very special.
never judge a child, a young person, by what you think you see. Just look a little deeper and you'll find something special.
I see them as the wind beneath the wings of the athletes. They are the people that make what is for the athletes make their success possible, but don't often get the credit. So, this is for every coach who's working at grassroots level in the pouring rain to say thank you.
young people need to feel good about who they are. And it's really important that we validate that. And I think so much of what we did at the Youth Sport Trust was help young people rediscover that they were proud of themselves.
Elite sportsmen and women like the Lionesses or Gareth Singlund team or the Olympians, they get that one moment in time. And it's the culmination of years of sacrifice, years of effort. Fastidious preparation and they either realize that dream or that dream gets dashed on the rocks.
Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)
this sort of sums up how I feel about what I hope we could all live like in society. And I know it's a bit unrealistic, but I think we're very lucky to live in this country. We sometimes forget that. I've had a very blessed and privileged life, but I think we should all make sure that those who are not as lucky as we've been, we at least reach out and give them hope.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:56How did all of that feel [the Lionesses' World Cup semi-final and the Wembley match]?
I think it's remarkable. And if you'd said that to me even a year ago, I would have said prob not a probability. I mean, in fact, eleven point seven million, watch that semi final. Getting eyes on the game is really important. And for me, girls' and women's sport has always lagged behind, both in terms of the number of participants and the opportunities. And if you'd been there at Wembley and you'd walked down Wembley Way, the Olympic Way, and you'd sat in that crowd, what would have filled you with joy was the number of young girls with their brothers, with their fathers, with their uncles, with their mums, with their aunts, sitting as a family unit, loving watching sport.
Presenter asks
2:54What's been your biggest challenge growing women's football?
When I first came in, I was given three very clear targets: double participation, double the fan base, which we've more than achieved, win the World Cup in 2023. I'd like to have won it in 2019, but we didn't quite get there. But, you know, I stand on the shoulders of a lot of people who pioneered women's football. As you know, it was banned for quite a long time by the FA. … changing mindsets is the biggest challenge. And actually, the women's game is different. It's not better, it's not worse, it's different than the men's. But encouraging and getting the mainstream football fan to think the women's game is credible and of the highest standard has been the biggest challenge.
The keepsakes
The book
Nelson Mandela
The ultimate missionary for me, you know, was prepared to sacrifice his own freedom. To change the world and also really understood the power of sport to change politics.
The luxury
I guess I'd just take some pictures that would remind me of this amazing journey I've been on and what a privileged life I've had and how special it's been to be in sport all my life.
Presenter asks
17:13Your dad died when you were just twenty one. What kind of impact did that have on you?
I think, um, the initial response was to be concerned for mum because she had nursed him at home. He'd wanted to stay at home and he'd been ill for a long time. And she was very close to exhaustion. So your focus went from yourself really to looking after my mother. And then, as I began to kind of move forward, I think it had a deep psychological impact on me. And bit by bit I realized I was falling into I won't call it depression, but a sort of introspective feeling which I'd not recogni I'd never had before, and I I became anorexic. But I think on reflection it was probably a a a deep sadness, a deep feeling of loss, a deep feeling of confusion really. … I always say my mother gave me life twice, really, when I was born and then again at that moment.
Presenter asks
20:55How big an issue do you think disordered eating is in sport now?
I think it can become an issue. I think you've got to be very careful with today's young women. You know, they're bombarded on social media by what they're meant to look like and what they're not meant to look like. And you add that, that sporting mentality, which is a determined and willful mentality to be the best, whatever you do, even if it's dieting. You have to be clear that you have to marry up the intake with the output. So whatever your training regime, you have to check the input marries with the output. That's really critical.
Presenter asks
26:28What is it about sport and music that makes them a good way to reach hard-to-reach kids?
I think they reach kids in a different way. If you are not a a youngster that likes to sit in a classroom and learn in a particular style … If you learn through different means, in other words, you don't just learn in a cerebral way, you learn by doing, you learn kinesthetically, you learn by touching your emotion, it unlocks something inside of you which opens you to learning. People won't learn unless they're ready to. … What I did, though, was turn them into people who were ready to learn and wanted to get better in school. And that's the great magic of sport and music. It connects with young people in a way that the intellectual subjects sometimes can't connect.
Presenter asks
30:42Do you have any regrets over the Cadbury's voucher scheme that was criticised?
No, no, I don't. It was a learning lesson, for certain. … I learned how the media can take a really good story and turn it into a really bad one. … I think in hindsight, probably if I'd been a little bit more, I suppose, media savvy, I could have worked out that would have happened. But it was a hard lesson, well learnt. Would you do it again? No, I wouldn't. No, I wouldn't. I am now the great as they will tell you in the FA, I'm the great advocate about making sure that the people we work with are the right people because I think it's really important.
“I am a disruptor and therefore I'm sometimes difficult to manage.”
“You can either be history or you can make history.”
“I always say my mother gave me life twice, really, when I was born and then again at that moment.”
“If you label children as bad, naughty, unhelpful, unkind, I'm afraid that's what they are. And if you start to believe in them, they come slowly towards you, and then you can do something very special with them.”
“Sport has more power, I believe, than governments to effect change in society.”