BENCHED

Cat Hulbert has been called the best female gambler on earth. During her decades-long career, she played at the highest level of blackjack and poker shattering the glass ceiling of professional gambling in the process. Today she joins presenter and broadcaster Charlie Webster to share her story. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After being accidentally outed in 2014, Liam Davis became the only openly gay male footballer in Britain. Despite media knocking down his door, he has remained firmly focused on football and has spoken widely about how accepting the community has been. He spoke to journalist Jasmine Andersson about what it means to be gay in football. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 1996, Southampton’s manager received a phone call from someone claiming to be footballing legend George Weah recommending the signing of his cousin. For 43 minutes, Ali Dia lived out the fantasy of millions by playing Premiership football, albeit not very well, before vanishing forever. Guest host Robbie Knox (Soccer AM) gets the story from Kelly Naqi, a journalist who made it her mission to uncover the mystery. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 2010, Ghanaian athlete Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong defied the odds and made it to the Vancouver Winter Olympics on a bet. And the legend of The Snow Leopard was born. Hear his story of hard-won success with guest host Carl Anka. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

British boxing professional, Johnny Greaves, fought 100 fights throughout his career and lost 96 of them – and he’s proud of it. In this episode hear from of Boxing’s biggest loser about why it pays not to win. Guest host is sports writer, Mark Turley. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eric Murangwa was a goalkeeper for Rwanda's biggest team, Rayon Sports, when the genocide began in 1994. As part of the persecuted Tutsi minority, he tells the story of how football, and his Hutu teammates, helped save him from near certain death. Guest host for this episode is fellow goalkeeper David Preece. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Coming Soon: Benched brings you the stories that are sitting on the sidelines of sport, from the inspiring, the harrowing or often absurd. This is a show that isn’t just about sport, but instead acts as as a prism to explore the real world. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.