 Hello and welcome to the official AFC Bournemouth podcast coming to you as ever from Vitality Stadium. We're back for another special episode as we look to bring you closer to some of the personalities connected to the club. For those who are new to our podcast, my name is Zoe Rundle and I'm part of the media team here at AFC Bournemouth. Today I'm back with the one and only Neil Parrott, who's been covering the club for over 30 years. Neil, it's great to see you. We've got plenty of games under our belt so far and we're already at the winter break. It's come round so quickly Zoe, the winter break, everybody all eyes on the World Cup now and special guest today who may be involved in the World Cup, can't give too much away but still lots going on here at Vitality Stadium in the break as we know we've got the Premier League Cup, we're going to have youth team games, we've got a big charity game coming up so it's still going to be a really, really busy time over the next few weeks. Certainly plenty to look forward to. Now we've got a really exciting guest as ever on the AFC Bournemouth podcast and I know you're all going to enjoy hearing from him. He's been an absolute rock at the back for us all season and is actually one of our longest serving players. Having barely missed a minute he's now about to live his dream and represent Wales in the upcoming World Cup in Qatar but beforehand he's stopped by to talk to us. So without further ado we're delighted to welcome Chris Meppam onto the AFC Bournemouth podcast. Chris, thank you for joining us. How are you and how are you doing? Yeah, really good. Like I said, very much looking forward to the World Cup coming up. It's been a lifelong dream. Probably wouldn't have even dreamt of it to be honest, it wouldn't have been a realistic enough goal to have in my head a few years ago but now obviously the way football goes it changes very quickly and luckily this season for me it seems like it's sort of swung back in my favour and now I've got an opportunity to hopefully showcase myself on the biggest stage in football. We're actually recording this podcast on the day that the squad has been announced. Just tell us a little bit about when you found out and how the news was broken to you. Yeah, delighted when I found out it's something that you never want to take for granted. Representing your country should never be something that you take lightly and every time I get confirmation that I'm in the World Cup squad, this time in the World Cup squad, it's a massive honour and it's something that I'll be proud of every time I put on that world shot. USA, Iran and England, all in your group, that England game is going to be really exciting. How do you fancy your chances of qualifying? Yeah, I think we fancy our chances massively. We've come a long way as a nation. It's taken 62 years to qualify for a World Cup and we've had back-to-back Euro campaigns. Obviously in 2016 had a very, very successful tournament. Getting to the semi-finals is something that I think, like I said before, no Wales fan could have dreamt of. Obviously I participated in the last Euros, which I felt like the team done really well. We had a tough group to get out of and we came unstuck in the end against a very strong Denmark team. But overall we had a good campaign and now qualifying for the biggest tournament in football. It just shows the direction that Wales as a nation is going in and I'm grateful and I'm really proud to be part of that. Chris, you've had some fantastic experiences on the international stage already. You played in front of 82,000 people on your full debut in Mexico. You played at Euro 2020 and 33 caps. Do you feel like it's almost like a reward for all the effort you've put in in the early days when perhaps things weren't going your way? Yeah, I think so. I've always been trying to be positive when things are tough. Still trying to take a moment to look back and think I'm in a position where I've represented my country 30 times and like you mentioned played in a major tournament. But naturally I'm hungry for more. I want to be part of the next group that qualifies for the next campaign and hopefully be part of a World Cup squad. So yeah, I think like you mentioned the early setbacks and moments like that really define you as a player and I think I bounce back well from them and now I'm in a position where I'm gearing up ready for a World Cup. So I think overall is something that is really positive and it's sort of for me outweighed all the so-called negative times that I've had in my career so far. Just a word on a couple of your Cherry's teammates here. One who will be joining you and one who won't, Keefer Moore and David Brooks. Yeah, two very contrasting stories. You've got Bruxy who, yeah, the journey he's been on. I mean, how strong mentally, emotionally he's got to be to go through that. You see how positive he is day in, day out and the journey he's gone through so far. I personally think in my position if I've gone through that I'd be very different. I don't think I'd be as emotionally stable. I don't think I'd be anywhere near as mentally strong as he's been and I think that's credit to him. I remember a few of the lads met him for a coffee when he first found out about him obviously getting diagnosed with cancer and I think it was like me, June, Adam Smith, met him for a coffee and I couldn't believe how calm and collected he was after finding it out. And yeah, it just shows what strong lad he is. And I, for one, can't wait to see him back in a Bournemouth shirt, back in a Wales shirt. It's going to be a really good sight for everyone in football to see. And yeah, on the flip side you've got Keefer who has always been a good mate of mine and when he came to Bournemouth I knew the impact he could have. I was obviously gutted for him when he got injured in that cup game because I feel like in the championship it's such a tough rollercoaster that there's going to be games where you need someone like Keefer to mix it up. It's not going to be a season where you have it all your own way and you get to dominate teams with the ball. There's going to be other games where you need to mix it and you need to do the ugly side well. And that's where Keefer Moore comes into his own really. He's a nightmare for defenders. I'm sure many this season already would have experienced that and felt that. And yeah, obviously for him to come back from that injury and have the impact that he had, scoring two goals where Swansea and the all important goal in the Nottingham Forest game. I was delighted for him and I think you see how hard he works, staying there out in the gym all the time, looks after his body, eats well, sleeps well, does all the right things and ultimately if you do that you give yourself a platform and he's done that. And like I said, the impact he's had already here at Bournemouth is it's been massive. And ultimately that's what's got us into the Premier League with that important goal. Chris's two goals against Spurs showed you both sides of Keefer Moore. The brute for the header got him in between the defenders and was never going to lose that one. And the technically gifted way he scored that first goal with his first touch as well. Yeah, I mean, Tavernier didn't exactly, Tavernier didn't put it on a lovely plate for him. You know, he obviously managed to find him with the square pass, but I think it was like three yards behind him and bobbling into him. So yeah, I think, like you mentioned, I think he's quite deceiving. I think people almost think because he's six foot five, six foot six that all he can do is bully people good in the air. But I think he's very, very good technically as well. And I think people start to notice that, like I said, with that finish. And yeah, something that he's added to his game well. And, you know, he can do both sides of it really, like I said, when there's when the ball's going into him, yeah, he can deal with it. But also, like I said, he can be that brute that gets his head on things and brings up a pleasant game. And and certainly in that Tottenham game, you know, I felt like he showed both parts of that game really, really well. Quick test of your knowledge of Wales, Chris. I'm holding up a sign here, which is the longest name of a railway station in the world. And it happens to be in Wales, Chris. Really? Can you try and pronounce that for us? Oh my God, where do I start? You don't actually want me to try and pronounce that. I'm not even going to attempt that. I'm sorry. If you're not going to attempt that, I've got a follow up question where you can redeem yourself. Who is Wales record goalscorer? I believe Garret Bell. Correct. Consider yourself redeemed. We