Man City star Kerstin Casparij on her sparkling form, social media, and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community

0:28Welcome to Upfront, I'm Chloe Morgan. passionate advocate for trans rights and earlier this year became a patron for the LGBT Foundation. So today we're chatting to Kirsten all about her sensational form wearing the captain's armband for the very first time and how she's been using her platform on social media for good.

0:49Welcome to the podcast and thank you so much for joining us. Before we get stuck into having this great conversation can we please talk about the artwork behind you so these are both david trigly's and i saw this one uh which says you got beaten by a crab ha ha ha ha one of our friends places and i said to roof when we get our house i need to have that but just this in the world doesn't look nice so i needed a second one of course i i love a bit of swearing here and now again um and last week uh Ruth's nan very lovely lady uh came around but she is a little bit religious so we had to take it down for her sake because she didn't want to upset her um but yeah no these are both David Trigley's uh we love David Trigley so yeah that is absolutely lovely and I think the shares and the sale price of David Trigley is now going to go up substantially I need commission I need commission 100 % we'll set up that brand deal for you um yeah obviously I'm really happy that we're getting to talk to you off the back of like quite a quite a nice space that Man City are currently sitting in.

1:55What's it like? What's the view from the top like, mate? Yeah. It's a bit chilly up here. No, I mean, it's great, obviously. It's what we all really work for, work for really hard. So it's really good. And, you know, it makes the league interesting. That's the most fun part. We're sitting on top now, but the most important thing is to try and stay there. Obviously with the Derby on the weekend, which will be fun for numerous reasons. So yeah, no, it's an exciting time to be at City. Can I ask about the post-match Instagram captions? Do they come to you afterwards? They're obviously very pun heavy, which I really enjoy.

2:35Or do you think about them beforehand or is that kind of jinxing the result a bit? It kind of mixes around. sometimes I think of some options beforehand but a lot of the times you don't really know what happens on the day obviously yesterday was about it being really rainy so it just kind of comes to me sometimes it comes to me during the game don't know if I should be saying that but I'm like oh that's really funny I should definitely caption that later really have to win now so you can use this yeah I really have to also really lock in but to be fair sometimes I do struggle because we play the same team so many times.

3:16So I'm happy we play a team, like for example, London City, that I've never played against. Like, oh, finally a new club I can make a pun about. So yeah, it kind of differentiates. So we think about the struggles of footballers. You never think about that. That kind of stuff they have to deal with. Playing the same teams again. The mental load. How are you going to come up with another pun? That's so insightful. I think, and I think it must be like when you're on the pitch. There are moments where, you know, the game's in a lull or, you know, it gets booted off. Well, you were a goalkeeper. That must have happened a lot.

3:42Oh, bloody hell. I think that's why I was so crap because I was constantly thinking about other things whilst I was on the pitch and not doing my job essentially. Yeah, lean to say I only spent one year in the WSL, but moving swiftly on. Talking about performances in the WSL, you personally have obviously had a fantastic start to the season. How have you kind of been feeling? Like you feel like, I don't know, watching you just feel like you're full of joy and just like excitement for being on the pitch. I mean, is that how you're feeling inside? Yeah, I'm a happy girl. I would say I'm generally quite a happy girl.

4:12But no, I'm definitely enjoying it. And there's been quite a bit of change, obviously, coming throughout last season into this season. Obviously, new staff, new coach, new players, a lot of young, new, exciting players coming into our team. So it's been a bit of a mix-up, but I would say it's been really good and I'm enjoying it. I think we look as a team look like we're enjoying it, which is the most important part. and I think games that we would have maybe lost last year, we're now actually winning. So I think we're doing really, really well. So I can't complain. You've spoken a little bit about having a bit more freedom to push up the pitch.

4:53We're seeing you score goals, but also that kind of maybe more leadership role as well. Is it a combination of being given that freedom by the style of play you're playing, but also just being more comfortable in the club you're at and the role you're doing and all of those kind of things clicking into place? I think all of it kind of clicks. I think on the pitch, definitely. I've got such a free role now, which is something I really enjoy. I think that's one of the things, you know, I know what I'm really good at and that's just the helping in the attack, overlapping, doing a lot of running is what I'm generally quite good at.

