Welcome back, Exiles! Another pod of two halves for you - the first half is a quick news roundup from Ed, featuring reviews from Hwyligan of County's pre-season draw at Pontypridd, and from Ollie of the win at Undy.

Then, in part two, we unveil our local team in focus for 2025/26. We're really excited about the prospect of covering Rogerstone AFC Ladies who, as you'll hear in the interview, enter only their second season together. But although only a new side, they're a wonderful bunch with incredible team spirit, and they represent everything we love about sport. We look forward to tracking their progress through the season, and we encourage you to do the same - give them a follow on social media and keep across their fixtures via the Cymru Football app.

As always, you can contact us via your social media platform of choice, and please also consider donating as little as £2 via our ko-fi page if you like what we do. We’re delighted that the Riverside Sports Bar (the home of Welsh sports fans) are giving us their valued support for another season, and we remain hugely grateful to Tinty & The Bucket Hats for letting us use Discoland as our theme tune. Our outro music is Virgo by Sean T.

We'll be back soon with more news, views and gossip. But until then: look after yourselves, look after each other, and above all – as always – Keep It County!

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In another of the podcast’s #BigInterviews, former Newport County skipper and marauding midfielder Joss Labadie sat down with Ian and Jamie for a look back on his time at Rodney Parade. From the Great Escape and injuries, to cup runs and playoff finals, Joss opened up on that five-year period where he experienced everything there is to experience as a League Two captain.

We’re really grateful to Joss for his time, and for his honesty and candidness. The chat offers a fabulous insight into the inner workings of a football team. How do you manage contract negotiations when you’re out with an ACL injury? Just HOW difficult is it to play Premier League opposition? How do you manage egos and cocky youngsters coming in from youth academies?

Joss also shared intel on how footballers set themselves up for post-retirement, particularly when coaching and punditry are not options. From covering every blade of grass to covering yourself for the worst, we hear about how Labs has teamed up with former teammates in the insurance game. Find out more on his website here.

As always, you can follow us via your social media platform of choice, and please also consider donating as little as £2 via our ko-fi page if you like what we do. We’re delighted that the Riverside Sports Bar (the home of Welsh sports fans) are giving us their valued support for another season, and we remain hugely grateful to Tinty & The Bucket Hats for letting us use Discoland as our theme tune. Our outro music is Virgo by Sean T.

We'll be back in a fortnight's time to reveal next season's local team in focus, as well as to bring you all the latest news. Until then: look after yourselves, look after each other, and above all – as always – Keep It County!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the joys of the summer break is that it gives us chance to check in with our old friends at County in the Community to hear about what they’re up to. We’ve had chats previously in Ep186 on Walking Football, and in Ep132 on Fit Fans, and in this episode Ed sits down with Norm Parselle, Richard Taylor and Mike Pratt to hear about current projects on fan engagement, inclusion and on County memories. As we say on the pod, County may be a Fourth Division club, but we have a Champions League level community arm – so be sure to follow CitC on all your social media channels, and you can also donate towards their work via their website.

As always, you can follow us via your social media platform of choice, and please also consider donating as little as £2 via our ko-fi page if you like what we do. We’re delighted that the Riverside Sports Bar (the home of Welsh sports fans) are giving us their valued support for another season, and we remain hugely grateful to Tinty & The Bucket Hats for letting us use Discoland as our theme tune. Our outro music is Virgo by Sean T.

We have got a few irons in the fire for other content over the coming weeks, so be sure to keep yourselves subscribed so you don’t miss an episode. But until then: look after yourselves, look after each other, and above all – as always – Keep It County!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.