June 11, 2025 • 26 mins
Chelsea and England footballer Niamh Charles is fresh off an undefeated season—and gearing up for another shot at international glory at the Euros. She joins Laura to talk about what it really takes to stay on top: relentless prep, mental fitness, and those 1% performance gains that separate the good from the great. They get into the rise of women’s football, the electricity of the World Cup, and why Charles is building her brand around high performance (and really good coffee). From the Chelsea locker room to Wembley to wherever she's journaling with an oat flat white, Charles shares what it looks like when nothing is left to chance.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
I always refer to the Chelsea team because I look
at our team and all the different cultures, different nationalities,
different life experience, and I just love that any girl
can look at our team and find someone that they
can relate to, and that's like a real yeah, pintry moment.
How far it's common heart like the Chelsea team, I
think really represents women's sport in general.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome back to Courtside, where we break down the business
of women's sports with the athletes who aren't just playing
the game, they're redefining it. I'm your host, Laura Crane,
and today we're talking about grit growth and what it
takes to build a brand with staying power. My guest
is Neive Charles, Chelsea defender, England International and one of
the fiercest competitors in the game. Whether she's locking down
(00:43):
the back line or pushing the ball forward, Neve plays
with an intensity you just can't teach and a consistency
that's earned her a spot at the top of one
of the best clubs in the world. But Neiv's story
is about more than performance. It's about persistence. From her
early days in World to her to Liverpool and Chelsea
She's turned every challenge into fuel, and now with the
(01:04):
Euros on the horizon, she's not just preparing for another
shot at international glory, she's also carving out space off
the pitch, building her personal brand rooted in resilience, authenticity,
and leadership.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So if you're curious about what it takes.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
To not just play at the top, but stay there,
Nieve Charles is here to show us.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I am here with arguably, at least I believe, the
best left back in the world, Nieve Charles, Chelsea's finest.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Welcome to court side. Thank Youith, thank you for having me.
You wouldn't argue with that, would you. I would cringe
at that.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yet the englishouldn't be cringes at it.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I know we're working on that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
But before we get into all of what's happening today,
I wanted to take our listeners, many of who may
be meeting you for the first time, back to this
first question, which is from literally the time you could walk,
the ball's been at your foot, But when did you
know you had it? Recognizing like, hey, this might be
more than just a hobby or a passion, This might
actually become my profession.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
I think it's probably it's quite it's what the time
was I as I was growing up, it was a hobby.
And it was a hobby because I couldn't see a
future pathway necessarily. Now, if I was a twelve year
old kid, I definitely could see a future pathway and
be like, Okay, I'm locked in from now and I
can definitely make it. It was definitely I was pursuing it
because I have the drive in me to just be
as good as I can at it. But I didn't
(02:27):
necessarily think, Okay, that's where I want to get to.
I couldn't really see the future, but it was just
year by year when I got into the academy, and
I just think me and myself, no matter what I do,
I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I really wanted
to be good at whatever I did, and obviously football
was what I was really pursuing. So once I was
in the academy, I could see a bit more of
a pathway and it was like the little next steps.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I think that's what kept me going.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
When I was in under fifteens, I was like, Okay,
I want to be retained to the under seventeens, and
then it was the under seventeens. I was like, okay,
I want to make the first team by the time
I'm sixteen.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Was a little goal that I set myself and did
you do it? I did it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
No one knew, but I'd said it myself and it
was just like that little but I didn't want to
tell anyone else, but yeah, I made it at sixteen
to the first team. And then I would sort of
say year on year. Obviously, the women's game's grown year
on year as well, and that's sort of my I
guess my dreams and my aspirations grew alongside it.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's probably at the same pace.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Was there a moment, you know, when you made that
senior team and you checked that individual goal that you're like,
I'm going to be a professional footballer.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
To be honest, that moment probably came a few years later,
because I think in that moment I was still young
and I was very Again, it wasn't a secure in
a future for me to be like, oh my god,
this is me for the next ten to fifteen years,
totally locked in. Still I was studying then as sort
of the backup and obviously for future endeavors. So I
think it was a few years later when I sort
of locked in, and I think probably when I finished
(03:47):
my university degree, I was like, hallelujah, I'm just a
professional footballer now that I can put my heart soul
into justice, and it was like my hobby but my
job in a in a weird way.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
But I also know you excelled in the classroom. Had
it not been professional football er, what did you pursue
your degree? And then what would have been Neave Charles
off the pitch?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
If Neutrals had never played sports or got into football,
I think I probably would have gone down the medical route.
I love sort of helping people, and it's definitely in
my family is a lot of the medical professional and
it's almost like if you don't know what to do,
just do something.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
To do with that.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
And yeah, there's times as well where like obviously I
did my university degree in sport and exercise science, which
hugely helped me because it complemented what I was doing practically.
But I think if I wasn't playing football, I probably
would have gone down the more medical route, but obviously
time constraints, I was not about to take that on
with the football.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
We'll come back to the incrementality the performance, how sports
science has helped you professionally. But talk about So you
moved through the Liverpool academy absolutely crushing it at a
young age. When did you get the call up to
the Lionessa's and what was that moment like?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
So, when I first joined Liverpool that first year, I
made it my goal again secretly to make it into
the England Pathway by the end of that season, because
I was relatively late compared to other girls. And I
did that at the end of that season and that
I remember that moment when the sort of manager of
the academy said to me, like, you're getting your first
call up.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
We're going to camp and so I remember that really vividly.
