It's been a busy time at York United FC headquarters over the past few months and we're so proud to finally launch our very first podcast, The Last Line.

In each episode of the series, our goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos chats to other shot-stoppers about the intricacies of the position and the anxieties, stresses, mistakes and memories from their lives and careers.

We've lined up a bunch of immensely special guests - from Premier League icons and Olympic medallists to FA Cup winners and World Cup legends. In one memorable conversation, we even hear from a goalkeeper who died three times during a game and still came back for more.

It really is a vocation.

Because we're nice people, we're releasing the first three episodes simultaneously. And they are compelling.

In our debut show, we're joined by Stephanie Labbé, who delves into a variety of topics with Niko. A star with the Canadian women's national team and who claimed an Olympic bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Games, she talks about how iconic NHL goaltenders Patrick Roy and Curtis Joseph inspired her young self while she eloquently and bravely describes her mental health struggles in the aftermath of that Olympic triumph. Labbé also goes in hard on the lack of a professional women's team or league in Canada, calling it 'embarrassing'.

Episode 2 sees Shaka Hislop visit the pod to share some stories from an illustrious career that featured hugely successful spells with Newcastle and West Ham, as well as an historic World Cup with Trinidad and Tobago. Does he ever regret not pursuing his NASA internship? Why does he rank a pretty understated member of the Toon Army as the most important player in Kevin Keegan's famous side? And why does he still dwell on the 2006 FA Cup Final defeat to Liverpool so much? In an emotional and genuinely affecting conversation, we also hear about his incredible work with Show Racism The Red Card, a charity he helped start in the mid-1990s, and his powerful reasons for doing so. Hislop, based in the United States for well over a decade now - also speaks strongly about the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and what it has meant for him and his family over the past twelve months.

In Episode 3, legendary Canadian goalkeeper - and Olympic bronze medallist - Erin McLeod drops by to chat about how one moment of female representation in 1988 was so crucial in kickstarting her journey and the perspective she gleaned from living in Jakarta as a child. She also details how relentless self-criticism pushed her off-course, made her 'hate' the game and feel 'relieved' that an ACL injury interrupted her 2008 Olympics. McLeod also goes in-depth on her battles with an eating disorder and how she's still not 'totally at peace with it'.

The podcast is available across a variety of platforms and, to make it easier to follow along, we've even set up a special space entirely dedicated to the show.

If you like what you hear, please rate and review (and tell your friends).

Happy listening!

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