had a big debate in the office as to whether you were going to try and pronounce that. And I think I win, don't I? Oh my God. I mean, can one of you pronounce that? I mean, you give it a go, I'll give it a go, but come on then, Neil. Right, well, I can pronounce the English St Mary's Church in the hollow of the White Hazel near the Rapid Whirlpool and the Church of St Tiselio of the Red Cave. Even that was an awful. Yeah, it was. Anyway, back on to the football. Garret Bell, you said there was this record goalscorer. He's just won the MLS Cup with Los Angeles. What's he like to play alongside? And what's he like off the pitch? Unbelievable, you know, on the pitch, his career speaks for itself already. You know, I don't think I need to say any words to describe it. You know, what the the title was, he's won, you know, being at Real Madrid for for that many years and playing such an important role, certainly in that Champions League final that year, where he comes on, you know, scores an absolute world, he then scores the second one. And yeah, he's been been amazing. And and certainly for me, you know, coming into my first Wales camp, naturally, you're going to be very nervous. And I just remember him coming over to the table, just like he does with everyone, you know, if there's anything I can help with, do let us know. And he he really is that guy, you know, he's so, so welcoming, so approachable. And it's got so much time for everyone. One thing I always notice with him, you know, after dinner, when lad shoot off to the rooms and go go and play on the PlayStation, he he's always, you know, the last one to go up, just he just wants to be around. You always get a feel around Wales that he's so passionate about playing for the country that, you know, he he lives and breathe every every second of it really. And and you can see it really means a lot to him. And yeah, he's, you know, his career has been amazing. And and what he is around the place and as a person is is even better for me. One final question on the World Cup on Wales. Is there any kind of divide in the Meppen family? Or is it all Team Wales? No, naturally, you know, ever since I put in that world shirt. For my family, I was always going to be the priority. And they're all fortunately going out to to Qatar to be part of that journey, you know, me playing in the World Cup. And it's something they're all really looking forward to. I've got my mom, dad, brother, sister, both of their partners coming out there. My fiance is going to be there. So yeah, it's going to be a really proud moment for everyone. And not just myself, you know, my mom and dad that have played a massive part of that journey. My dad doing all the all the long shifts to and from Cobham. And I was a young lad at Chelsea. And and yeah, I'll be forever grateful for my mom and dad for the for the support they've shown. Right, Chris, we're going to take you back to where it all started. You were born on the 5th of November in Hammersmith in 1997. Do you go overboard with fireworks on bonfire night? Or was it just a couple of sparklers maybe? A bit of both. Firstly, born in Hammersmith. It's a really weird one. So I was born in Norfolk Park, which if anyone knows it is in Harrow. But for some reason, any interview I have, everyone mentioned Hammersmith, I'm not sure whether whether it was something that sort of came out and is now stuck. But I just thought I'd correct you with that. And bonfire night, to be honest, this year was obviously a bit of a difficult air, a different one. Obviously had a game on Saturday on on the 5th itself. But yeah, generally, you know, as a young lad growing up, my parents always used to, before I was old enough to realize that they weren't, they tell me that all the fireworks in the sky were to celebrate my particular birthday. And I think only a couple of years ago, I realized that that wasn't the case. And but yes, it's obviously nice, you know, as a young lad seeing all the fireworks go off, it's a nice celebration. I feel like as the years have gone on, we've probably done it less than this, but it's still a good celebration nonetheless. Just put us down for a second exclusive there, if you would, Zoe, that's two today. Met's first reaction to World Cup selection. And the fact he was born in Harrow and not Hammersmith. I wasn't trying to dig you out. I just thought I'd make it clear for everyone. Did you go to school at Harrow as well or? No, I went to school in Ryslip. I really don't know where Hammersmith, I've got no link to Hammersmith itself. I remember my mum saying to me a while ago, you know, everyone always says to my mum, I think she saw my Wikipedia page that I was born in Hammersmith. That's just what everyone goes off now. So everyone speaks about Hammersmith born Chris Meepham. And no, unless you correct it in an interview, I feel like that Hammersmith is always going to be attached to my name. But yeah, no, no relationship to Hammersmith as far as I'm aware. I think that this needs to be the short clip of the podcast. Because every time we put it out on social media, we put a short clip out to try and get people to listen to it. And now we're going to get the word out there, Hammersmith. Don't need to bother with that. No, Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow. Yeah, but with the problem is all the people in Hammersmith are going to disown him now because he's not from Hammersmith. People in Harrow love me now though. How did you get into football? To be honest, probably the same way every other person starts playing football, you know, as a young lad at school, just having that enjoyment for it. I've got, I wouldn't say I've got a footballing family, but my dad's a big, big football supporter, seasoned tick-holder, a QPR. My brother played not at any particularly good level, but was always good enough and used to play Sunday League football. So I feel like just naturally being in a so-called footballing family that you, you know, have a kick-about of your brother, my dad used to take me down the park and have a kick-around. And from there really, it's just grown, you know, when you join a new school, have a kick-about of your mates. When you're old enough to join a Sunday League team, I joined Growing for Celtic when I was a young lad and just really had that love for it, that natural love. It wasn't forced. I didn't feel pressured to do it. I didn't feel, you know, like my family pushed me in that direction. It's just someone that I really enjoyed and I was probably all right at it, you know, never, never good enough where I thought I'd make a career out of it. Even quite late, really, you know, I've spoke about in the past before, you know, being a 16, 17 year old, not really knowing what direction I'm going to go in. Do I sort of follow my uncle's footsteps of gardening and go down that route, or do I try and persist a bit? And yeah, luckily I've had a, you know, a lot of luck along the way. Definitely, I hold my hands up and admit that, but I've also worked hard for it and I've bounced back from a lot of setbacks and ultimately I think that's the reason why it's got me where I am today. Four years at Chelsea between the ages of 10 and 14, you bumped into some familiar faces there. Just tell us about your time there and who you met. Yeah, I loved it. Absolutely loved it. I probably didn't appreciate what a position I was in enough. You know, when you're in at the Cobham Training Center, it is out of this world, but it was a weird one because for me, that was the norm. It was all I was used to really. Almost had that mindset to a degree where like, you know, my teammates at school and my friends around would, oh my God, you're at Chelsea. And to me, I've never known otherwise. I kind of went from Sunday League straight into Chelsea and was training on carpets every day, you know, training the dome, seeing all the first team players. And I was almost in a bubble where I didn't actually appreciate what a position I was in. And I think if I was to look back now, I'd really enjoy that process a lot more because I think when you take a step back and you play on Sunday League pitches and, you know, North Greenford, you travel to, I don't know, Harrow Borough and play slide out and you're on an absolute mud bath. I think it kind of brings you back down to earth and makes you realize that, you know, I was in a very fortunate position to have the level of coaching that I had and to train day in, day out with, you know, such amazing players at such a young age, you know, Dominic Solanke, Tami Abraham, Fiko Tamori, just a few examples of the players that have gone on to have amazing careers so far. And yeah, Don was always someone that I had a really good