5:30So to get the freedom and the trust as well, I think a lot of it comes down to trust from a manager, trust from the players, but also trust from me on the rest of the defenders to know if I'm going to shoot off to join the attackers, they'll have it sorted behind me. So I think trust is a very big word that comes into play. But yeah, no, it's been really good and it's been a little different than what it used to be for me. And so far, I can't complain. You talked a little bit about the freedom that you've now got under this new management and how it really feeds into what you've wanted to do on the pitch.

6:03But do you feel like over the course of your career, do you feel like your position has changed? like what's demanded of a fullback has kind of changed as the WSL has developed and got fitter, faster, stronger, more dynamic, like the strategies are changing, formations are changing. Yeah, how have you kind of seen that progress? Yeah, it's quite funny because I actually didn't play fullback until four years ago. So I only came into position four years ago. So I've always kind of felt like I was behind on a lot of other players. A lot of players have played in my position their whole lives. so I always felt like I had to catch up a little bit which maybe even worked at my advantage and I've just been very lucky that City decided to only see me play full-back for maybe six months and were like, yeah sure, we'll take her so I'm very lucky and I'm very grateful that they gave me the opportunity to really nail down what my position looks like and what that means for me but I've definitely seen a big change in the physical demand but also the technical demand I think we're basically hybrid defenders.

7:05Sometimes we play inside, into the midfield. Sometimes we play as wingers. Sometimes we play in the free as an extra centre-back. So I think a lot of things are being expected from us now. And I think the diversity of our position is what makes it so fun. And it's why I'm enjoying it so much. So it's taken you only four years then to be one of the best full-backs in the WSL. Cool. who is I was going to say who's the most difficult winger to face but given the way the game is going you're also then facing other fullbacks as well so who have you found challenging to come up against? That's a good one I usually struggle well I don't struggle but what usually is the hardest thing to defend is an overlapping fullback so I would say really good for KTBK for example strong defender strong fullback likes to overlap, likes to whip the balls in, creates a lot of width.

8:01I think, you know, if you've got really technical winger next to that, that likes to kind of drive inside, that makes it quite hard because you've got basically two players that you're going to have to deal with. So I think those type, I think it's more type of fullback that is really difficult to defend. And what would you say, obviously we talked a little bit about your versatility and sort of how the role of fullback has kind of changed, but obviously not only have you been an incredible defender and part of the defensive system but also two goals and two assists in seven starts in the league this season including a goal and that pinpoint assist for for bonnie shore against arsenal i mean what would you say actually is better when like scoring a goal or like sliding tackle like saving like yeah like what what you say defensive duties or when you when you get that goal and the crowd goes absolutely wild that's a good it has to you have to give me a bit more context here because if it's a goal line clearance yeah again the goal line clearance 90 plus five we are winning i'll take the goal line clearance every single day okay but i also do love to score a goal i haven't done loads of i haven't scored loads yet so you know every goal is special so um yeah love that and it's a tough one yeah i mean you do both so it's it's um grand i suppose you have to choose um you were captain for the very first time against West Ham how has how have you found wearing the the captain's armband is it is it something you have aspired to do or how did it feel for you um I don't necessarily think it's something I aspired uh I think it's a role I've kind of rolled into uh the last maybe year or so um obviously for me it's it's a great honor and again coming back to trust for the club to trust me for the team to trust me to take on that role um I've never been in any any leadership roles like that so it's quite new for me but I think it's it's a really exciting opportunity obviously I'm incredibly proud to to to take that place um and to help support Alex as well you know her being being the club captain and to help support her and to to take some some pressure on some some of the roles off of her as well so um yeah it's it's very exciting times and obviously there's been quite a few sort of like newbies coming to the Man City squad are you sort of um the kind of new Man City mother kind of taking the youngsters under your wing and teaching the Kirsten Kaspari way of life um yeah who's your kind of like who's who's your underlings at City?