It was the first person you called when you got
the news.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I think my dad had taken me to training and
I just went and I just said I'm going, like
just secretly because obviously. And then this time when I'd
moved to Chelsea and it was sort of a few
months into my Chelsea journey. I remember Emma Hayes, the
manager at the time.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
It was out. I remember it so vividly.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I was outside the training building and she just said.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You do know you're going right?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
And I was like what, and she said, yeah, You're
going to camp And I think I hadn't. I didn't
expect it to come that soon in a sense of
I'd just moved to Chelsea and obviously I was really
focused on bedding myself in the Chelsea getting up to
speed at that level. To then get called into the
Lioness's I think, yeah, I just remember wanting to call
my woman and being so happy about it, and I
(05:59):
couldn't wait to tell her as well, not because she's
just support of me, but I think she knows how
much it means to me that, Yeah, I just wanted
to share it with someone who'd been there from the
very start.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
What was your first cap? Do you remember what it
was like walking out of the tunnel wearing the crest.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
It was in COVID time, so it was sort of
like a delayed gratification in that sense that it was,
and we'd actually before it even got our first cap,
we'd played a lot of in house friendlies that didn't count,
so it was kind of like it wasn't that one
big moment where it's like finally, but we played against France,
I think behind closed doors, so it was in a
(06:33):
nice way. It was sort of like a moment for
me and just the team, you know what I mean.
But I think the first time my family got to
see me play for England that was more of a
special occasion. But even now, like when I go into
the Jets room and see the shirt and before every
game when we sing the national anthem, like it always
hits me like this is It doesn't happen all the time,
and I always think, not that you ever think it,
(06:54):
but I'm like, you can't buy this moment. You never
know if it's going to happen against every time you
sing the national anthem, really like appreciate it in that
small little moment.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
You played in Australia in the previous World Cup, which
I had the pleasure of being in the stands for,
and I remember that England Spain final like it was yesterday.
The electricity of a stadium filled with tens and tens
and tens of thousands of people unlike any women's forget football,
(07:26):
women's sporting environment I personally had ever been in in
the near forty years of my life, and I remember
getting the chills and looking around and feeling the energy.
My husband is from his family's from Spain, so you
got a little of that. But I was all in
on the Lionesses for that matter. I remember looking around
and saying women's sport can never go back, like this
(07:50):
will become the standard. And that's from sitting in the stands.
What was it like walking out into that stadium filled
with I think it was seventy eighty thousand plus people,
which is becoming a standard for you, as you know
seeing it matches at Wembley, et cetera. What's it like
and do you have that moment of reflection going back
to neven Liverpool Academy to playing on the global stage
(08:13):
in front of this size of audience.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, I think I had a similar moment, but of
se in that moment of the final that we were
so locked in. But I had a moment in I
can't remember. Was it the game before a few games
before we played Australia. And it's weird to say this,
but it's not when we scored. It was when Sam
Curst going and obviously being the home crowd and also
your teammate team she'd had a really like tough personally
(08:37):
World Cup, being injured, home World Cup and everything, But
that moment when she scored I remember so clearly.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
I looked around the stadium and I was going nuts.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I looked at the security guards and the guys that
were working in the stadium and the look on their faces.
I was like, wow, like everyone is in on this,
like it's touching everyone.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Was that the one when she hit the banger like
forty yards out? Yeah? Yeah? And there for that.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
I can't believe we're talking about it because obviously it
was a goal that we conceded, But that was like
a moment of women's sport where I was like, Okay,
to me, we're on the opposite side of the world.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
It's a bigger than that game. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
It meant so much to Sam personally, to the women's sport,
women's football in Australia. Having spoken to Sam, how much
at that competition, like galvanized women's sport, women's soccer in Australia,
and obviously she was supposed to girl like all of
those things encompassed in that moment, and then looking at
the security guard's faces that they were all brought into
it as well. It was like Okay, this is a
(09:31):
movement that's sort of yeah, it's it's growing exponentially and yeah,
hopefully that.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Is the norm now.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I remember a couple of months later having talked to
one of your teammates, Mary and that was obviously a
huge tournament for Mary talking about how since she's visited
Australia post that World Cup and it's like this feeling
of like international celebrity, this love for not just you know,
the Matilda's, but all of the teams and all of
(10:16):
the women who played.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Have you had any of those pinch me moments.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Where whether it's the Australia other markets or in the
backyard in Chelsea where a young fan you know, rushes
the team or maybe you personally, has there anything that
stood out like wow, like this has changed the experience forever.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I think I've had a few moments where whether it's
in London or it's mostly around women's sports events, but
when like, it's definitely when young girls, I think, because
I see myself in them so much and I had
experiences when it was less common. But when I saw
I remember I saw Jill Scott when I was younger,
and I just remember so vividly being in that moment
(10:54):
of she was one of my heroes and getting to
speak to her, and I see myself in those young
girls now, and I'm just it is a pinchy moment.
And it's also I'm so happy for them and for
where women's sports at is that they can look. I
always refer to the Chelsea team because I look at
our team and all the different cultures, different nationalities, different
life experience, and I just love that any girl can
(11:17):
look at our team and find someone that they can
relate to. And that's like a real yeah, pinchery moment.
How far it's coming, Like the Chelsea team I think
really represents women's sport in general.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
One hundred percent, and it's great to sit and talk
about how far it's come, but let's also talk about
the work it takes to get there. So you're coming
off an undefeated season, an incredible season at Chelsea, we
all know it's a journey to get there, but how
hard it is to stay there? Can you take us
behind what it takes to prepare for an undefeated season
(11:48):
like the one we just saw.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I really enjoy speaking about that because I think, like
for the FA Cup, for example, that was one day
and it was an incredible day, but that's one day
compared to hundreds of days that led up to that
moment that didn't have the sort of the cameras, the
trophy at the end of it. And I think that's
why I think it's so special when you go back
into the dressing room as a team and you know
(12:11):
that you've been through the start of pre season when
everyone's blowing and they're telling you to run again, and
the games where it's gone really, really badly and you've
really had to sit down and sort of reflect that
one moment is like what makes it worth it? And
I do it one hundred times over. But I think
for me, I know how hard it is. Every day
(12:32):
you will not get that moment unless every day you're
on it consistently with the little things you build a routine,
because honestly, as a high performance athlete, my experience is
you're not always like, Okay, I'm going to Chase, I'm
going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm
going to do this. Realistically, every day you don't wake
up with the feeling of an FA Cup Final win
that you like you want to get there some days
(12:54):
it's really really hard, but I think it's about building
those habits and the routines.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
That's what really helps me.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Is every no matter how I'm feeling, all things that
are going on in my life, I have tickboxes that
I'm like, Okay, I do this, I do this. This
sets me up for the day. This is what I
need to do from like my physical performance, this is
what I need to do for my mental performance, and
then constantly reflecting on that fine tune in it. It's
not like, Okay, two years ago, I was doing this,
so I'm going to carry on doing that now. It's
(13:19):
actually I think I could do this. So who's the
expert in that area. I'm going to go and speak
to them and refine what I do. So hopefully I'm
getting better each and every time and I can be
more consistent in that.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
It's hard to imagine what it takes on the physical side,
right the grueling nature. I won't tell you what my
mile time is on the peloton trend. This won't be impressed.