relationship with. It's funny, you know, I got at Eastern Chelsea, kind of like naturally don't stay in contact with a lot of people should sort of go on your own different journeys. And then, yeah, when I joined back at Bournemouth, I remember like speaking to Don about some, some old stories and some old faces that we remember. And, and yeah, obviously seeing Don perform the way he is now and, and seeing what he can do at this level is obviously amazing that, you know, I've been, been part of that journey and from a young age, he's someone that I've, I've really got them all with. You're just bigging yourself up for being born in Harrow, Chris, and then you described Harrow Burrow's pitch as a mud heap. I mean, which way is it? I know, I shouldn't have used Harrow Burrow as an example. I should be representing them well. But to be honest, there was a lot of, a lot of bad pitches at that level. Now you were released by Chelsea. As you say, you were also turned down by Watford and QPR. You say you've had to overcome setbacks. What was that like for you and your confidence at the time? Yeah, it was, it was a very, very tough period for me. I think it's probably the moment where for me, I felt like that was it. I think football was done at that moment. You know, I think you're at Chelsea for four years in the Academy setup. I had two years before that in the sort of center of excellence set up. And, and that was a big part of my life. And I remember when I got released from Chelsea, it kind of memorized that for how amazing it was, I probably missed out on a lot of time away from football. You know, I mentioned the journeys that my mum and dad were doing every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday. It was quite intense and to have that at such a young age for quite a long period of time. I think it was quite important for me to sort of come away from that and enjoy, you know, going to parties with my friends and enjoy life away from, from football. And, and I kind of had that mindset. And I quite enjoyed being away from it and not having the commitment to go into Cobham four times a week and stuff like that. And I think coming away from it for a couple of months, I kind of felt a love again for, I probably missed it and quite enjoyed, you know, the life away from football, but I actually missed having that kick about my friends and, and enjoying my football and sort of tried to get back into it. But then, you know, after going on trial at Watford, going on trial at my boyhood team in QPR, I think when you get two teams like that, that both say the same thing that, you know, we're near the level and you're not what we're after. I think it really hits home and it kind of made me come away and say that, you know, if they're saying it, it must be right. You know, I've been released by Chelsea. I've tried to go on trial at two teams and been turned away, you know, maybe they are right. Maybe I'm not good enough and, and I'm fine accepting that. But I think for me, I want to, yeah, I want to accept it, you know. And, and yeah, it was, it was tough, you know, it's, like I said, it's been a big part of my life. And, and, you know, to have that reality that you're probably not going to make it as a footballer was, was tough. And for me, that was the moment where I started looking in alternative directions and, and trying to think about what else I can get into. Is there any advice that you'd give a young player now that's maybe just been released from an academy and doesn't quite know which way to turn? Yeah, for me, I know it sounds cliche and obvious to say, but I'll never underestimate I'll never underestimate that, you know, never say die mindset. And I think if I could, you know, say one thing that I think has got me to where I am, like I mentioned before, it probably is that Deena with setback, you know, I must admit, I almost accepted defeat at quite a few times. But ultimately, you know, there would have been that bit inside of me that didn't give up otherwise. I wouldn't be in this position today. And so yeah, any advice, I'll just say, you know, don't ever let anyone tell you and, and make you believe that you're not good enough, you know, and give it your all and try and bounce back stronger. I know it's easier said than done, but just just be really ruthless and always trying to prove people wrong. Now something else that's come from Wiki. So who knows whether this is going to be true or not. It says you were spotted by Brentford Scouts playing for North Greenford Reserves. Is that true? It was the reserves? It wasn't it wasn't even the first team? No, no, no, it was the it was the reserve. So I think I was playing for the North Greenford under 16 team in like an under 16 under 17 league. And Paul Palmer, who was the reserve team manager, I he was my coach at a previous Sunday League team. And he ended up getting a job at North Greenford Reserves. And I was kind of doing well in the under 16 17 team. And I think he just won. I think the story was one day I was at school and I got a phone call from Paul saying and the centre back this meant to be starting tonight for the reserve team has got overtime at work, so he's not able to play in a match. And are you free tonight to take his place? And naturally you turn up and you're looking forward to it, but you've got no idea that that game would be the game that almost kick starts this whole process. And I ended up playing that game and had an absolute world if I say so myself. And I think it was that game where Sean O'Connor, who was a Brentford scout, we was away at Uxbridge. And I think Sean O'Connor was watching the striker from the opposition team. And like I said, I wasn't even meant to be playing that game, the centre back didn't have overtime work. I'd probably be a gardener now, which is quite a scary thought having me doing people's gardens. But but yeah, and it was in that game where I had a really good game and ended up doing a really good job on that striker and went into the clubhouse after to meet my dad, you know, my dad was buzzing. I think it was one of my first games for the reserve team. And there was the Brentford scout in there, Sean O'Connor, who I've never come across before. And I just remember him coming up to me and saying, I thought you had a really good game. How old are you? And I said, 16. He said, you're joking. I was like, yeah, I think it probably took him back because naturally in a semi pro, you know, reserve team, you get a lot of older people, you know, beer bellies, 35 year olds that are trying to still hang on to a career. And then you've got someone like myself who is 16, probably stands out like so fun. But I think he didn't quite realize I was that young. And and yeah, he said to me, look, I was really impressed by you. I want you to come and train with Brentford under 18s on Tuesday night at Norfolk High School. They had like a 3G pitch there and didn't really know what to say. I was so shocked by it. And ended up telling my dad and my mom and yeah, like I said, I think I mentioned before I should have been a lot more buzzing. But in my head, I didn't really want to kickstart that process of going on trial again, getting sold. I'm not good enough. And then I kind of says mom, dad, I don't I don't want to go. I'm not in a headspace where I want to, you know, go for all that again. I'm enjoying my football. I'm enjoying life away from football. I'm in a good place at the minute. I don't don't really want to go. So before that game, Chris, and before that lad having to work overtime, a career in professional football looked a long, long way off for you. Yeah, yeah, it was a long way off. Even at that moment, you know, North Greenford reserve team, you know, I think there's a million steps between that and the Premier League. And yeah, even in that moment where the Brentford Scout came out to me and said he wants me to train with the under 16s, it still was not a realistic ambition for me to have. And hence why I sort of came away from it and just didn't really play in my mind at all. I didn't really process it. I didn't feel the need to process it because I was in a good place. And yeah, I didn't want to go through that. You've hinted at the answer to the next question already. What would you be if you weren't a footballer? Yeah, to be fair, it's a good question. Naturally, as time goes on, you end up meeting different people, you end up trying different things. So who knows? But definitely in that moment, it would have been a gardener. You know, my uncle Roy, who I had a really good relationship with. When you talk about how do I get into football? I remember when I was a Queen's Me in my high school, my uncle and auntie lived