10:36My underlings or my little ducklings um well I do generally really um I am able to connect with the younger generation because I'm so chronically online um so anything to to all the memes like they know they know I'm they know I know them so that is quite fun um I've implemented a question of the day board which is my my way to connect with everybody so we've got a daily question sometimes if someone else likes wants to put in a question they can put it on so that creates a lot of fun conversations um My TikTok queen, Jade, Jade Rose, she's a good laugh. Yeah, I would say everybody's my friend.

11:20And what kind of questions are we putting on the question of the day board? Do these come from you or do these come from youngsters who want to know, want to gather that experience from you? Well, they're very silly questions. I don't know which example I'm going to give. Which ones are appropriate? no I have to keep it a little bit appropriate because it's in our lounge and staff is there as well so I don't want our manager to come waltzing in and look at the board and be like suspicious um well like little things like if you have your partner's location do you think that is normal do you think that's toxic now you would have like a little bit of your people like people like me they would say absolutely fine absolutely fine I trust my partner and then you've got some of the younger girls are like nope that is toxic so then you can have a fun conversation it's a fun way to get all the generations in questions where do you sit on that where do i sit um i mean i i choose not to like florence has asked me if i want to she's asked you yeah only because like she's she's been to like some really quite dangerous countries recently so i was like okay it could be quite a could be quite a good one for me to know where you are just in case it happens but like generally speaking i don't really want to like yeah that's nine times out of ten you're in my living room so doesn't that is fair enough yeah that's fair doesn't really matter um i've discreetly put no i'm joking this isn't on purpose but i've put like air tags in like my camera bag sophie's a terror for like disappearing without her bag love that so there's one in there so every so often when i'm at a match i'll just get a message going sophie's backpack is no longer near you and i'm like don't know where she's going need to get like a bell or something and on your you know tiktoks and instagram and everything else Do you do that because it's something you enjoy or is it something you feel also gives you kind of that added connection to your fans and people that enjoy following you and allows you to kind of have those conversations and I guess connect more?

13:11It's something I generally enjoy. I think that's definitely where it started from. Now, I've got to say, my girlfriend's a lot better at it because I always, sometimes I wake up and I'm like, you know what, today's going to be a day in the life. And then halfway through the day, I forget I'm doing a day in the life. So then it's just wasted. But no, I do genuinely enjoy doing it, making the clips. It's also like fun memories for us as well. So we look back on videos from a year ago and we're like, oh, we were so young back then. And obviously, in addition, the connection with the fans that obviously has changed a little bit in the last year and a half.

13:47I think it's women's players not able to approach them as much anymore from a safeguarding point of view, obviously with the success from the Lionesses. and we did really, at least I did really, because I'm so chronically online, a lot of fans being a little bit disappointed about that, which I completely understand. It's been a big change. So to be able to use my social media platform to still engage with a big part of the fans, a big part of the WOSO community, as we call it, is a big added plus. And you use it as well to, as you touched on, show your relationship as well with ruth which is obviously a lot of people really enjoy seeing and seeing that kind of openness as well and did it surprise you kind of the reactions you get from that like i'm thinking back to that campaign you did with tinder and it just like everyone was like this is amazing this is such a great example of a using your platform but also a brand recognizing what's important to the people they want to work with yeah i think touching on our collaboration with tinder that was such a such a fun thing to do and I think Tinder are so good when it comes to inclusivity and it was such a fun process to work with them to really tell our story and to really make it authentic because obviously we found it very important if we were going to share our relationship then we want that to be as authentic as possible because we want to be good role models and good representation of a queer relation or lesbian relationship and And luckily Tinder completely agreed with that.