You've been a role model when it comes to mental health.
How are you using your platform to talk about the
importance of mental health and the resources that it requires
for you to not just stay fit physically, but to
(13:51):
stay fit mentally.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, for sure, I think there's something I'm hugely passionate about.
And I think when I look at what I've done
since I've been twelve years old, the amount of hours
put into physical performance, and it was really drilled into
me from that point of like I need to do
the gym work, do the run and work. And I
think if I'd have had from that point the same
amount of focus on my mental health performance as my
(14:13):
physical health, I'd been ten times better place and have
ten times better routines. So I think that's why I'm
really vocal about it now, because I think everyone thinks
football and thinks physical performance and that's a huge part
of it. But I know myself, the biggest difference is
my mental health and that's probably the thing I spent
the least time on, and that's what people sort of
(14:36):
think you should, like spend the least time on. You
should do all the run and do all the gym work,
do all the recovery, and don't get me wrong, that
has a huge place, but I think everything coch you
can't just focus on that. You have to do that
and also spend enough time on your mental health as well.
And I think I've definitely had experiences where I've seen
how it makes the biggest difference of the best way
(14:56):
and the biggest difference in the worst way. And I
think I come at a from both points of view.
I think me as a person as well, I have
physical health and mental health. Also me as a high
performance athlete has both of them as well. And there's
times where I think I just have to be kind
to myself and I'm not a robot, and that's where
the looking after myself as a person comes in. And
(15:19):
there's times where I'm like, Okay, I'm walking out at
Wembley in front of seventy eight thousand people. That's not
a physical thing, that's a mental thing, Like how am
I going to produce in that moment? So there's almost
two different sides to me of the mental health performance
as well. But yeah, I'm really passionate about speaking about
because it makes the biggest difference. And yeah, I think
the more we can normalize Okay, you want to be
(15:40):
a professional athlete, Okay, what are you doing for your
mental health?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
What good routines are you building? In that sense?
Speaker 1 (15:45):
From that high performance point of view, as well as
the obvious ones of being fit, being healthy, being strong.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I know it's hard to say to an elite athlete
like yourself, what are your cheek codes? But what are
your cheaekods? Are there little tips or tricks? What are
two things that have worked for you that you might share?
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
For me, there's things that I always come back to
and like, I now, like write it down because I know,
for a few weeks go by and I think, why
am I not feeling so good? It's probably because I've
not done those things. And so I always feel like
I'm being conscious and sort of proactive in what I'm doing.
So journaling is one of them. I speak to a
psychologist pretty regularly, and I think that's a neutral. She
(16:23):
knows me very very well. She's not just there to
make me feel better. She tells me straight how it is,
which is what I need.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
And she's an expert. She has experience in dealing with this.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I'm not fully equipped with it, so I know what
I don't know, and so that's why I speak to her.
And there's also another aspect I find really helpful is breathing.
Connecting with my body. It gives me a pause in
life because I think we're so used to just going
bam bam, bam, bam bam, like checking in with myself.
But that also comes through moments of how I like
(16:52):
to switch off, which is going for a coffee, reading
a book that is also to me mental health as well,
like recovery and sort of.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Feeding the soul. You know, totally.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
We'll get into to the new Charles brand in just
a second and things of who you are off the pitch,
but I'd be remiss not to talk about you were
just named to the Lioness's for the upcoming Euros. We're
just a couple of weeks out. Any thoughts on the
upcoming tournament. Obviously, you came away with a big win
last year that I think has forever changed women's sport,
(17:23):
women's football, certainly in England and for the Lioness Is
what's the feeling going into this tournament.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I think it's excitement and it's probably like honesty in
the sense that we know it's going to be really
difficult and I think we're ready for that. We're not
in an illusion that it's going to be the same
as it was last time. And we're also a new
team as well. But I think overall excited that one
we're there, we're part of it, and we have the
ability to show our best selves and it's going to
(17:51):
be a huge occasion for women's sport, women's football. So
I think, yeah, at the moment, it's all heads down, prepared, focused,
so that come the first game hopeful we're ready to
bring all best.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I love it. I can't wait to see you out there.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
In addition to seeing you out there, I have a
new job which is representing you and you know, full
disclosure to our audience, you and I met last summer
during Chelsea's summer tour here in the States, and over
a series of conversations, we decided to link up and
focus on the commercial side of your brand. While you're
preparing mentally, physically getting ready for this huge tournament. Now
(18:45):
there's also another dimension you've added to your platform, which
is starting to build your brand, because we want to
talk longevity, not just short term.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
My experience in the States, it was I opened in
from the first game we played just a few days
after we landed and we came out and I was like,
oh my god, this is like such an occasion, it's
such a spectacle. I was like, Okay, now I can
really see why sports is how it is in America.
