Sophie Ingle on chasing promotion with Bristol City, being a quiet leader, and Guinness
Upfront - A Women's Football Podcast
Stak Production
4.8 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2026
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, we're joined by a true Chelsea and Wales legend. Rach sits down with Sophie Ingle to find out more about life at Bristol City since leaving west London last summer.
They discuss Sophie's new perspective since returning from injury, how much she relishes the new challenge of WSL2, and her quiet style of leadership in dressing rooms throughout her career. Come join us!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Up Front. I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. Today I'm joined by a legend of the game. |
| 0:09.0 | Sophie Ingle was one of the most influential figures in Emma Hayes's Chelsea side and made over 200 appearances for the club from 2018 to 2025. |
| 0:18.0 | Last summer she left Chelsea and the WSL to play for Bristol City 10 years after she first |
| 0:23.4 | joined the club. She's an unbelievable player, but also a true leader. So today, I wanted to speak to her |
| 0:29.4 | about her time at Bristol City so far, leading a new squad in a new league, and what she enjoys |
| 0:34.3 | about playing at WSL too. Well, welcome to the pod. Sophie, thank you so much for joining us. I know you've just come in from training as well, so really appreciate him. No worries. I haven't had time to brush my head, look at it. I mean, if that's your hair unbrushed, you're grand. You don't need to worry. You've can back at Bristol City now for almost six months. |
| 0:55.1 | What's it been like returning to the club 10 years later? Yeah, it's been really refreshing, |
| 1:00.2 | actually. So obviously a lot of's changed in the 10 years. Obviously, I would play for Bristol Academy. |
| 1:05.8 | It's a little bit different. But, you know, the values and everything within the club is the same as 10 years ago. |
| 1:13.8 | The people they bring in are really good for the environment. |
| 1:19.1 | And, yeah, I just felt, you know, at east straight away from day one. |
| 1:24.5 | And, yeah, it was kind of raring to go since my injury. |
| 1:27.4 | So it was quite exciting, really. I remember covering those games back when it was kind of raring to go since my injury, so it was quite exciting, really. |
| 1:29.1 | I remember covering those games back when it was Bristol Academy, |
| 1:32.7 | and, you know, that feel, that same kind of community feel is still really evident around the club. |
| 1:37.9 | It seems to be something they've really captured and harnessed and hung on to. |
| 1:41.5 | It's lovely. |
| 1:42.7 | Yeah, I think in, you know, the Bristol city, where it's all about family, it's all about |
| 1:48.8 | the environment, it's all about the community. And we always like to give back to people less |
| 1:54.8 | fortunate than ourselves. So I think we capture that within the community. You know, we do a lot |
| 2:00.6 | outside of football and we go into |
| 2:02.3 | schools and local teams and we try and give back where we can. And I think they've done that for |
... |
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