Inside Baroness Sue Campbell’s storied career

Upfront - A Women's Football Podcast

Stak Production

Soccer, Womens World Cup, Girls Football, Lionesses, Womens Sports, Female Sports, Chloe Kelly, Womens England Football, Leah Williamson, Womens Soccer, Nwsl, Keira Walsh, Womens Football, England Womens, Sports

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Joining Rach in the studio today is one of the most influential figures in British sport—Baroness Sue Campbell! The driving force behind the transformation of women’s football in England, Sue’s influence on the game has been instrumental, and her career is nothing short of extraordinary.

Sue reminisces about Euro 2022—and the role she played in England’s journey to success—reveals the three key priorities she set upon joining the FA, where she later became the director of women’s football, and shares the powerful words from her father that kept her going during her toughest moments.

Plus, Sue discusses the handover of the WSL and Championship to the WPLL, and we get a glimpse into her brand-new book, The Game Changer, which is out today! Come and join us.

For ad-free episodes and much more from across our football shows, head over to the Football Ramble Patreon and subscribe: patreon.com/footballramble.

**Please take the time to rate us on your podcast app. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners to find us. Thanks!**

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Upfront. I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. I'm honoured to be joined today by a true powerhouse and legend of the game, Baroness Sue Campbell.
0:11.6	Sue has spent decades shaping the landscape of British sport, from her time as chair of UK sport to her eight-year tenure at the FA, where she became director of women's football.
0:21.1	She has played a pivotal role in the rapid rise of the women's game, overseeing England's
0:25.4	journey to major tournament success and driving transformational change across all levels of the
0:30.1	football pyramid. Today, we're looking back at her journey and career. What she loved most
0:35.0	about her role, the challenges she faced and her thoughts on where
0:38.2	the game is at now. Well, welcome to the pod, Sue. Really excited to have you on and really
0:47.5	appreciate you joining us in studio as well. You've had such a incredibly storied career in sport,
0:54.5	and we've got a lot to dig into, I think.
0:57.3	But first and foremost, talk to me about where your love for sport
1:01.7	and football, of course, came from.
1:04.8	Oh, you know, I can't even remember far enough back, I think, from a toddler.
1:10.3	You know, my mother used to say I was feral.
1:12.7	You know, I was outside. I was like the climbing trees or roller skating with Brian Carrey
1:16.8	around the streets of Chilwell or kicking a ball or dad would come back early from work. We'd play
1:22.8	cricket and I used to hit the ball into Mrs. Dury's garden and he used to send me to get it
1:27.1	because he said,
1:27.6	you had better chance than I did of getting it back.
1:30.7	So, yeah, I just loved moving.
1:32.8	I still do.
1:33.7	I'm not good if you sit me down for too long.
1:36.0	You know, I'm, I love sport.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Stak Production, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Stak Production and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.