Like I went out and I was like, oh my god,
we're just one part of it. There was streamers going off,
(19:16):
there was a big drum banging, and I thought, this
is a complete spectacle in America. And then I could
really see, like, Okay, this is how you retain from
the marketing like commercial.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
I was like, okay, this is how you retain audience.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
This is how you create something bigger than in addition
to the sport on the pitch. And that was an
eye opener for me. And then we had a few
media days that I later learned were basically orchestrated by you,
and we were here, there, and everywhere, and it was
the longest day of my life, starting at the New
York Stock Exchange ending with it was pretty cool, thoughll
come on, it was crazy, Like I think it was
(19:48):
once in a lifetime experience. And I think hearing you
speak that evening with well one of my teammates million
then it was sort of my first experience of Okay,
this has got some real momentum.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Cross women's sport.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And then again I think I was like, okay, I'm
really invested in this here, and you speak about it.
I was like, I'm really passionate about this as well,
and I see exactly what you see, but I'm not
an expert in it. And then thankfully, like a few
months later, having spoken to some people that were working
with Chelsea at the time, they put me in contact
with you and just by chance you happen to be
(20:22):
in England and I think you're having conversations with you.
I was thinking, Okay, I really noticed that this is
an important thing for me to do in addition to
what I'm doing on the pitch. But one, my focus
is on the pitch, and two I am not an
expert in it. So and I spoke to you and
I thought, Okay, she gets stuff done, she knows she
knows what it's well. And I think, yeah, that's something
(20:43):
I've really enjoyed getting to know. And also what sticks
out from when I first met you as well, it's like, okay,
we work together, you're going to be your own sort
of business brand. And I think I like that challenge
in the sense I don't know it yet, but I
want to improve and I want to learn.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
I'll never forget that first interaction Stanford Bridge and I said, okay, like,
you know, I knew enough about you in terms of
your football, but I'm like, what are we going to do?
Neive Charles off the pitch? Like you know, who is
this young woman? And as I got to talk to you,
a few things stuck out immediately. One your quiet persistence,
so much humility, but at the same time, just such
(21:18):
this incredible focus and ambition too. With that focus at
ambition comes hyper hyper focused on performance. I never forgot
when we first sat down, you kept saying, Laura on
the one percent, the one percent in the margins too,
And You're like, and by the way, I love to
drink coffee and I read it's on of books. But
let's talk about the brand and the performance, right. You
have such a niacal focus on talking about performance, and
(21:39):
maybe this dovetails back to you know, your interest in
and around the medical profession, science, health, et cetera. What
does that mean to you and what do you want
to be known for beyond me of the footballer.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
I remember you spoken You're trying to get to know
me and you sort of you made a joke of like, Okay, well,
if I was to pitch you to sort of yeah,
a fashion brand and not thought, Okay, that's probably.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Not a path that's going to be.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah, that's not me necessarily worries something that's really authentic
to me. But also there's a huge sort of commercial
aspect is the high performance. It is the one percent
margins that obviously I do think it links back to
my interest in it sports science degree, like, it all
sort of complements and it's very natural to me as
well as I think it's hugely, hugely important and I
(22:23):
think there's I could add great value to that.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
But then also you made me realize that actually what I.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Like to do in my free time that is actually
you can work with that as well and make it
something more. I'd been on my little coffee nerd science
sort of journey as well, and obviously reading books as well,
and something that I like, I really enjoy. It links back.
It's all sort to me. It's everything is linked. It
links back to the mental health that links back to
the performance to switch off, and that's sort of like
sort of my key to living, I guess, is the
(22:48):
high performance coffee to relax, books to switch off.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
What I do think is interesting and what you just
said and we'll round us out is everything links back.
I meet a lot of athletes in the day to
day of my job and this transitionary period of what
happens because we all know at some point the boots
will be hung up, and so starting to prepare now
thinking about what are these skills, what are these experiences?
Speaker 3 (23:13):
What defines me that's greater than football?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
What can I take from football that can then become
part of my legacy, my longevity. And so what I'm
hearing from you is that the elements of preparation, the
elements of performance, high performance, elite performance, all of these
components in your ecosystem contribute to that level of greatness.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Is that fair to say? Yeah? For sure?
Speaker 1 (23:36):
And I think you are a prime example of I
think I look at you and I say, okay, you've
you also were a sports person, and I think there's
so much value that you learn as a byproduct of
being a sports person that I think I don't want
to just hang up my boots In the next day.
I think, Okay, well, how am I going to like
vomit everything I've learned into this one thing. I think
it's doing it incrementally and equipping myself with the skills
(24:01):
gradually so that hopefully it's a smoother transition and I
can sort of maximize what I've learned during football. Hopefully,
first of all, right, now be the best footballer I
can be. But then as and when the body fails
that I'm sort of ready to.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
It doesn't fail. It's a transition.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Tell me three skills that you've learned being a footballer
that you believe will transition later in life.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
The first one consistency.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
I think I've had moments where you get caught out
and it's very, very honest. Football tells you if you're
not being consistent and you just try and cheat your
way through it.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
That's one. I think teamwork.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I always say in terms of you can get there
on your own, or you can get there in a team,
You'll get there much better in a team and with
a whole, like a more well rounded product way of
getting their different opinions. So I think consistency teamwork probably
like perfectionism success. I think that's I'm very very driven
to whatever I do to make it the best, and
(24:59):
I think that's how you get to be at a
certain level in football. That's what you need. I think
that's just because you never feel satisfied, but you also
do need that as well.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
One d per we'll leave Charles.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
You know I'm rooting for you every step of the
way to close us out. If the Charles football campaign
will have been successful, what will be the headline that
you would want written as you look back on your career.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
I think it would be she gave it everything, no
stone unturned or something like that, no regrets.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
We'll work on the language, but I love it. That's
why we are a good team. Neive Charles, you are
absolutely brilliant. I'm wishing you all the best in the
upcoming Euros. We'll be sharing for you from across the pond.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
And thank you for spending the time with us. Thank
you very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I'm your host, Laura Krenti, founder and CEO of Deep
Blue Sports and Entertainment. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz,
and this show is produced by Ryan Martz along with
associate producers Meredith Barnes and Rachel Zuckerman. Court Side is
an iHeart women's sports production and partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Listen on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Want more, follow, rate.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
And review court Side wherever you get your podcasts, and
stay in the game by following us on social media
at Iheartwomen's Sports. And don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter.