in Rye Slip, which is where my school was. And I remember every day after school, I'd take a five minute walk down to my uncle Roy's house and he'd take me to the local playing fields and we just have a kick about. And I used to really love spending time with him. And unfortunately, in 2010, he passed away with new own disease, which is obviously a horrible disease. And and yeah, in his sort of final days and when he was struggling bad physically, me and my dad would sort of help help the business. And it was a private family business, which was just him that sort of done the work and obviously to help take the load of him, me and my dad would help out in school holidays and and I'd go and me and my dad would try and sort of take over. And I think ultimately the business got passed down to my family. But my mom and dad were working full time at the time. So we ended up sort of passing it on to some close friends, Arthur and Tiffany, who who still run the business now. So yeah, I think that could have been an option for me, you know, taking it on myself. I would have needed to learn an awful lot because I really do struggle with gardening now. But I think with a few tips from from Roy through through some people, I would have been all right. But the second guess in my next question, do you do the gardening at home or do you get someone in and what's your favorite flower? Oh, I get someone in. As of this week, I've managed to kill two Bay Trees outside of my house. And funnily enough, literally today, I've had exchange messages with my partner. And she's now decided to take the Bay Tree out of the pot, try to replan it. And it didn't sit well me because I've done my research on the way in this morning and was trying to Google how to resurrect a Bay Tree and it's the complete opposite to what my partner did today. So funnily enough about gardening. Yeah, I'm going to need to get some expert advice on that. I think now buy some new Bay Trees. Back to the football, you made huge strides at Brentford progressing through the youth team development, God be team all the way through to the first team. Who had the biggest influence on your career when you were younger? Was it a coach? Was it a family member? Was it the guy that scouted you? Probably goes back to my uncle. If I'm honest, he played a massive part. I think just he was on the books of QPR and Brentford as a young lad. And when I ended up sort of moving into the Brentford set up, it just felt like it was the perfect story, you know, to follow in my uncle's footsteps of playing for Brentford. And like I said, then back to them days where I was sort of going for a bit of a tough time and school was my outlet and I'd go off school and, like I said, have a kick about my uncle and when he passed, I think something really sort of got into my head that I really wanted to make him proud. And like I mentioned, you know, I ended up joining Brentford. And for me, it was really powerful for myself and for my close family, you know, my auntie, really emotional for her, as you could imagine. And and yeah, I'd have been really pleased if he was was around to see the show and he'd I've been on, but in the background, he's played a massive, massive partner. Now, your league debut came against Derby in September 2017, and you lined up against Richard Keough. Last year, when we played Blackpool, I think you were chatting to him on the side of the pitch. What's the link there? Can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, it's a good question. I don't think I've ever been asked about Keough, but funnily enough, after so I played that Derby game came on at halftime. I think someone came, I think it might have been John Egan came off with concussion or someone came off injured at halftime. And as you can imagine, you know, you get told at halftime that you're coming on and you're an absolute bag of nerves, your calves are seizing up before you've even stepped down to the pitch. But yeah, I ended up having a really good half. And I think he texts my agent at the time. He said, Oh, tell tell mep him that he was really good today. You know, we tried to target him in the second half. We heard he was coming on. And yeah, we sort of played on on him all half, but he he stood up to everything and done really well. So that passed on a message. And, you know, Keough is like a really, really good player, you know, tons of experience in the championship and had an amazing career. Obviously still playing now. And to have a message like that passed on from someone like him was was really nice. And funny enough, we played when I started breaking in to the first team and playing more and more, we had Derby away. And I think we lost the game. Three nil. And I've gone over to the Brentford fans, obviously clapped them off and gone into the tunnel and Keough was waiting in the in the tunnel. No idea who he was waiting for. And I was sort of walking down and and he just came over to me and said, Oh, meps, can I grab your your top? And I was like, I was stashed up. I was thinking, you know, why do you want my top? I think I've only played a handful of games at this point. And I think he's the first and last person to have ever asked for my match shirt. So yeah, it's quite a quite a cool story of him. And and even now, I've got him on social media and we keep in touch. And, you know, we have a couple of measures every now and then. And I think Harry Wilson was with Derby and they got him really well. And, you know, obviously with me being so close to Harry, we kind of have like a mutual triangle. So yeah, really good guy, like I said, amazing career. And and yeah, something something as small as that, like a little message like that can really give you a massive lift. And and it did in that moment. And like I said, he is the only person to have ever asked my shirts. That's also a nice feeling. It's a brilliant story. Now, when you look over, you know, the players that you've watched the players that you've played against. Who would you say the greatest defender of your lifetime is? I've got probably two answers for that. So there's one I would say I sort of modeled my game on and that's John Stones. I think he's unbelievable. I think even when he was at Eberton and just broke in city, I remember he was getting a lot of them backlash at one point. I think a lot of people were sort of homing in on him defensively. I think there's never been any question marks with him on the ball. You know, he's so smooth, calm, collected, probably one of the best ball plan centre backs there is in my opinion. But I think those people question in his he had a mistake in him. He lacks concentration in moments. But I think if you look at the last couple of years under Pep Guardiola, you know, he's become an unbelievable defender alongside unbelievable on the ball. So I think together, you know, that makes a great defender and he's someone that probably shares physical attributes with me, you know, quite slim. So I think for me, when I watch players, I think it's important to watch a defender who probably defends like me. There's no point in me watching clips of Van Dyke. For however amazing he is, you know, we we're not gifted with the same. I'm certainly not gifted with the physical attributes that he is. So the way he'd defend and use his body would obviously be different to the way I use mine. So I think John Stones is a good one to watch. And yeah, I do watch a lot of him, to be honest. But I'd say best out and out defender. I think Sergio Ramos, unbelievable career. I think for me, he's got everything, quick, strong and out and out leader. You see the way he is, sort of commands people in the team. And yeah, like I said, his career speaks for itself again. The title was his one being part of that Real Madrid team for many years and now part of a very good PSG team. And yeah, I think he's someone that is is amazing in my position. Chris, you had a fantastic start to 2018-19 at Brentford and you were subject to quite a lot of speculation linking to you to other clubs, including AFC Bournemouth. You're only 21 at the time. What was that like for you? Yeah, another mad, you know, when we talk about looking back at a moment, that was certainly one. I actually remember like it was yesterday, I remember having a nap upstairs at my family home. And my dad's come running up the stairs and had a big smile on his face. And I was obviously gutted that he's just brought me up from this lovely nap that I was in. And like I said, he had a big smile on his face. And I said, what's up? And he was like, your agent John's just been on the phone and Bournemouth just put in a £6 million bid for you. I think this was the first time Bournemouth