15:14So the outcome of the ad was so good and we were so happy with it. And we got so many positive reactions and responses. And it was a fun way and a fun thing for us to look back on. It was amazing because it kind of felt like, I feel like I kind of know Ruth as a personality, like alongside you. Like it kind of feels like Ruth is part of the WSL in a way. I think it's like that. She feels the same. I can imagine. wag at some point in the season she'll be substituted on and i i'll absolutely i won't bat an eyelid at all so you recently became a patron of the lgbt foundation the uk's leading lgbtq plus health and well-being charity um can you tell us a little bit about your role and why was so important to you to be to be involved in the organization so uh I kind of rolled into becoming a patron or an ambassador at the LGBT foundation um it obviously all started off with the supreme court ruling and the statement I made um and then I got in basically after that I got in touch with the LGBT foundation and obviously once we got to talk and I was like you know what I would actually really like to do something I would really like to work together is there anything I can do is there anything you guys would need um so I had a few meetings with them came up with incredible ideas and um I've I've been made aware that there used to be a women's program and that that had to be well it wasn't funded anymore so it didn't exist to the point And my question was, well, how much would you need to raise or would we need to raise to be able to get their back up and running?

17:12What can I do? So that's kind of how it all developed. And then they offered me the ambassadorship, which I very happily accepted. and we now just started the fundraiser called Leveling the Playing Field which has the main goal or the start on the horizon is to get the women's programme up and running first in Manchester and then all across the UK. So yeah, it's very exciting and hopefully a lot of good things to come. What do you think, I guess, a young Kirsten would feel about what you're doing right now? Because I know you spoke to the BBC recently and said it was hard growing up kind of until you got into women's football and now you're you know patron and you're marching in Manchester Pride and you're speaking out really proudly and doing these collaborations with Tinder like what do you think a young Kirsten would would feel about that she would be like girl what are you doing no she would have I think she would she would be buzzing in general if she if like 12 14 year old me would see the way I live now everything I do now and also the places that I go to people that I meet the opportunities that I get I'm so I'm still so grateful obviously at this moment in time and sometimes you really have to stand still and really appreciate it all because my life is so fast-paced that I think younger me would be so incredibly proud and I think she'd be buzzing to get over her teenage years and actually go into her 20s and yeah no doubt I think she'd be very proud.

18:41I think there's just so many fans in the space that obviously respect what you do on the pitch but off the pitch like the work that you do in advocating for the lgbtq plus community is so genuine authentic and so unbelievable because i think it is difficult when you're a player to kind of you know choose what you want to speak up about and have the freedom to do that without kind of backlash and fear and i think you know one of the big moments that that will all always remember is sort of that that moment last season um that inspiring statement that you made after your goal against everton uh kissing the uh the trans pride flag wristband that was amazing it was just such an iconic thing to do and such an impactful thing to do at a time that you know the trans community felt pretty much kind of under attack and and I um yeah not in a good space at all but um yeah can you tell us kind of what like what impact you wanted to make and and how you felt in in that moment and kind of the the the lovely outpouring of messages and support from from that so that kind of started obviously with the outrage and the the very strong emotion that I had and and I'm very lucky that I have Ruth and she feels the exact same way that we had at home and obviously read through the articles and we were both yeah we both felt some type of way about that and it's obviously our community and the trans existence within our community is so big and trans people throughout history have done so much for the LGBTQ plus community so they're such a for me they're such a well-loved and well-respected part of it and that's why I decided to put something on my story I think something along the lines I reposted something along the lines of trans women are still women and I lost like a few hundred followers which I don't I don't care about losing followers but it did definitely show me that even a lot of people that follow me a very out and about queer woman still had some transphobic thoughts um so that got me thinking well is there a bigger impact is there a bigger statement i can make so i went into the club next day one of my best mates katie started up um and i got to talking and we were like well we've we agreed we don't agree with this what what can we do something had a lot of interesting conversations with other girls within the club other players um and we were like you know what we should just raise awareness and we should show our solidarity that was the most important that's what we wanted we don't want to convince anyone we can't convince anyone the most important part is to stand with the trans community and to show them we care about you you are seen you are heard if you come to a man city game you will be safe and accepted as long as we are here um so that's kind of how we got to the idea of let's do a trans wristband obviously fa regulations you can't put anything on your shirt we also don't want to get fined and bound again um so let's let's do it you know uh in a way that we won't get in trouble um so we ended up falling on on the wristband and i remember texting ruth before the game saying i'm gonna score today i'm gonna kiss the wristband we're really gonna make it a statement and obviously i scored like pretty early on um so yeah that was uh yeah that was it was quite special i was gonna ask that like to decide to do that and then to score like you know a not one of the chances but like you know you're not a number nine you're not kind of really high percentage that this is definitely gonna happen so it it obviously must have been a some sort of i guess a driving factor just internally that you were like i am gonna do this did you expect the reaction um no i did i did expect people to notice and i did respect a reaction um i didn't expect how much it exploded and like how viral it almost went i saw it like across all social media outlets like across different continents like so many like people saw it and reposted it but also so many people commented on it.

