The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered

What happens when you help a club win the first trophy in its women’s team history—and 22 days later, you’re asked to manage the teammates you just celebrated with?In this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel is joined by Jillian Leiper, player-manager of Alloa Athletic Women, for an in-depth conversation about making that extraordinary transition, building a team culture and developing the next generation of players in Scottish women’s football.Leiper explains how she went from helping Alloa make history as a player to being appointed player-manager less than a month later. She discusses the unique challenge of leading former teammates, balancing coaching responsibilities while still playing and learning how to trust her assistants once she steps onto the pitch.The conversation also explores her coaching background, including nine seasons in the Hearts women and girls pathway and time coaching full-time in Connecticut. Leiper shares her philosophy on developing young players, why resilience and maturity matter alongside talent and why pushing prospects into senior football too quickly can do more harm than good.Leiper also breaks down the identity she wants Alloa to build: high standards, purposeful possession, disciplined defending and a culture where players can enjoy football while continuing to improve. She discusses the club’s growing girls pathway, investment in the women’s program, the importance of player care and the need for greater visibility across the Scottish women’s game.The episode closes with Leiper reflecting on how she measures success beyond the league table, the difficult people-management decisions that coaching courses cannot prepare you for and the unlikely path that took her from kicking a bottle around a school playground to leading Alloa Athletic Women.

Luton Town Ladies head coach Dan Bolesta and defender Ruby Heselden join The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for an in-depth conversation about Luton Town, women’s football, player development, coaching and the realities of competing in the English football pyramid.Chris Horwedel talks with Bolesta about his journey from grassroots and community coaching with MK Dons to taking charge of Luton Town Ladies, the footballing identity he wants to build and why creating the right culture and environment is as important as tactics.Heselden discusses her own development through MK Dons, Northampton Town, West Bromwich Albion and Sporting Khalsa, the challenge of moving from girls’ football into the senior women’s game and why Luton felt like the right next step. She also explains her preferred role as a left-sided centre-back, the importance of regular minutes and how different clubs have shaped her development.The conversation also examines Luton’s start to the season, their breakthrough win over Saltdean United, competing against higher-level opposition and what life in Tier 4 women’s football actually looks like for players balancing training, matches and jobs away from football.Dan and Ruby also discuss the wider future of the women’s game, including funding, facilities, medical and coaching resources, player pathways and the FA’s planned restructuring of the Women’s National League system. They explore the potential impact of WSL academy teams entering Tier 3, opportunities for teenage players to gain senior experience and the challenges independent women’s clubs could face.The episode closes with a look at the growing relationship between Luton Town Ladies and Luton Town FC, what could make the club a destination for ambitious young players and how both Dan and Ruby define success as they try to establish a clear identity and continue pushing the club forward.It’s a wide-ranging conversation about Luton Town Ladies, women’s football development, grassroots coaching, the English women’s football pyramid and what it takes to build a successful team beyond the professional game.

YouTube content creator Tom Kelsey (TomFM) joins The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for an in-depth conversation about Football Manager, FM26, Lincoln City, YouTube, and the world behind one of football gaming’s most recognizable channels.Chris Horwedel sits down with Tom to trace the relationship between real-world football and Football Manager that has shaped his life and career. The conversation explores his connection to Lincoln City, the club’s rise through the English football pyramid, and what being involved with the hometown team brings to the way he experiences the sport.Tom also takes Chris inside the growth of TomFM, from discovering Football Manager and creating his earliest YouTube videos to building a successful career around storytelling, long-term saves, experiments and the unpredictability that makes FM such a compelling game.They discuss the realities of becoming a full-time Football Manager YouTuber, creating content for a large online audience, the FM creator landscape, the relationship between Football Manager and real football, FM25, FM26, the MoreTomFM channel, and competing internationally through the FIFAe World Cup featuring Football Manager.It’s a wide-ranging conversation about football fandom, content creation, gaming, and what comes next for Tom Kelsey and TomFM.Follow TomFMYouTube: TomFMMore TomFM: MoreTomFMX / Twitter: @TheRealTomFMInstagram: @TheRealTomFM

The 2026 summer transfer window reshaped world football, with record spending, blockbuster moves, surprising bargains and high-risk deals across Europe, Major League Soccer and the English football pyramid.In this episode of The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered, Chris Horwedel looks beyond transfer fees and reputation to identify the moves that could have the biggest impact on the coming season. The focus is on tactical fit, production, value, squad needs, and how individual signings could influence title races, promotion battles and the balance of power across major leagues.The episode also explores several transfers carrying significant downside, examining the combination of price, expectations, role, age and underlying performance that can turn an exciting signing into an expensive mistake.From Premier League giants and Champions League contenders to MLS, the Championship and clubs farther down the English pyramid, this is a wide-ranging look at the most fascinating business of the 2026 transfer window — and the deals that could define the season ahead.

Todd Smith, author of Relegated: One American’s Pints and Pies Journey from the Top to the Bottom of the English Football World, joins Chris Horwedel on The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for a conversation about the culture, communities and people that make English football unlike anything else in sports.Smith explains how a lifelong connection to soccer eventually became an ambitious journey through the British football pyramid, taking him beyond the Premier League and into clubs and towns where promotion, relegation and matchday traditions are woven deeply into everyday life.The conversation explores the inspiration behind Relegated, the experience of traveling through English, Scottish and Welsh football as “Todd from America,” and what he discovered about fandom when he stopped watching from a distance and began experiencing the game alongside the people who live it every week.Todd also discusses his life as a writer, the unlikely road that brought the book together, and why the promotion-and-relegation system creates a relationship between clubs and supporters that can be difficult for American sports fans to fully appreciate until they experience it themselves.It’s a conversation about football, travel, storytelling, community, and why some of the sport’s most meaningful stories exist far away from its biggest stadiums.

Former Manchester United midfielder and Premier League champion Luke Chadwick joins The Beautiful Game: Unfiltered for a deeply personal conversation about Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane, Cambridge United, mental health, the Football Fun Factory, and his autobiography, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Luke Chadwick Story. Chadwick retraces a football journey that took him from a small village in Cambridgeshire to Manchester United, where he broke into one of the greatest teams in English football history. Luke explains how a Manchester United scout discovered him playing against an Essex Schools side featuring John Terry and Bobby Zamora, what it was like leaving home at 16, and why his loan spell with Royal Antwerp became such an important part of his development. He also shares revealing stories about Roy Keane, including the demanding standards Keane enforced in training and the surprisingly thoughtful way the United captain looked after young players away from the pitch. The conversation also explores the painful media attention Chadwick received over his appearance as a young Manchester United player, the anxiety and loss of confidence it caused, and why he now speaks so openly about mental health, vulnerability and the importance of asking for help. Luke then reflects on fulfilling a childhood dream by playing for Cambridge United, scoring at the Abbey Stadium, facing Manchester United in the FA Cup, and writing Not Just a Pretty Face with Matthew Mann. He also discusses his work with the Football Fun Factory, why fun should come before player development in youth football, and his role mentoring professional players, including England and Bayern Munich star Georgia Stanway. It’s a candid look at Manchester United, professional football, confidence, identity, youth development and rediscovering the joy of the game through the remarkable career and life of Luke Chadwick.