Maisie Adam and Suzi Ruffell on the growth of women’s football, shirt collections and ditching roast potatoes

Lovely to meet you! To start, can you just give us a little introduction to what Big Kick Energy is in a few words?

Maisie: I mean it came about after the success of the first time the Lionesses won the Euros, which feels amazing to say.

Suzi: Yeah it really does.

Maisie: Suzi and I have been mates for a while through standup, but I’m a lifelong football fan and Suzi’s the newer fan, and it came about in the run up to the 2023 World Cup. The idea was to try and make Suzi a football fan, fair to say that's what happened.

Suzi: It worked. Initially we were just going to do it for the World Cup – like a limited series about someone getting into football, or a friend trying to drag another friend into football.

Maisie: Yeah. Being able to ask the questions that a new fan should and can be able to ask, but sometimes football can feel a bit exclusive. Like a club that you’ve got to know a certain amount of knowledge to be in.

Suzi: And I knew nothing.

Maisie: But I think that was something to be celebrated, and we kind of wanted to make sure this was a podcast that young people could listen to, older people, people with their kids, people with their friends. Wherever you’re from, whoever you support, if you’re new to the game. We just like celebrating it. We just have a laugh really.

Suzi: We do. We just have a laugh and celebrate the growth of the women’s game.

Maisie: And it went so well in the run up to the World Cup that then we were like “Shall we carry this on in the domestic season?” and that was two years ago.

Suzi: Yeah, and now it’s become one of the best parts of our week.

Maisie: It’s great. It’s really really cool. We’ve done a tonne of live shows all around the country with various Lionesses and footballers and we’re really proud of the audience we’ve curated. I think it’s been really validating to see that the audience we thought we were trying to create something for, not only exists, but exists in droves. I think the main difference, especially as a lifelong fan, between women's football and men's football, is that it is for everybody and no matter your relationship to it, this is a space for you. I think we definitely see that reflected at games, but we certainly see it reflected in our audiences don’t we?

Suzi: We really do. That is so much more than a few words. Sorry.

Maisie: [Laughs]. Sorry yeah, you can chop that down.

You mentioned talking to some Lionesses, and you’ve had a big year this year with guests like Leah Williamson and Beth Mead, not to mention the entire Euros summer. Which episode was your favourite to record that you’d recommend to some first time listeners of the podcast?

Suzi: Well, if you want to hear us at our happiest and most chaotic, I would say the episode where we're both quite hungover after the Euros win is quite a lot of fun.

Maisie: Yes! Live from Switzerland.

Suzi: Live from Switzerland. But if people are thinking about listening, or maybe they’ve watched some international football but they’ve never watched domestic stuff, we did a little preseason episode where we spoke about the different teams and who you might like to support, and a little bit about our journey into football.

You’ve had fans tell you that they’ve come to the podcast for football and left fans of comedy and vice versa, what does it feel like to know that you’re opening doors for people in both directions?

Suzi: The thing that we’ve wanted to get across more than anything is how everyone can be part of this club. No one’s excluded, no one’s left out. It’s for all of us, and I think that’s what our stand up’s like.

Maisie: I was going to say, I don’t think there’s any reason why football shouldn’t feel like a stand up gig, because they both result in a similar feeling as an audience member. It’s about finding your tribe and being part of something– in a stand up gig you’re all laughing together at the same thing.

Suzi: There’s a communal part of it that makes it feel like you’re part of something, which is really important.

Maisie: And that’s the same with football. You all celebrate a goal together or you all sing a chant together. It’s about that togetherness. Football can feel like a comedy gig, some bits go well and some bits don’t.

Suzi: [Laughs].

Maisie: And comedy can feel like a football game as well with everybody getting right into it, coming with their mates, coming on their own, it doesn’t matter.

These sentiments of togetherness ring true throughout the BKE live show, with the common ground of Big Kick’s signature comedy uniting audience members in Arsenal shirts with those in Chelsea shirts.

A section of the show dedicated to Maisie and Suzi’s pre-prepared football chants to the tunes of popular Christmas songs gives the crowd a chance to show off their match-ready pipes and creates an unforgettable atmosphere that could only possibly be a result of the comedy-football fusion that the pair have mastered.

Both comedy and football can be seen as quite male dominated spaces, what does it mean to you to be carving out space for women in those industries?