In the show notes, thanks for listening. We'll see you
next time court Side
I always refer to the Chelsea team because I look
at our team and all the different cultures, different nationalities,
different life experience, and I just love that any girl
can look at our team and find someone that they
can relate to, and that's like a real yeah, pintry moment.
How far it's common heart like the Chelsea team, I
think really represents women's sport in general.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome back to Courtside, where we break down the business
of women's sports with the athletes who aren't just playing
the game, they're redefining it. I'm your host, Laura Crane,
and today we're talking about grit growth and what it
takes to build a brand with staying power. My guest
is Neive Charles, Chelsea defender, England International and one of
the fiercest competitors in the game. Whether she's locking down
(00:43):
the back line or pushing the ball forward, Neve plays
with an intensity you just can't teach and a consistency
that's earned her a spot at the top of one
of the best clubs in the world. But Neiv's story
is about more than performance. It's about persistence. From her
early days in World to her to Liverpool and Chelsea
She's turned every challenge into fuel, and now with the
(01:04):
Euros on the horizon, she's not just preparing for another
shot at international glory, she's also carving out space off
the pitch, building her personal brand rooted in resilience, authenticity,
and leadership.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
So if you're curious about what it takes.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
To not just play at the top, but stay there,
Nieve Charles is here to show us.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Let's get into it.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I am here with arguably, at least I believe, the
best left back in the world, Nieve Charles, Chelsea's finest.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Welcome to court side. Thank Youith, thank you for having me.
You wouldn't argue with that, would you. I would cringe
at that.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yet the englishouldn't be cringes at it.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I know we're working on that.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
But before we get into all of what's happening today,
I wanted to take our listeners, many of who may
be meeting you for the first time, back to this
first question, which is from literally the time you could walk,
the ball's been at your foot, But when did you
know you had it? Recognizing like, hey, this might be
more than just a hobby or a passion, This might
actually become my profession.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
I think it's probably it's quite it's what the time
was I as I was growing up, it was a hobby.
And it was a hobby because I couldn't see a
future pathway necessarily. Now, if I was a twelve year
old kid, I definitely could see a future pathway and
be like, Okay, I'm locked in from now and I
can definitely make it. It was definitely I was pursuing it
because I have the drive in me to just be
as good as I can at it. But I didn't
(02:27):
necessarily think, Okay, that's where I want to get to.
I couldn't really see the future, but it was just
year by year when I got into the academy, and
I just think me and myself, no matter what I do,
I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I really wanted
to be good at whatever I did, and obviously football
was what I was really pursuing. So once I was
in the academy, I could see a bit more of
a pathway and it was like the little next steps.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I think that's what kept me going.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
When I was in under fifteens, I was like, Okay,
I want to be retained to the under seventeens, and
then it was the under seventeens. I was like, okay,
I want to make the first team by the time
I'm sixteen.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Was a little goal that I set myself and did
you do it? I did it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
No one knew, but I'd said it myself and it
was just like that little but I didn't want to
tell anyone else, but yeah, I made it at sixteen
to the first team. And then I would sort of
say year on year. Obviously, the women's game's grown year
on year as well, and that's sort of my I
guess my dreams and my aspirations grew alongside it.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
It's probably at the same pace.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Was there a moment, you know, when you made that
senior team and you checked that individual goal that you're like,
I'm going to be a professional footballer.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
To be honest, that moment probably came a few years later,
because I think in that moment I was still young
and I was very Again, it wasn't a secure in
a future for me to be like, oh my god,
this is me for the next ten to fifteen years,
totally locked in. Still I was studying then as sort
of the backup and obviously for future endeavors. So I
think it was a few years later when I sort
of locked in, and I think probably when I finished
(03:47):
my university degree, I was like, hallelujah, I'm just a
professional footballer now that I can put my heart soul
into justice, and it was like my hobby but my
job in a in a weird way.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
But I also know you excelled in the classroom. Had
it not been professional football er, what did you pursue
your degree? And then what would have been Neave Charles
off the pitch?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
If Neutrals had never played sports or got into football,
I think I probably would have gone down the medical route.
I love sort of helping people, and it's definitely in
my family is a lot of the medical professional and
it's almost like if you don't know what to do,
just do something.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
To do with that.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
And yeah, there's times as well where like obviously I
did my university degree in sport and exercise science, which
hugely helped me because it complemented what I was doing practically.
But I think if I wasn't playing football, I probably
would have gone down the more medical route, but obviously
time constraints, I was not about to take that on
with the football.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
We'll come back to the incrementality the performance, how sports
science has helped you professionally. But talk about So you
moved through the Liverpool academy absolutely crushing it at a
young age. When did you get the call up to
the Lionessa's and what was that moment like?
Speaker 1 (04:54):
So, when I first joined Liverpool that first year, I
made it my goal again secretly to make it into
the England Pathway by the end of that season, because
I was relatively late compared to other girls. And I
did that at the end of that season and that
I remember that moment when the sort of manager of
the academy said to me, like, you're getting your first
call up.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
We're going to camp and so I remember that really vividly.
It was the first person you called when you got
the news.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I think my dad had taken me to training and
I just went and I just said I'm going, like
just secretly because obviously. And then this time when I'd
moved to Chelsea and it was sort of a few
months into my Chelsea journey. I remember Emma Hayes, the
manager at the time.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
It was out. I remember it so vividly.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
I was outside the training building and she just said.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You do know you're going right?