22:52But it was for me very, almost a relief to see that so many people stood with the trans community and were in solidarity to them. And that could be ranging from straight allies to parents of a trans kid, of a queer child, other queer people. so that for me was very very heartwarming and very wholesome and obviously there were some hate comments but I would probably not even finish reading the sentence I already see like 30 comments to them so I was like okay yeah we're having each other's back here and that's essentially what I really wanted was to to stand together with and for the trans community so not only I didn't expect the scale of it but it was a it was a nice surprise and happy that it panned out the what you did when you kind of um make a stand like that is there any kind of like fear anxiety around the sort of the vulnerability i suppose that sort of speaking out against topics that a lot of people would see as more controversial topics um because i know like i've had a load of experiences where i've been at clubs or spoken against like i know things that have gone on behind the scenes or lack of resources and things like that and there's always this like barrage but there's always this like you're waiting for something like for someone to say something and then it kind of makes you like less inclined to say things again like do you ever because i feel like you're so outspoken and I feel like you're so resilient and maybe that's maybe due to like the amazing support network that you have but do you ever get those moments of kind of um the anxiety when you sort of do things like that at all yeah definitely like sometimes I'm like oh why am I actually so extroverted what am I doing to myself um but I think when it comes to topic like that like topics like this that stand really close to me as a person as a queer woman um all I cared about was what the people that have mattered to the queer community my family my friends my partner what did they think am I doing the right thing and for me the answer was undoubtedly yes I'm doing the right thing here and I was also almost like someone has to say something so effort it's gonna be me I'll just do it I don't care and if I'm gonna have to take a hypothetical bullet for the trans community and then so that's going to be it and so be it I think my parents were more nervous about it um but yeah no sometimes I do but I think for for the statement I made for for the trans community I wasn't nervous at all I yeah I was like come on has your experience with your own sexuality and coming out has that kind of do you think contributed to how powerfully now you speak out and speak up for the LGBTQ plus community?

25:39Yeah, I mean, when I grew up and I'm born in the year 2000, so that's not that long ago. That makes me feel so old.