put in a bid. And I was like, you're joking. Like I genuinely thought it was a joke. Like I it's only until that happens that you probably I'd have no idea what my price tag was at that point, but I certainly didn't think it was that much. And he said, I think it was quite late on the window. And he said, look, I don't think anything's necessarily going to happen. Your agent was saying that Bramford are quite keen on keeping hold of you. And, you know, you've only just broken into the first team and they want to protect themselves and want you to be a part of them going forward. And so it kind of died before we got going. But again, it was a moment where it took me back. And I was like, what's like a Premier League team's coming in? And and yeah, that was amazing. But then it was important that when that didn't materialize that I used it as motivations carry on doing well. And carry on playing folks on that in the hope that the following window or the window after that, you know, I could get my dream moves to the Premier League. And I'm sure it will follow into your next question. It came in January 2019. Bournemouth's persistence obviously paid off. They got their man. Just tell us how it all came about from your side. Yeah, from my side. So I think there was there was a window after that where nothing happened. I believe in the summer, I think there was Beards and I had a meeting with Brentford and Brentford again, sort of stuck to the guns and said, look, you know, we're not in a position where we want to want to sell you. We still feel like you've got a lot to give for us. And and again, it was quite a I think the second time was a bit more difficult for me. I think the first time in the scheme of things, I probably felt like it was too soon. I've only just broken into the setup. I think the next window, I played a lot of games in the buildup to that window. So I felt like I was more mature, had more experience under my belt and felt like I was mentally more ready to to make that next step. Again, that didn't happen. And then, yeah, like I said, in the January January window, I had a couple of talks at Brentford and Brentford said, look, we're in a position now where we're willing to to let you go and fulfill your your potential, make your move. And and yeah, I just remember, you know, driving down and having a meeting with Eddie Howe, which I was amazed with, you know, I remember going in myself, my mom and dad were in the Analyst Suite and Eddie and Rich Tues were there and I had a presentation on the on the projector, basically about selling Bournemouth to me, but also showing me a lot of my clips from when I was at Brentford and was trying to show, you know, this is what we do here. And this is what you clearly can do in these Bournemouth clips and basically we're just trying to show me that was a fit for the club. And I think after that, meeting with Eddie, you know, I was 100% sold and coming here and lovely part of the country, lovely area, great club, great fans. You know, for me, it was a no brainer and I was delighted to get that move over the line. Chris, four of your first five games you played Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. So welcome to the Premier League, was that? Yeah, it was a it was a strong welcome. I think that's the thing, you know, it's very different to the championship, you know, championships, you know, very, very physical, a lot of direct teams. You see like the results yesterday, you know, how ruthless the league is and how unpredictable it is. But I think when you come into the Premier League, you know, the sheer quality and the players you're coming up against week and week out, there genuinely is no, no such easy game. And like you said, when you mentioned them teams, it was a nice introduction for me. And it was also made me realise what what a good level I'm now playing in. You scored your first Premier League goal on the opening day of the 2019-20 season. It was a one-one draw against Sheffield United. Once the duster sort of settled a little bit, did you ever think back to all those times where, you know, you were getting rejected and you sort of didn't really know whether you wanted to pursue a career in football? Yeah, I think the thing I've always found is for me, I don't know if it's the same for other people, it feels like it's happened a million miles per hour. And it feels like there's always been a next part of the journey. So I feel like I've never really had time to, it's probably only now where there's less games, you know, there's probably less focus in the week towards the games, where you probably take a step back and you can breathe a bit, but certainly, you know, it was like I obviously had that bid coming in initially from Bournemouth, then it was like the following window, then the following window I ended up getting a move, then I got my Wales senior call up, then I made my debut, then I've made my Premier League debut, you know, Euros, there's a lot happening. And I think you're most in a good way that there's stuff happening because it shows the progression you've got in your career. But I feel like, like I said in that moment, it is sometimes difficult to breathe. And yeah, I like to think now I'm in a position where I can take a bit of time and, you know, going to a World Cup is, if someone would have said to me, you know, you're playing in a Euros, a World Cup, you know, Premier League debut, Wales debut, I would have, you know, I really would have snapped a handle for it. So, see, I do have to pinch myself sometimes. But yeah, hopefully there's many more experiences that I can have. That 2019-20 season, it ended in relegation. It was also very forgettable for you from an injury point of view. Just tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, it was, you know, talking of tough moments that was certainly one of them. I ruptured my LCL in the match here against Lewin, I think, in the Cup game. That put me out for three, three and a half months and that was probably my first experience of being injured or having a significant injury. Sort of coming back from that and then obviously COVID-19 came about and then the whole season got paused for a while. So eager to come back from my injury and go straight back in and help the team and work my way back into the team. And then obviously when the season gets put on hold for another couple of months, it made it even harder because it feels like, whereas before it would have only been three months without a game, now with suddenly six months without a game. And it turns out it was a lot longer because before the restart happened, obviously I then, in Jermaine Maniscus, had another knee operation and yeah, ended up missing, I think I missed most of that, most of the restart. Obviously, you know, being in the stands when the team, you know, is losing and is on the brink of relegation was really hard for me. And I think a lot of people say that it's harder and more nerve-wracking when you're watching it than playing in it. At least when you're playing in a game, you can control staff and you can have an effect on it. But obviously sat in the stands, you've got no, you can't really help your teammates, you can't help anything. And yeah, that was a really difficult season for me, you know, injury-wise and also the club getting relegated. Yeah, it was a double blow for me. I think again, the season after, I think you had a, you picked up a calf injury which sort of robbed you of your place at the time. You must have thought you'd run over a black cat or something with all this bad luck. Yeah, I think that's the way football is, you know, the lows are really low. As you can imagine, and when you're in a spell where you feel like you can't catch a break, you know, I think in that particular season, I think I started the first 20 games up until the Swansea away game, where I ended up doing my injury in my calf. And I feel like I was playing really well then. The team was doing well, it was when Jason Cyndall was manager, we had a really good run of games. Individually, I felt like I had a run of games and was getting close to my best. And I've always sort of said that for me when I'm at my best and probably a lot of players is when you've got to run of games to showcase yourself. And I certainly had the opportunity to do that. And unfortunately, you know, Swansea away, it was quite a bad pitch that day. I remember sort of warming up and my calf felt tight in the warm-up. Speaking of bad pitches, that was definitely one of them. And yeah, I think at half time I sort of complained about it. And it was only at full time that I kind of realised the full extent of it and kind of felt like I've injured it quite