Speaker 1 (05:38):
And I was like what, and she said, yeah, You're
going to camp And I think I hadn't. I didn't
expect it to come that soon in a sense of
I'd just moved to Chelsea and obviously I was really
focused on bedding myself in the Chelsea getting up to
speed at that level. To then get called into the
Lioness's I think, yeah, I just remember wanting to call
my woman and being so happy about it, and I
(05:59):
couldn't wait to tell her as well, not because she's
just support of me, but I think she knows how
much it means to me that, Yeah, I just wanted
to share it with someone who'd been there from the
very start.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
What was your first cap? Do you remember what it
was like walking out of the tunnel wearing the crest.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
It was in COVID time, so it was sort of
like a delayed gratification in that sense that it was,
and we'd actually before it even got our first cap,
we'd played a lot of in house friendlies that didn't count,
so it was kind of like it wasn't that one
big moment where it's like finally, but we played against France,
I think behind closed doors, so it was in a
(06:33):
nice way. It was sort of like a moment for
me and just the team, you know what I mean.
But I think the first time my family got to
see me play for England that was more of a
special occasion. But even now, like when I go into
the Jets room and see the shirt and before every
game when we sing the national anthem, like it always
hits me like this is It doesn't happen all the time,
and I always think, not that you ever think it,
(06:54):
but I'm like, you can't buy this moment. You never
know if it's going to happen against every time you
sing the national anthem, really like appreciate it in that
small little moment.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
You played in Australia in the previous World Cup, which
I had the pleasure of being in the stands for,
and I remember that England Spain final like it was yesterday.
The electricity of a stadium filled with tens and tens
and tens of thousands of people unlike any women's forget football,
(07:26):
women's sporting environment I personally had ever been in in
the near forty years of my life, and I remember
getting the chills and looking around and feeling the energy.
My husband is from his family's from Spain, so you
got a little of that. But I was all in
on the Lionesses for that matter. I remember looking around
and saying women's sport can never go back, like this
(07:50):
will become the standard. And that's from sitting in the stands.
What was it like walking out into that stadium filled
with I think it was seventy eighty thousand plus people,
which is becoming a standard for you, as you know
seeing it matches at Wembley, et cetera. What's it like
and do you have that moment of reflection going back
to neven Liverpool Academy to playing on the global stage
(08:13):
in front of this size of audience.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, I think I had a similar moment, but of
se in that moment of the final that we were
so locked in. But I had a moment in I
can't remember. Was it the game before a few games
before we played Australia. And it's weird to say this,
but it's not when we scored. It was when Sam
Curst going and obviously being the home crowd and also
your teammate team she'd had a really like tough personally
(08:37):
World Cup, being injured, home World Cup and everything, But
that moment when she scored I remember so clearly.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
I looked around the stadium and I was going nuts.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I looked at the security guards and the guys that
were working in the stadium and the look on their faces.
I was like, wow, like everyone is in on this,
like it's touching everyone.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Was that the one when she hit the banger like
forty yards out? Yeah? Yeah? And there for that.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
I can't believe we're talking about it because obviously it
was a goal that we conceded, But that was like
a moment of women's sport where I was like, Okay,
to me, we're on the opposite side of the world.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
It's a bigger than that game. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
It meant so much to Sam personally, to the women's sport,
women's football in Australia. Having spoken to Sam, how much
at that competition, like galvanized women's sport, women's soccer in Australia,
and obviously she was supposed to girl like all of
those things encompassed in that moment, and then looking at
the security guard's faces that they were all brought into
it as well. It was like Okay, this is a
(09:31):
movement that's sort of yeah, it's it's growing exponentially and yeah,
hopefully that.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Is the norm now.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
I remember a couple of months later having talked to
one of your teammates, Mary and that was obviously a
huge tournament for Mary talking about how since she's visited
Australia post that World Cup and it's like this feeling
of like international celebrity, this love for not just you know,
the Matilda's, but all of the teams and all of
(10:16):
the women who played.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Have you had any of those pinch me moments.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Where whether it's the Australia other markets or in the
backyard in Chelsea where a young fan you know, rushes
the team or maybe you personally, has there anything that
stood out like wow, like this has changed the experience forever.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I think I've had a few moments where whether it's
in London or it's mostly around women's sports events, but
when like, it's definitely when young girls, I think, because
I see myself in them so much and I had
experiences when it was less common. But when I saw
I remember I saw Jill Scott when I was younger,
and I just remember so vividly being in that moment
(10:54):
of she was one of my heroes and getting to
speak to her, and I see myself in those young
girls now, and I'm just it is a pinchy moment.
And it's also I'm so happy for them and for
where women's sports at is that they can look. I
always refer to the Chelsea team because I look at
our team and all the different cultures, different nationalities, different
life experience, and I just love that any girl can
(11:17):
look at our team and find someone that they can
relate to. And that's like a real yeah, pinchery moment.
How far it's coming, Like the Chelsea team I think
really represents women's sport in general.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
One hundred percent, and it's great to sit and talk
about how far it's come, but let's also talk about
the work it takes to get there. So you're coming
off an undefeated season, an incredible season at Chelsea, we
all know it's a journey to get there, but how
hard it is to stay there? Can you take us
behind what it takes to prepare for an undefeated season
(11:48):
like the one we just saw.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I really enjoy speaking about that because I think, like
for the FA Cup, for example, that was one day
and it was an incredible day, but that's one day
compared to hundreds of days that led up to that
moment that didn't have the sort of the cameras, the
trophy at the end of it. And I think that's
why I think it's so special when you go back
into the dressing room as a team and you know
(12:11):
that you've been through the start of pre season when
everyone's blowing and they're telling you to run again, and
the games where it's gone really, really badly and you've
really had to sit down and sort of reflect that
one moment is like what makes it worth it? And
I do it one hundred times over. But I think
for me, I know how hard it is. Every day
(12:32):
you will not get that moment unless every day you're
on it consistently with the little things you build a routine,
because honestly, as a high performance athlete, my experience is
you're not always like, Okay, I'm going to Chase, I'm
going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm
going to do this. Realistically, every day you don't wake
up with the feeling of an FA Cup Final win
that you like you want to get there some days
(12:54):
it's really really hard, but I think it's about building
those habits and the routines.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
That's what really helps me.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Is every no matter how I'm feeling, all things that
are going on in my life, I have tickboxes that
I'm like, Okay, I do this, I do this. This
sets me up for the day. This is what I
need to do from like my physical performance, this is
what I need to do for my mental performance, and
then constantly reflecting on that fine tune in it. It's
not like, Okay, two years ago, I was doing this,
so I'm going to carry on doing that now. It's
(13:19):
actually I think I could do this. So who's the
expert in that area. I'm going to go and speak
to them and refine what I do. So hopefully I'm
getting better each and every time and I can be
more consistent in that.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
It's hard to imagine what it takes on the physical side,
right the grueling nature. I won't tell you what my
mile time is on the peloton trend. This won't be impressed.
