Sport and Life

Jon Palmer is a lifelong Cheltenham Town fan. He's also covered them for decades in his career as a sports journalist. He was one of the lucky few to get into the stadium, Whaddon Road to watch Cheltenham push mighty Manchester City all the way in the FA Cup on Jan 23, 2020.  Jon lectures in sports journalism at the University of Gloucestershire and you can follow him here: @JonPalmerSport

Mark Halliwell has covered Cheltenham Town for decades and he makes the upcoming FA Cup match v Manchester City the biggest in the club's history. We had a chat about that and the chances of Cheltenham pulling off a legendary upset. Mark will be commentating on the game for local radio and you can follow him here: @MarkHalliwell1

Cheltenham Town footballer (former Sheffield United and AFC Wimbledon player among others) on facing Manchester City (six times winners of the cup) in the FA Cup this weekend. Chris is battling injury to be fit for the game and, as someone who's studied sports psychology, talks about the mindset required to pull off an upset.

Nick Gazzard played professional football for Cheltenham Town and Forest Green Rovers. In the aftermath of his daughter, Hollie's murder in 2014, he set up the Holly Gazzard Trust to help reduce domestic violence. Nick suffered a stroke in May 2020, but, as you can hear here, is recovering well. 

Johnny Nelson was the longest running Cruiserweight Champion of all time, holding the WBO title between 1999 and 2005. Here we talk about the life and times of Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, who was Heavyweight Champion of the World between 1937 and 1949.

Shane Duff is a former professional footballer for Cheltenham Town and Bradford City. His career was ended prematurely by injury and he now works as a property developer with his company @leckhamptonpropertygroup. Shane's brother, Michael is the current manager of Chelteham and we discuss the club's FA Cup draw against the mighty Manchester City. 

Jon covers Cheltenham Town FC week in, week out and we also talk here about other local football clubs Forest Green and Gloucester City. Touch upon Gloucester Rugby Club and Jon's other job as a journalism lecturer at The University of Gloucestershire. 

Big John McCarthy is a commentator and analyst for Bellator MMA and co-host of the Weighing In podcast. Before that he was a referee a big name associated with the Ultimate Fighting Championship from its inception. Here he reflects on the UFC's top moments of the year 2020. 

John is the British Military's chief SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance  & Extraction) instructor and has been a resident survival expert on  two series of Discovery's prime-time show 'Survive That', a.k.a 'Dude You're Screwed' in the USA, putting his own resilience to the test on camera in front of millions. He's also an avid student and speaker on stoicism - particularly, the ability to psychol...

Spencer Fearon is a former boxer, who's worked as a promoter, manager, trainer, analyst and historian.  Here we discuss the life and times of Rocky Marciano, the great undefeated Heavyweight Champion of the World, who retired with a 49-0 record and whose story inspired the Rocky movies.  You can follow Spencer on Twitter - @Spencer_Fearon. 

Run through social media suggestions for the below football scenario, posted December 11 on @eddraper81 on Twitter and @ed_draper81 on Instagram:   "Picture a 'box-to-box midfielder.'    Who'd you see? "

Danny Sangha is a clarity, alignment and confidence coach who works with high performing public-facing professionals, celebrities and sports stars. Danny's website: https://www.dannysangha.com/private-coaching/ Danny is also going to appearing on celebrity chef Greg Wallace's well-being platform: https://showme.fit/

Linton Vassell (19-8) is a former UCMMA Light Heavyweight Champion . A British fighter based in Florida.  He's now competing at heavyweight and takes on Brazilian Ronny Markes at Bellator 254 in the early hours of December 11 (UK time) live on Sky Sports. It's live in the USA on CBS Sports on December 10. 

Illima-Lei Macfarlane is Bellator's undefeated women's champion at Flyweight. She defends her title against Juliana Velasquez -also undefeated - on December 10 (early hours of December 11 in the UK, live on Sky Sports.)

More than a year on since his commendable world-title challenge to Callum Smith, Super Middleweight contender John Ryder (28-5) returns to the ring December 18th.  He's fighting American Mike Guy (12-5) in Florida. 

Running through suggestions for players to complete the following football scenario posted on my Twitter @eddraper81 on December 3 2020. Picture a 'luxury player.'   Who'd you see?   Matthew Le Tissier, for me.

Carlton Palmer had a long and distinguished playing career with a host of top football clubs including West Bromwich Albion, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Coventry. He won 18 caps for England and also was Mansfield Manager.  He's currently living in Shanghai where he's Director of Sport at Wellington International College and his wife, Lucy works as a t...

Sarah Shephard covers boxing and football for The Athletic. She has previously written for The Coaches Voice, Sport Magazine and The Times. The book she co-authored, Born Fighter has been shortlisted for William Hill Sports Book of The Year. You can follow her @SarahShepSport Sarah supports Arsenal Football Club. 

James Golden has been a fitness professional working with elite athletes and regular citizens for 15 years. He's run gyms in that time and is now based primarily in the Bamford Haybarn, being the resident fitness professional at the Daylesford Organic Farm in the Cotswolds, England.  He also has private clients and offers health and fitness insight on his Instagram page @aka_thefitnesspro

Chris Hussey is currently playing left wing-back for Cheltenham Town FC. He's previously played for AFC Wimbedon, Coventry City, Burton Albion, Bury, Sheffield United and Swindon Town. Chris left school with just one GCSE, but has recently qualified with a first class degree in Sports Science and plans to train to be a sports psychologist. Here Chris talks about his career and how he's learned to...

Running through suggestions to the following scenario, which was posted on my Twitter page @eddraper81 on Friday November 20th. " Picture a player punching a volleyed flick down the line for a teammate to run onto.  Who'd you see?"

Combat sports journalist Gareth A Davies and Conor McGregor's return to UFC and hopes of the Irishman tempting Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement for a rematch. 

Lee Hendrie played professional football for his home-city club Aston Villa, Stoke City, Sheffield United and Derby County among other clubs. He represented England at under 21 and senior level. Lee currently works as a commentator and analyst for Sky Sports. As someone who has survived two suicide attempts, Lee is also an insightful and inspirational speaker on mental health. 

Chatting to Chael Sonnen, the man considered by many as one of the greatest mixed martial artists not to win a world title. Talk about the upcoming fights this week, but also what New York is like - he's been staying in Manhattan between shows - and his first encounter with The Naked Cowboy. 

Lawrence Okolie has boxed for 8 years. In that time, he's become an Olympian and amassed a 14-0 record in the professional ranks. As a current European Champion, he challenges for the WBO World Cruiserweight title against Krzysztof Glowacki in London on December 12.