Standard issue for all women.

Hello, Jen here to tell you about today's episode of the Standard Issue podcast, naturally.

I hope you had a good bank holiday weekend. I'm recording this on Friday,

staring down the barrel of the National Rail Network as I embark on my own weekend plans.

Retrospective Godspeed to us all.

Now, you will, of course, be wondering what else is coming up this week on standard issue to which I can tell you with some authority that

in tomorrow's rated or dated, Hannah and Mick will be watching 1935's Top Hat, but really,

can anyone deal with another dancing film? You'll have to listen if you want a definitive answer to that.

And then on Friday, Mick's chatting to Jackie Morris and Tamzin Abbott about their new book, Wild Folk.

But back to today.

In 2017, former fashion model and counsellor turned gender equality campaigner Karen Dobre found herself on the board of her local

football club, Lewis FC, despite having never had an interest in the sport.

During that time, she discovered a passion for the women's game and the rooks made headlines

as the first ever football club to pay its men's and women's team players equally. Her new book, Pitch Invasion,

My Story as a feminist on a football club board, charts her time at the club. I was chuffed to

catch up with Karen to chat about the book, the thorny subject of equal pay in football, the power

of the sport to change heart, minds and culture, and why football matters.

Now, as ever, if you're listening on our free feed, there is a longer version of this interview

available on our Patreon, in which Karen and I talk about the finances of women's football

and where the sport is going next. You can listen to that by signing up as a £5 or above Patreon.

Or if you don't want to do that,

but you would like to listen to this particular full length episode,

...