You've been a role model when it comes to mental health.
How are you using your platform to talk about the
importance of mental health and the resources that it requires
for you to not just stay fit physically, but to
(13:51):
stay fit mentally.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, for sure, I think there's something I'm hugely passionate about.
And I think when I look at what I've done
since I've been twelve years old, the amount of hours
put into physical performance, and it was really drilled into
me from that point of like I need to do
the gym work, do the run and work. And I
think if I'd have had from that point the same
amount of focus on my mental health performance as my
(14:13):
physical health, I'd been ten times better place and have
ten times better routines. So I think that's why I'm
really vocal about it now, because I think everyone thinks
football and thinks physical performance and that's a huge part
of it. But I know myself, the biggest difference is
my mental health and that's probably the thing I spent
the least time on, and that's what people sort of
(14:36):
think you should, like spend the least time on. You
should do all the run and do all the gym work,
do all the recovery, and don't get me wrong, that
has a huge place, but I think everything coch you
can't just focus on that. You have to do that
and also spend enough time on your mental health as well.
And I think I've definitely had experiences where I've seen
how it makes the biggest difference of the best way
(14:56):
and the biggest difference in the worst way. And I
think I come at a from both points of view.
I think me as a person as well, I have
physical health and mental health. Also me as a high
performance athlete has both of them as well. And there's
times where I think I just have to be kind
to myself and I'm not a robot, and that's where
the looking after myself as a person comes in. And
(15:19):
there's times where I'm like, Okay, I'm walking out at
Wembley in front of seventy eight thousand people. That's not
a physical thing, that's a mental thing, Like how am
I going to produce in that moment? So there's almost
two different sides to me of the mental health performance
as well. But yeah, I'm really passionate about speaking about
because it makes the biggest difference. And yeah, I think
the more we can normalize Okay, you want to be
(15:40):
a professional athlete, Okay, what are you doing for your
mental health?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
What good routines are you building? In that sense?
Speaker 1 (15:45):
From that high performance point of view, as well as
the obvious ones of being fit, being healthy, being strong.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I know it's hard to say to an elite athlete
like yourself, what are your cheek codes? But what are
your cheaekods? Are there little tips or tricks? What are
two things that have worked for you that you might share?
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
For me, there's things that I always come back to
and like, I now, like write it down because I know,
for a few weeks go by and I think, why
am I not feeling so good? It's probably because I've
not done those things. And so I always feel like
I'm being conscious and sort of proactive in what I'm doing.
So journaling is one of them. I speak to a
psychologist pretty regularly, and I think that's a neutral. She
(16:23):
knows me very very well. She's not just there to
make me feel better. She tells me straight how it is,
which is what I need.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
And she's an expert. She has experience in dealing with this.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
I'm not fully equipped with it, so I know what
I don't know, and so that's why I speak to her.
And there's also another aspect I find really helpful is breathing.
Connecting with my body. It gives me a pause in
life because I think we're so used to just going
bam bam, bam, bam bam, like checking in with myself.
But that also comes through moments of how I like
(16:52):
to switch off, which is going for a coffee, reading
a book that is also to me mental health as well,
like recovery and sort of.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Feeding the soul. You know, totally.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
We'll get into to the new Charles brand in just
a second and things of who you are off the pitch,
but I'd be remiss not to talk about you were
just named to the Lioness's for the upcoming Euros. We're
just a couple of weeks out. Any thoughts on the
upcoming tournament. Obviously, you came away with a big win
last year that I think has forever changed women's sport,
(17:23):
women's football, certainly in England and for the Lioness Is
what's the feeling going into this tournament.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
I think it's excitement and it's probably like honesty in
the sense that we know it's going to be really
difficult and I think we're ready for that. We're not
in an illusion that it's going to be the same
as it was last time. And we're also a new
team as well. But I think overall excited that one
we're there, we're part of it, and we have the
ability to show our best selves and it's going to
(17:51):
be a huge occasion for women's sport, women's football. So
I think, yeah, at the moment, it's all heads down, prepared, focused,
so that come the first game hopeful we're ready to
bring all best.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
I love it. I can't wait to see you out there.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
In addition to seeing you out there, I have a
new job which is representing you and you know, full
disclosure to our audience, you and I met last summer
during Chelsea's summer tour here in the States, and over
a series of conversations, we decided to link up and
focus on the commercial side of your brand. While you're
preparing mentally, physically getting ready for this huge tournament. Now
(18:45):
there's also another dimension you've added to your platform, which
is starting to build your brand, because we want to
talk longevity, not just short term.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
My experience in the States, it was I opened in
from the first game we played just a few days
after we landed and we came out and I was like,
oh my god, this is like such an occasion, it's
such a spectacle. I was like, Okay, now I can
really see why sports is how it is in America.
Like I went out and I was like, oh my god,
we're just one part of it. There was streamers going off,
(19:16):
there was a big drum banging, and I thought, this
is a complete spectacle in America. And then I could
really see, like, Okay, this is how you retain from
the marketing like commercial.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
I was like, okay, this is how you retain audience.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
This is how you create something bigger than in addition
to the sport on the pitch. And that was an
eye opener for me. And then we had a few
media days that I later learned were basically orchestrated by you,
and we were here, there, and everywhere, and it was
the longest day of my life, starting at the New
York Stock Exchange ending with it was pretty cool, thoughll
come on, it was crazy, Like I think it was
(19:48):
once in a lifetime experience. And I think hearing you
speak that evening with well one of my teammates million
then it was sort of my first experience of Okay,
this has got some real momentum.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Cross women's sport.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And then again I think I was like, okay, I'm
really invested in this here, and you speak about it.