bad. And yeah, like I said, when I found out news that I was out for, I think it was two months in the end, two and a half months, it sort of makes you think, you know, when am I going to get a break? It just feels like there's a lot of negative stuff happening and yeah, it's quite a difficult place. We try not to talk about that Swansea game, Chris, because I nearly wiped out the entire media department in the golden bus on the game for that night. Oh no. Please tell us. No, let's move on to another game that we don't want to talk about, Chris, the play-off semi-final against Brentford. When did you know you were going to get sent off as soon as you'd pulled Brian and Beo down? Yeah, yeah. To be honest, as you can imagine, I've watched that clip back over a lot of times. Naturally, you know, you want to look back and see how that situation even happened in the first place and what I could have done to do something different and I think football was just the sport full of instinct, you know, on the spot decisions. Obviously, in that case, the completely wrong decision to bring him down, but it splits like a moment where I've taken the heavy touch. He's going for a goal. In a sense, I could have been the hero if I brought him down and we won the game and you'd go through and it would have been the best thing that I could have done in that moment or the other way, which is the way that it did go, where I bring him down. We're now down to 10 men trying to hold onto a lead and ultimately, you know, 10 men against 11 is going to be tough and ultimately, obviously, Brentford got back into the game and ended up progressing and getting promoted to the Premier League. Yeah, like I said, I hold a lot of responsibility for that and I think it's important for me too. But yeah, like I said, it is obviously a split scissor moment and looking back, I obviously would have hopefully not taken that heavy touch in the first place, but definitely would have made a different scissor. When did it sort of hit you that taking one for the team which backfired had all had cost the teams at the final whistle? Was it on the way home? When was it? Did it really hit you? No, so I think that was just before halftime. I remember going in, Jimmy Glass sort of walked me in and I just remember sat there. I think cry my eyes out. Just, you know, what we spoke about a couple of minutes ago about feeling like you're in you're in a place where you can't catch a break. You have got no sort of like certainly again felt like I was in that in that space. And I just had my head in my hands. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know whether to watch the rest of it, whether to watch it in the changing rooms. And I remember going back up into the stands for the second half literally sat there praying that the team hangs on and ultimately we progressed into the playoff final. And I think they scored quite early in the second half. They then score another goal to take the lead. And I think it was that moment where, you know, it felt like my world's come crashing down on me. And, yeah, as you can imagine, a very low place in that moment. Am I right in thinking that after that game you came off social media for a little bit just because of all the abuse that you were receiving? Yeah. Yeah. You can imagine, you know, going on your phone after that game, not wanting to go on it for any particular reason, just, you know, having messages from your mum and dad and your friends and your close family were messaging me. But of course, in between the messages, you obviously get notifications come through and my Instagram was going off and on start. My Twitter was going off. And as you can imagine, the stuff coming through wasn't particularly nice stuff. So I think it was that moment where I just felt to myself, you know, I'm not going to benefit from seeing those messages come through. I know it's my fault. I know that if that moment didn't happen, that the game probably would have ended very differently. But I'm not going to benefit from seeing those types of messages. So I think I remember that evening I think I sort of deactivated my Twitter for I think you can select it for like a period of time. I think I've done it for like a month just until things blew over. And I think my Instagram was sort of signed out of. And then it was just a case of, you know, anything that was coming through was just positive stuff from family and sort of checking in. And yeah, I think in that moment it was probably the best thing for me just to sort of shut off from everything. And it was quite weird because that was obviously my last club game. But I then had a Euro tournament to prepare for. So I remember sort of spring to my mom and dad again and just said, I really have no motivation for this. You know, I'm now going to be playing in a major tournament. I didn't feel like I was in a headspace to do that. Of course, naturally, when it blows over in a couple of days after you sort of come back around and your your focus and your thoughts are now really positive and looking forward to it. And to be fair, Rob Page was was amazing in that moment. I remember we had a Portugal training camp and that was three days after the playoff game. And literally as soon as I got to the hotel, the manager Rob pulled me and just said, look, like, don't for one second think about that moment anymore. You're going to be massive for me in this tournament. I know what a good player you are. You know what a good player you are. And for me, you're going to be huge in this tournament. You're going to be starting most games. And make sure you're ready and look forward to the. And I think it was at that moment where I kind of flipped my mindset and I was quite positive and I was looking forward to it and naturally a little bit nervous still because of my last involvement was obviously that playoff game. But yeah, I think I done well in that tournament and it kind of show me the highs and lows of football that the one game you feel rock bottom. And then when you're beating Turkey in Euros and qualifying for the last 16, you know, that's that's the two very contrasting experiences. Now, before we move on, because I'm sure you don't want to talk about it anymore, obviously a lot at the moment is made of mental health in this day and age. And rightly so, how did that affect your mental health and do you do feel that that experience has made you a stronger person, especially, you know, getting straight back out there and playing in a major tournament? Yeah, I think I had no other choice. You know, it was I was always going to represent my country. I was always going to go to the Euros. But I think, honestly, if you were to ask me in that moment, would I have wished the tournament wasn't then? I probably would have said, yeah, because I wish I had better preparation going into that tournament and I wish I didn't have that negative moment being my last thing I do before I now suddenly go in front of 90,000 fans in the Euros and have a whole country sort of, yeah, putting their faith into to you individually and you as a team. And but looking back at it now, it 100% was the best thing for me. Had I not had that tournament and had a good tournament, I probably would have dwelled on it over the summer. And as you can imagine, it's a long time from that playoff game to the start of the following season. So it would have been a whole summer of, you know, being down probably. And I probably would have come around eventually, but I think having that tournament was was amazing for me. It was good for my confidence and sort of show to me that I can do it, you know, even on a. Even in a major competition on one of the biggest stage in football, I can do that. And like I said, the preparation wasn't great going into it. But even with not great preparation, I can still give a good account of myself and and and do well. Now, you and the team certainly showed your powers of recovery last season. It was such a rollercoaster ride in the championship as we know that's exactly what that leagues about. But when did you actually think that, you know, we're on for promotion here? This could be possible. To be honest, you look at. I'll start in line up first game of the season. You look at it on paper and you think this is a strong team, you know, a lot of lads that are now, you know, flourishing in in the Premier League now this season were were playing last season, you know, Dominic Slanky, Jefferson Lermer, Adam Smith. You know, it's not too dissimilar team from last season. So you think with to me, you've had a really good season this season, you know, individually, I think a lot of people have come a long way. As a team, I think we've been