25:49Sorry. There wasn't a lot of representation. And if there was representation at the time, it wasn't really accurate representation. I don't know if that makes sense. So I think that's definitely something I missed and to be able to explore that from a younger age because I was quite young when I already realized like I like girls the way I should be should be air quotes liking boys but I didn't know what to do with that because I didn't know anyone else that felt that way and it was kind of a taboo and I didn't get educated on it and all the confusion that that brought would have helped what would have been taken away if I had accurate representation and if there actually were conversations um and that's why i'm finding it so important to to be that person for a lot of people um and to also show them that's why i'm so i want it to be accurate uh and i you know sometimes it's it's not it's not nice and you do get grief and unfortunately that is a part of it but that's not making me back down from who i am and i'm still gonna live authentically and be authentically me and that's the most important part um but yeah that takes it takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of confidence it takes a lot of growth um yeah that's definitely what i what i want to show to a lot of especially the younger generation do you kind of see your advocacy continuing after your playing career because i either see that you're going to end up as like ceo of tinder or prime minister to something like that or you're going to sort of become uh like a real lgbtq plus figurehead in the space and i just see you on this like gorgeous like pride parade kind of like float just like heading up london prides like on the pink cloud yeah that's the only three options that i have for you kirsten so can you choose one of those please oh i liked uh get me in touch with nico so we can both run for uh what do you run for minister what do you run for again yeah i'll be his running mate yeah it'll be chaotic keir starmer could definitely do with the help to be honest so i think that'd be a that'd be a welcome addition to the cabinet yeah i was gonna say house of comments chloe for you because i mean you've been in women's football community longer than i have but we often talk about how you know this kind of speaking up and and having you know being able to see people like you helps young people going through this but like it helps people not just young people going through this because I felt I was in a relationship and engaged and I was still calling Sophie my partner in my workspace and it wasn't really until I spent more time in women's football that like I started to actually be more comfortable in myself so it's it's not just my point is not just like young people whose journeys this kind of speaking out helps it's like it's everyone kind of in this space it helps them be more comfortable as you say representation is so important I don't know if it was different for you because you've been playing football for so long but like Kirsten I know you're um significantly younger than me but still inspiring people like me who are a lot older than you to be much more comfortable in their own skin thank you that's so kind well I mean touching up on that I hear a lot of I've seen a lot of people say like even the words like lesbian or gay like they're finding it difficult to identify as like oh i'm a lesbian i think it's so nice to see us as an old well the older generation let's talk about people from our ages um to like reclaim those words and to be really comfortable with them not being not allowing it for ourselves to to let it be a slur anymore or let it affect us and just owning it completely so yeah um basically just don't stop doing what you're doing because we absolutely love it.

29:30It's not only, you know, incredibly powerful but incredibly entertaining as well. Like the memes and the tweets and things. The captions. just carry on with that because I could read those all day. In fact, make it into a book and sell it for Christmas because it would be a bestseller. Kristen's caption. Yeah, go on then. Kristen's caption. Chaos. Chaos. Yeah, nice. You heard it here first. Stocking filler. Yeah, I won't copyright that one. Limited edition, signed. Let's get stuck into the football a little bit because obviously you've got quite a few tasty fixtures coming up just before you're allowed to have your Christmas break.

30:05Obviously looking ahead to this weekend, it's the Manchester Derby at the Etihad. How much are you kind of looking forward to that one? It's Manchester Derby, so I'm always looking forward to it. But I think especially now with how the league stands, it's going to be a spicy one. So yeah, I'm excited as always and I hope we're going to get a good crowd, a good attendance and yeah, hopefully it'll be a good game. And how much do you enjoy playing at the Etihad? I know it's only over the road, but like... I mean, it's really good, especially if it's quite full. If we're able to fill it up and there's a good atmosphere, I absolutely love it.

30:45And it's always nice to play in the Etihad. I think it's an incredible stadium. So yeah, it's just over the road anyway, isn't it? Oh, man, that's an easy commute for you, 100%. Yeah, that easy. Obviously, you're sitting at the top of the table at the moment. It's such a glorious position to be in. Do you think you guys have got what it takes to finish the season, pick up the title and just bring a bit of variety to the WSL trophy, to be honest, because I think we're all a little bit bored. I'm going to say a little bit bored of seeing the same old team pick up that trophy. I think a bit of variety would be good.

31:21You've got to respect Chelsea for what they've done. Obviously, that's incredible. I hope we come away with winning the league I mean it's still a long way to go Luckily we're getting some injured plays back now Which is going to be really good But it's going to be a very very long season still So to be able to say Yes we're going to win the WSL I think we are too early for that But it's definitely Definitely something that we really really want to Especially after being so close two years ago Being really close Up to a certain point last season I think that's why I'm so hesitant to really say that now because we were really close last year as well up until Christmas and after that we just had a lot of injuries we were not performing at that time so then we like went all the way out to the top to number four but yeah no it's an exciting time and I just really hope we can keep the momentum get that into Christmas have a nice break and then come out flying in January again And what are you doing for the Christmas break?

