After The Final Whistle

In this powerful episode of After The Final Whistle, we sit down with Chelsea legend and trailblazer Paul Canoville for one of the most emotional and inspiring conversations we’ve ever had on the podcast. 🎙️⚽️ Paul opens up about: 🔥 Becoming Chelsea’s first Black player 🔥 The horrific racist abuse he suffered during his career 🔥 Recovering from drug addiction 🔥 Losing his baby son after just...

In this episode of After The Final Whistle, Alison sits down with former England international and football pundit Lianne Sanderson for an honest, inspiring and powerful conversation. 🎙️⚽️ Lianne reflects on an incredible career that saw her win major honours with Arsenal, represent England on the international stage, and play football across the world in the USA, Spain, Italy and beyond. We also...

Former England international Danny Mills joins Alison Bender on After The Final Whistle for an honest conversation about life beyond football. Danny reflects on the injuries that ended his career, retiring at 31, rebuilding his identity after football, and the mentality needed to survive elite sport. He also opens up about family, grief, resilience, criticism, business, and finding purpose after t...

Former England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey joins After The Final Whistle for a raw and powerful conversation about the realities of life beyond football. In this episode, Emile opens up about the immense pressure of moving to Liverpool at a young age, the coping mechanisms he developed during his career, and the moment he realised he was dealing with depression. He reflects on retiring from...

Former Premier League footballer Marvin Sordell joins Alison Bender on After the Final Whistle to share his powerful and deeply personal story. In this episode, Marvin opens up about: Retiring from football at just 28 His battle with depression and loneliness The reality of life inside professional football Identity, purpose, and life after the game His suicide attempt and the road to recovery Why...

Some of the hardest moments in football don’t happen on the pitch. In my first episode of After The Final Whistle, former Premier League goalkeeper Chris Kirkland opens up about his battle with painkiller addiction, the moment he hit rock bottom, and the long road to recovery. Chris speaks honestly about the pressures of professional football, playing through injury, and the culture of silence aro...

After The Final Whistle. A new Video Podcast. Everything footballers wanted to talk about whilst they were playing and couldn’t. ⚽️ Thanks to my guests for series 1:Chris Kirkland, Marvin Sordell, Danny Mills, Emile Heskey, Paul Canoville, Leanne Sanderson and thanks to @samaritans for providing me with training so I handle episodes relating to suicide and self harm with care and sensitivity#foot...

What happens when football ends suddenly? When the lights go out and the crowds go home, what next? Having interviewed over a thousand Premier League footballers in my job as a Premier League pitchside reporter it's a question I have often wondered about and so I created After The Final Whistle. Real human conversations with ex footballers as I seek to discover The Truth About Life After Football....