competitive in every game. Bar and a couple, you know, obviously, Liverpool Man City is always going to be tough. I think they're on another planet or certainly was that day. But yeah, I think, like I said, you look at that start 11 and and there's no reason why that that team shouldn't get promoted. And you know, it's got Park done an amazing job for the team. And and ultimately, you know, there was a couple of moments where you think, you know, it's not quite going away now. But yeah, I think ultimately we deserve to go up. I think the football we played last year and some of the results we got were were amazing. And I think over a period of 46 games, I think if you're in the top two, come the end of it, I think you deserve to go up. And we were in the top two, so 100 percent we deserve to get promoted. Where does the Nottingham Forest win rank in your list of memorable evenings, if you like? Yeah, one of the best ones, definitely. It was, you know, it was tough last year. You know, I was kind of away from the team or it felt like I was away from the team for a lot of games. You know, it's tough watching your teammates play every week and you're running after games. And but one thing I always promise myself is that I was going to be positive and I was going to not mope around, not so, you know, be positive for my teammates, give loads of encouragement. And for me, I think because I had that mindset, it meant when I did come on, I felt engaged in it. And I still felt important last year. You know, there was a lot of games where we were sort of hanging on to a lead or trying to see out a game. And I was sort of like the go to man as such to sort of come on and see a game out. And again, in that forest game, you know, I think I only came on for five minutes, but I felt important when I came on. And yeah, a very special night for everyone. The celebrations were pretty good as well. So yeah, and obviously I mentioned Keith Moore. Obviously delighted for him to obviously be away for it for so long, have that injury and then come on and score the one of the most important goals, probably in the club's history after Steve Fletcher's. But yeah, very, very special night. Steve Fletcher's didn't get it in the Premier League. You do know that, don't you? That is true. That is true. Tell us something that we don't know about Keith or Moore. I don't know. I wouldn't say he's that mysterious a man. I think what you see is what you get. I don't know if there's any, without dobbing him in, I don't know if there's any ones that pop to mind, but maybe by the end of the podcast, I can try and finger one. Bad dress sense or anything like that. Yeah, bad dress sense. If you try and get a picture of the outfit he wore today into training, it is unacceptable. So please do and do try and follow that up. It's a bright rainbow-colored adidas track too, but I remember him walking in and I think that was about, I think it was like me, Ryan Christie, Stace just came in at this point and I think we all just looked at each other and just thought, what on earth has he done here? It is a bad, but to be fair to him, his dress sense, I don't mind. I'm not a massive lover, but I don't massively hate it either. One thing I do want to ask, because I know you Keith, Ryan Christie, Jack Stace, you're all quite close to each other. When you go on a coach to away games, what are you playing a game, I think, aren't you? What are you playing? Is it cards or is it? Yes, it's a game called nominations. It's probably got a lot of different, probably different people call it different, I would call it niggle or nominations and it's a version of Trump's. Do you know Trump's, like the card game? But instead of just playing hand, you need to predict, once you receive your cards, how many hands do you think you're gonna win? And the idea is that if you say, I think I'm gonna win free hands and I'll win my free hands, I then get 10 bonus points. If someone guesses that they're gonna win two hands but only win one, you just get two points. And after about 15 rounds, you add it up. There might be a little bit of money involved, but nothing too drastic, just enough to stop people just, you know, messing around with the game, but some bad players in that as well, some very bad players. During a memorable summer, your partner, Jodie, became your fiance. Now, apart from disagreeing on pop plans, how important a role has she played in your life, your career? Yeah, she's been amazing to be honest. So cool and calm, which is a weird way to probably describe your partner, but I think she's very level-headed and, you know, when I've had some bad days at football where I haven't been selected for a game or I'm sat in a stand or trained with a 23s and I come back. I think it's nice coming back to someone as very calm and sees the other side. I think naturally I can be quite emotional when I think that things are the end of the world and can be quite down and she's very like, very level-headed and certainly for me, I've had some tough moments, like I mentioned in this podcast, and throughout all their moments, she's been so supportive. Picked me up, encouraged me and yeah, she's there every day for me when I need her and she's very, very supportive. I was just gonna say, I got home after the Everton game the other night. I don't know whether your partner's into football, but my wife said to me, I see that Jamal Defoe scored the other night. Jamal Defoe. He was Jamal Defoe last night, I'll give him that. What about your parents? You've spoken about your uncle Roy, what about your parents, the role they've played in your career? Yeah, they've been massive. Like I mentioned before, my dad was doing, I think my dad was working two jobs at the time. He was a black cab driver and he was also a lorry delivery driver for the Royal Mail. So he was obviously working two jobs to try and, provide financial support for the family and to make sure that we go on nice holidays and that we get to go on school trips and all that sort of stuff. My mum's a high school teacher, head of modern languages. She was actually my teacher for a term at my high school, which was a bit of a weird one. Never quite know what to call her. If I called her mum, I got laughed at and if I called her Mrs. Meppen, I got laughed at. So it was a bit of a tricky one, but no, both of them, I think I mentioned it, that day where I came back from the Uxbridge game where the Brentford Scout pulled me and told me that he wanted me to train at Norfolk with the Brentford under 18s and obviously my mindset was very much no, like I don't wanna do that. And to be honest, I literally remember this exact sentence, my mum was saying, Chris, I 100% believe in you, I don't care if you do, but if you're not gonna do it for yourself, do it for me, because I wouldn't be able to live by myself if I didn't push you. And in years to come, there's always that question, what if I would have pushed you? And I literally remember her saying that and she said, if you're not gonna do it for yourself, do it for me, make me proud. And at least that way, I hold my hands up and I say that I encourage you to do it. And at least that way, you know that it's not for lack of trying. And I think genuinely I went to that training session to give my mum the benefit of the doubt and to almost as a, okay, fine, I'll go for you. If you're saying, do it for me, then how can I not go? And I think that's the mindset I had towards that training session. And yeah, it was obviously that training session where I'd done well and end up joining Brentford in the youth team and having a two-year scholarship and then kickstarted that journey. So yeah, I've got a lot to thank them for. But no, again, throughout the whole process of me being a professional footballer, they've been extremely supportive and I still pay a lot of them. I owe a lot to them because they've been a massive part of it. Now I've got a couple more before we go into some final quickfire questions from supporters. Obviously, you've been ever present this season. You've got your suspension to serve on the SASS service. It'll go out after that Everton League game. But just give us a quick summary of how it's gone so far. Yeah, I've loved it. I've really enjoyed it. I obviously wish that we had more points on the board because I really do feel like we deserve to have more points on the board. You look at last couple of games for us. Spurs, Leeds, you know, two games where I feel like we really, really did deserve to win the game. I think you play a top four team in Spurs and on that particular day, I thought we controlled the game. I didn't feel like we, certainly first half didn't look like conceding. Of course, naturally, they're