Maisie: I think, certainly for me and my experience growing up, the only football I saw was men’s, the only people I knew playing it at school were the boys, it wasn’t a girl’s thing, and that was really frustrating because I really loved it, and it’s ridiculous that it was like that because, like we said it’s just as accessible as a comedy gig.

There’s no reason why football can’t feel like that, and I think we’ve seen reflected in our audience, people who are like me and have always loved it and people who have always wanted to like it but haven’t felt welcome there because of how male dominated it is and because there’s a lot of homophobia associated with football, there’s a lot of racism associated with football, and sexism and misogyny– some of the worst stuff I’ve ever heard has been at men’s football grounds. And that’s not to say it’s all men’s football fans, but it’s definitely a problem that does exist in the men’s game, and it’s cultivated a culture that’s very different to the culture of women’s football, would you say Suze?

Suzi: I totally agree and linking it up with stand up. Everything has been male dominated for a long time, absolutely everything if you look at the top of any industry, and I’ve been doing stand up a little bit longer than Mais, I’m a little bit older. Although, people do think that Maisie is producer Charlie’s mum. [Laughs].

But when I was starting stand up it was unthinkable that two women would be on a bill together, it would just never ever happen, and then we realised that there was an enormous audience out there that loved watching female comics, and that there’s loads of men out there who love watching female comics and that a bill that is diverse is a bill that is more interesting for everybody. And similar to football, there’s still a way to go– I can’t think of a woman who hosts a comedy show on telly. But I think the world is improving, hopefully, but certainly watching the rise of these brilliant women in the WSL and globally, as well as at home with the Lionesses, gives us so much to be hopeful for and so much to be proud of and we’re still on that journey, but it’s an exciting time to be involved in both of those spaces.

You’ve both got extensive shirt collections, as well as your own recently released Big Kick Energy football shirt, what is your favourite football shirt you own and why?

Maisie: Oh god.

Suzi: Yours is Man United isn’t it?

Maisie: No. Behave. Behave. I’m a Leeds fan.

Suzi: [In a Yorkshire accent] I’m a Leeds fan. Marching on together.

Maisie: That is outrageous. But my favourite shirt, that’s a tough one. I really liked the Leeds United away kit in 2020, the dark green and dark bluey-black one, that’s quite nice because we also got promoted so that was great. The person you want to be asking here is Suzi because Suzi’s got the extensive collection. I have Leeds United shirts, England shirts, and a couple of Brighton shirts because that’s where I live. With Suzi it’s probably quicker to name shirts she doesn’t have. The biggest struggle with Big Kick Energy is that I’ve adored Suzi’s foray into football and she’s become such a big fan, it’s a bit of a Frankenstein’s monster situation in that she doesn’t understand–

Suzi: She doesn’t understand.

Maisie: No she does understand, she refuses to accept that you have one team that you must follow.

Suzi: I follow Brighton! I just like wearing different shirts.

Maisie: From every other club. How many do you think you’ve got? Which is your favourite?

Suzi: About 30. I like the Shrewsbury Town FC kit that was given to me at a show, that was really nice.

Maisie: Oh yeah she gets a lot of them given to her, that helps.

Suzi: I was given one for Kendal the other day that was quite nice.

Maisie: What’s the orange one with the shiny badge?

Suzi: Glasgow City. That’s a really nice shirt. I actually don’t love the Brighton shirts but I have to say Brighton because I love Brighton. I like the retro England ones with the collars which heavily influenced our Big Kick shirts.

Maisie: I really like the black England away shirt from this year’s Euros, that looks slick.

Suzi: It does. What else do I like? I like that Arsenal one, the purple and blue third shirt, that’s nice.

Maisie: Oh god. You’ve opened a can of worms here. I could come back in an hour and you’d still be listing them. Am I wrong?

Suzi: No. And I like the green England keeper’s kit, but I think those highlighter colours are hard to pull off.

Last but not least, in keeping with the festive spirit, start, bench, sell: Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets and roast potatoes.

Suzi: Ooooh.

Maisie: Sell the roast potato immediately.

Suzi: Yeah, I would too. And then I would start with…

Maisie: Start the yorkshire pudding. You’ve got to have the yorkshire pudding because you’ve already got meat.

Suzi: And it’s nice to have a soup of gravy, and then bite into it.

Maisie: Yes. A pig in blanket is just extra meat, you’ve already got turkey or gammon or whatever. Start the yorkshire pudding, bench the pig in blanket, sell the roast potato.

Suzi: I’m with you.

Maisie: Great.