32:20How are you relaxing, taking some time off? Are you kind of like settling back or are you going to be full tilt in everything that you do off the pitch? Obviously, I've got to do my schedule, my running schedule. You'll probably know a lot of running, a lot of gym. I won't actually, Kirsten. I was in goal. I'm looking at Chloe like, did you? I should have been a goalkeeper, man. Yeah, it was a year in 2019 as a goalkeeper. I'll tell you that for free. It was about 3k a match and I enjoyed it. Oh, maybe I should swap training schedule with Kiara. or Yama or something. But yeah, no, I'll definitely, you'll see me running around somewhere and be in the gym.

32:58We were planning to go away, but a cat's here, there's in the Maldives, so I can't. So we'll be at home. It's all good. We're going to have a good party with some of the neighbours, some of our mates, so it will be good. Christmas at the in-laws, so I don't have to cook Christmas dinner this year. That's going to be great. And I'm just going to enjoy some downtime, actually being able to see my girlfriend, which we don't we don't see each other a lot so that's going to be good read my books as well the Christmas break is so important in the women's game like you know not only from a kind of you guys aren't in a financial position to move your entire family over to wherever you play and there's lots of conversations about more fixtures and more competitions and where are they going to fit but I feel like that Christmas break I mean for as a journalist I bloody need it so I can only imagine how much the players feel like they just need that little time to just switch off yeah definitely I think it's a nice little it's a nice little break um to be able to switch off I think we get like 10 days um but it's still so nice you just not have to because it's so intense I know it's I'm not complaining about my job I love my job but you know to see the same people all day every day and all these things are happening you're playing all these games all this WSL drama then you go to a national team and then for 10 days just to be able to I'm going to turn off my phone I'm going to chill with my family yeah so that's just really nice and after that you stick back into the into the into the season but um yeah no it's a good break there's a lot of people advocating for a boxing day WSL game fixture to come in like the premier league so I'm taking it that you're you're a no to that I love boxing day football though like to watch I I yeah to watch but then am I like if they depending on how much they're willing to pay me guys i think again context yeah if they're willing to pay me a lot more money to play boxing i'll play boxing day are you then gonna have to think about your christmas meal like can you actually get to enjoy a proper what is what is your ideal christmas meal this feels like a very early question to be asking but we're not gonna have you on before christmas so okay so what we did last year because we made our own christmas meal see you need a really good yorkshire pudding i love it well actually christmas meal i love a yorkshire pudding strong start um did the tur the turkey and then i think rupert like bacon over it nice is that controversial tell us the chef at the couple of the couple of you yeah um obviously loads of gravy uh i think i eat all the trimmings i just like mash it all together and just like eat it are you brussels sprouts actually i love brussels sprouts oh i love brussels sprouts man yes it was going so well i love brussels sprouts they're so good a little bit of sesame oil on them really makes a difference i feel like people who like brussels sprouts think they're so mature we are we are and they'll say oh you've got to have them with chestnuts or bits of bacon i'm like yeah oh yeah delicious that's absolutely criminal love that um kirsten thank you so much for your time.

36:00Really, really appreciate you jumping on with us, especially after all the stuff that's going down with Man City and all the stuff that you're doing off and on the pitch. It's absolutely unbelievable. We absolutely love you. Keep inspiring. Thank you so much, mate, and hopefully speak to you as soon as possible, really. Maybe next season. Yeah, go on. I'll come back on next season. That's good. Love that. Nice. All right. Thank you, Queens. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for listening. What an absolute early Christmas present to get to talk to one of our big heroes Frozen idols on the pitch.

36:30Like I feel a little bit like starstruck by that one. Like it feels like a, it was so nice to like hear like the open, honest like responses of a WSL player who was doing so much for the game. I love her. She's absolutely brilliant. And I feel like we could have had like a Kirsten Kasparai series rather than just one episode. I had so many questions I could have kept asking her. She was great. I wanted to find out what her Christmas tipple was and I didn't. Yeah, I feel a bit gutted by that one. Next time, I'd love to get her back on for that. Well, we must in the new year now. If you're listening, Kirsten, come back.

36:56Let us know. in the meantime you can find us on instagram and x slash twitter i'm at morgy underscore 89 rach is at girls in the ball and we are at up front underscore pod you can also find us on youtube at up front pod see you next week

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