gonna come out far and second half, but I still feel like we were in enough control to see that game out. And certainly the same goes for the Leeds game. See, I wish we had more points on the table, but individually I feel like I'm in a good place. I feel like I've been putting performances in close to my best. Of course, you've always got room for improvement and I'm always the first one to look back at ways I can improve. And I think it's important to do that. But yeah, I've been pleased. It's obviously quite a contrast to last season where I found it difficult getting in the team and didn't have to run a games. And I'm really pleased that I've been given like a good opportunity this year to show what I can do. And hopefully come the end of season, we're still in the Premier League and hopefully I can't play the full amount of games because I've obviously been suspended, but play a good amount of games. So it's contributed towards hopefully a successful season. And just finally, is it too early for you to think about after football? Yeah, to be honest, again, I'd have no idea what life after football looks like. Yeah, I think obviously I'm only 25s. There's probably different opportunities that crop up. You know, I could end up enjoying the coaching element. I think at the moment I'm quite fixed on being as good a footballer as I can. And I think that's a conversation for hopefully closer to 32, 33. Travelling the world though, you said you wanted to do that when you finished. Yeah, yeah, I think that's one thing. That's one thing as well with being an international footballer. Of course, it's got a million and one positives to it, but the only downside is obviously you miss opportunities to go and have a bit of downtime away from football and shut off mentally. So I think if I've got that hopefully for the next, you know, seven, eight, nine years, then hopefully when I do retire, I'm in a position where I've got a good amount of time to hopefully explore the world as someone I'm sure me and my partner would love to do. Just going to close with some supporter questions. Chris, it's probably fair to say that we probably had more questions for you than we've had for anyone else. We've picked out the best ones. Peter is asking if you've ever played golf with Gareth Bale and if so, who won? I haven't actually had a round with Gaz, but I've witnessed his tee shot. We played a course in over the summer. We went to Portugal for like a training camp, warm weather training camp, and we played out a lovely, lovely course by our training camp, the Cascade. And I think we was the four ball behind Gaz's four ball. And yeah, I've seen his first tee shot and it's pretty special. It was better than my first tee shot anyway. So, not that my first tee shot is great at all, but he's a good golfer and obviously here is a handicap, I believe it's like three or four. As you can imagine, obviously being a professional footballer and having a handicap of that takes some doing. Murphy wants to know who is the funniest player in the squad. That's the Bournemouth squad. Yeah, there's a couple to be fair to. Ben Pearson never fails to amuse me. I think even if he's not trying to be funny, he's just naturally, you know, his character. He's very carefree, you know, just incel just someone that's just dead relaxed and yeah, a very funny guy, but also I say someone like Ryan Christie, I find very humorous. I have some good laughs with him day in, day out. Adam Smith, I wouldn't say Adam Smith is funny, but his laugh is, as you guys could probably imagine, very infectious and you can hear Adam's laugh from a mile away. Isaac wants to know that if you could pick any hairstyle for Philip Billing, what would it be? I do like, I'm trying to think, Phil's had a couple. Yeah, I don't know what Phil, I quite liked when Phil had the, I wouldn't know what it's called. Yeah, like the braids are quite like that one, where you had it like dead short on the side and then had the braids sort of coming over. But no, Phil's a cool guy, he's always, always dressing well, always got a good head of hair on him. So yeah, whatever Phil wants to go with really. A question that's come in during the podcast, funnily enough, this doesn't happen before. It's from Henry in Hounslow. He's saying, if you wanted a staycation, would it be Hammersmith or Harrow? Oh, I'll tell you what. That's like the Maldives or Seychelles, isn't it, Hounslow? Probably Hammersmith. Yeah, I should be saying Harrow, I know, but I think Hammersmith's slightly nicer. The last one from me is from Allison. Do you know all the words to the Welsh football song that's played before kick-off at the Cardiff City Stadium? No, but I really am keen to learn it. It's one that I think's taken everyone by surprise. I think it's only probably the last year or so when it started getting played at Wales Games where it's become more popular and a lot of Wales fans have sort of caught on to it. No, it is a very good song. But I'd be lying if I said I knew the words to it. But that's not to say that come a couple of weeks I wouldn't have learned it because it would be good to learn. It doesn't sound like that. Now, James wants to know, where's your favourite place in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas? Where do you like to go? To be honest, I've got a little miniature dash-ound me and my partner, so we love just to walk down the beach, to be honest. I think there could be one day where you don't have a beach on your doorstep, so I think it's important that you make the most of it. When the weather's nice, I think there's no better way to spend an afternoon just shutting down. I find it really relaxing, having a walk down there with a dog. I'm also really into my coffee, so I do like going to some coffee shops. I've got to give a shout-out to Richard Slade at Bosconova. I go there a lot. On days off, I always have breakfast there, and also ounce coffee I really like in Westbourne. You'll find me there quite a lot on days off, even after training. Dinner-wise, Dragonfly, 8-0-5, I really like. I should be on commission for all these places. You should be, I was just thinking the same thing. I'd better be getting free breakfast and free coffee from them. Now, this next question, I definitely recognise who this is from. This is our club chef. He wants to know whether you can cook anything apart from pesto pasta. No is the answer to that. Actually, my partner was coming back late from work, she had a late finish, and she put in a request that I cooked for her. Normally, I've got the same dish that I do, which is what Ez is referring to, which is the fresh pesto, knocky or fresh pesto pasta. In our house, it goes down unbelievable. I love it. My partner loves it. But I thought I'd try and switch it up the other day, and I decided to try and make a broccoli cashew, chickpea, kind of satay rice dish, and I just remember my mrs. saying to me, I think, stick to what you know, basically referring to me to stick with the pesto knocky, because it wasn't great. I followed the recipe really well, but it didn't taste great. Oren wants to know, what's your favourite kit this season? Do you know what? I really like the purple lilac one. It was quite funny. I remember when that kit got released, I remember there was a bit of people saying, is it a bit out there for an away kit? But no, I really like it. I think it's quite like beachy vibes, which is different for a football kit, but I'm more than happy to put that kit on. But also the iconic red and black stripes, I like most kits. And just finally, one from Sam. He wants to know, who is the second best centre-back in the league and how far behind you is he? It's a great question. So is he referring to me as the best centre-back in the league? He is indeed. He's referring to you as the best centre-back in the league. He must know his football now. That's really nice of him. Yeah, take that question away, but I'll say Van Dyke. I think, yeah, I think. Well, there we go, Sam. You heard it here first. Now, Meps, we thoroughly enjoyed having you here on the official AFC Bournemouth podcast. Thank you for taking the time to come in and on behalf of everyone at AFC Bournemouth, we wish you all the best for the World Cup and Qatar. Thank you very much. Cheers, guys. Now, if you've enjoyed listening to our podcast, we would absolutely love it if you could like and subscribe on whatever platform you're listening on. We'd also be very grateful for any shares on social media, AFC Bournemouth-related or the general football fan could enjoy it too. Our thanks again to Chris Meppam and from Neil Parrott and myself, Zoe Rundle. Thank you for tuning in to the official AFC Bournemouth podcast.