I was like, I'm really passionate about this as well,
and I see exactly what you see, but I'm not
an expert in it. And then thankfully, like a few
months later, having spoken to some people that were working
with Chelsea at the time, they put me in contact
with you and just by chance you happen to be
(20:22):
in England and I think you're having conversations with you.
I was thinking, Okay, I really noticed that this is
an important thing for me to do in addition to
what I'm doing on the pitch. But one, my focus
is on the pitch, and two I am not an
expert in it. So and I spoke to you and
I thought, Okay, she gets stuff done, she knows she
knows what it's well. And I think, yeah, that's something
(20:43):
I've really enjoyed getting to know. And also what sticks
out from when I first met you as well, it's like, okay,
we work together, you're going to be your own sort
of business brand. And I think I like that challenge
in the sense I don't know it yet, but I
want to improve and I want to learn.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
I'll never forget that first interaction Stanford Bridge and I said, okay, like,
you know, I knew enough about you in terms of
your football, but I'm like, what are we going to do?
Neive Charles off the pitch? Like you know, who is
this young woman? And as I got to talk to you,
a few things stuck out immediately. One your quiet persistence,
so much humility, but at the same time, just such
(21:18):
this incredible focus and ambition too. With that focus at
ambition comes hyper hyper focused on performance. I never forgot
when we first sat down, you kept saying, Laura on
the one percent, the one percent in the margins too,
And You're like, and by the way, I love to
drink coffee and I read it's on of books. But
let's talk about the brand and the performance, right. You
have such a niacal focus on talking about performance, and
(21:39):
maybe this dovetails back to you know, your interest in
and around the medical profession, science, health, et cetera. What
does that mean to you and what do you want
to be known for beyond me of the footballer.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
I remember you spoken You're trying to get to know
me and you sort of you made a joke of like, Okay, well,
if I was to pitch you to sort of yeah,
a fashion brand and not thought, Okay, that's probably.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Not a path that's going to be.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Yeah, that's not me necessarily worries something that's really authentic
to me. But also there's a huge sort of commercial
aspect is the high performance. It is the one percent
margins that obviously I do think it links back to
my interest in it sports science degree, like, it all
sort of complements and it's very natural to me as
well as I think it's hugely, hugely important and I
(22:23):
think there's I could add great value to that.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
But then also you made me realize that actually what I.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Like to do in my free time that is actually
you can work with that as well and make it
something more. I'd been on my little coffee nerd science
sort of journey as well, and obviously reading books as well,
and something that I like, I really enjoy. It links back.
It's all sort to me. It's everything is linked. It
links back to the mental health that links back to
the performance to switch off, and that's sort of like
sort of my key to living, I guess, is the
(22:48):
high performance coffee to relax, books to switch off.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
What I do think is interesting and what you just
said and we'll round us out is everything links back.
I meet a lot of athletes in the day to
day of my job and this transitionary period of what
happens because we all know at some point the boots
will be hung up, and so starting to prepare now
thinking about what are these skills, what are these experiences?
Speaker 3 (23:13):
What defines me that's greater than football?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
What can I take from football that can then become
part of my legacy, my longevity. And so what I'm
hearing from you is that the elements of preparation, the
elements of performance, high performance, elite performance, all of these
components in your ecosystem contribute to that level of greatness.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
Is that fair to say? Yeah? For sure?
Speaker 1 (23:36):
And I think you are a prime example of I
think I look at you and I say, okay, you've
you also were a sports person, and I think there's
so much value that you learn as a byproduct of
being a sports person that I think I don't want
to just hang up my boots In the next day.
I think, Okay, well, how am I going to like
vomit everything I've learned into this one thing. I think
it's doing it incrementally and equipping myself with the skills
(24:01):
gradually so that hopefully it's a smoother transition and I
can sort of maximize what I've learned during football. Hopefully,
first of all, right, now be the best footballer I
can be. But then as and when the body fails
that I'm sort of ready to.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
It doesn't fail. It's a transition.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Tell me three skills that you've learned being a footballer
that you believe will transition later in life.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
The first one consistency.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
I think I've had moments where you get caught out
and it's very, very honest. Football tells you if you're
not being consistent and you just try and cheat your
way through it.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
That's one. I think teamwork.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I always say in terms of you can get there
on your own, or you can get there in a team,
You'll get there much better in a team and with
a whole, like a more well rounded product way of
getting their different opinions. So I think consistency teamwork probably
like perfectionism success. I think that's I'm very very driven
to whatever I do to make it the best, and
(24:59):
I think that's how you get to be at a
certain level in football. That's what you need. I think
that's just because you never feel satisfied, but you also
do need that as well.
Speaker 3 (25:09):
One d per we'll leave Charles.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
You know I'm rooting for you every step of the
way to close us out. If the Charles football campaign
will have been successful, what will be the headline that
you would want written as you look back on your career.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
I think it would be she gave it everything, no
stone unturned or something like that, no regrets.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
We'll work on the language, but I love it. That's
why we are a good team. Neive Charles, you are
absolutely brilliant. I'm wishing you all the best in the
upcoming Euros. We'll be sharing for you from across the pond.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
And thank you for spending the time with us. Thank
you very much for having me.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I'm your host, Laura Krenti, founder and CEO of Deep
Blue Sports and Entertainment. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz,
and this show is produced by Ryan Martz along with
associate producers Meredith Barnes and Rachel Zuckerman. Court Side is
an iHeart women's sports production and partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Listen on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Want more, follow, rate.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
And review court Side wherever you get your podcasts, and
stay in the game by following us on social media
at Iheartwomen's Sports. And don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter.
In the show notes, thanks for listening. We'll see you
next time court Side
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