Utah Royals FC Show

Episode #20 - The Big 20 with Gunny Jónsdóttir

It is Episode 20! Being so, it warrants an extremely special guest. The one, the only, Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir.

Gunny was born in a country with less than 350,000 people. Her incredibly bold and passionate personality is a culmination of what it means to be Icelandic both on and off the pitch. In this one, Wirtjo has the pleasure of discussing with the fan favorite Icelandic culture, adjusting to life in Utah, making her debut at 14 years of age, the clap, her style of play, the World Cup, and much more. 

We hope you enjoy this very special episode of the Royals FC Show. Twenty episodes is a big milestone, and we look forward to the many more yet to come.

Episode #19 - A Royal Press Announcement, Killing Courage

Silly season, silly season, we love silly season! Before we talk about silly season, we have to point out how ironic, yet awesome it is that three individuals whom support our show all happen to have birthdays on the same day, June 18. So, thanks so much to those folks and everyone else for all of their support. 

The main attraction - silly season! We thought that it might be coming, we didn’t think that it would happen so quickly. A massive three-team trade has disrupted the NWSL. We express our excitement and our reservations about the deal, and more importantly detail what it is that Utah Royals FC fans can expect from Christen Press and Samantha Johnson (don’t sleep on her!) 

We finish the show recapping the amazing goal Ratcliffe scored. Wow, what a goal that was, easily one of the highlights of the season as well as a quick preview of the game against the Chicago Red Stars.

Episode #18 - WORLD CUP HYPE!!!! Royals Trying for 2017, and NC Courage

Wow. What an episode this one is. It’s long. Sorry. Sorta, not really sorry. Wirtjo makes a fool of himself a lot. It’s a funny one.

We talk about a lot of things, and we mean a lot. We start off with a quick RSL Women recap, then move on to why Christen Press may or may not be making her way to Utah, and end with a conversation between Cindy and her friend Aaron about the upcoming match against the best team in the league, the North Carolina Courage.

In between those, we spend the vast majority of podcast discussing all things international. We talk a bit about the hype for the World Cup which kicks off Thursday, whom we are rooting for, and who we think are going to ultimately win it all. Of more importance to our fanbase, we discuss the state of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France and how the qualifiers look for our international players. So far, Elise Thorsnes, Rachel Corsie, and Gunny Jonsdottir could all still qualify with their respective teams, an astoundingly exciting prospect, we of course dive into a lot more specifics.

Episode #17 - Faces of a Fanbase #1 W/ Britt and Josh as well as a Week Recap

This one is a little weird. Finding a time to all get together this week was challenging so Wirtjo did a quick 10 minute recap covering all things regarding the Royal Family this week. The most important part of the episode, however, is that it’s the very, very beginning of Faces of a Fanbase where we interview Royals Fans just like you.

In this one Wirtjo gets to talk to Brittany and Josh. Both of whom live on the East Coast but are avid royals fans nonetheless.

Episode #16 - Pricked by Thorns with Blue Skies Ahead (hopefully).

Hope you enjoyed the special three episode week last week. Back to normalcy a bit this week with only one episode.

In this one, as always we break down the match. The Royals didn’t have an incredibly poor performance, but they couldn’t finish their chances and got burned by Christine Sinclair early who nabbed her astounding sixth goal in only nine games. Gunny drew some fouls, bringing her total to the year to 29, and due to her hustle we all deem her to be our player of the match.

Up ahead this weekend, the Royals take on Sky Blue FC, a team who is still winless and at the bottom of the table with only one point. That said, only one of their losses has been by more than one goal. Expect it to be a trap game.

We close by answering a lot of questions, including the supposed “sideline sprinting fiasco.” We had some fantastic inquiries come in this week. Thanks to everyone who contributed to that, keep them coming.

We’re also looking for a few more people to talk to for our Faces of a Fanbase miniseries. If you happen to be a Royals fan out of state, are a younger soccer player and have been influenced by the presence of the franchise, or are a former KC Blue fan and can spare 10-15 minutes be sure to hit Wirtjo up on the twitters @wirtjogets2yell. You can hit up the rest of us at @RFCShow, @sirveaux24, @cinderL9, or use the hashtag #RFCShow on Twitter.

Episode #15 - Interview with Erika Tymrak

Shortly before she scored the game-winner in her Utah Royals FC starting debut last Saturday, Wirtjo had the opportunity to sit down with the 2013 NWSL Rookie of the Year herself.

In it, he and Erika Tymrak talk about a variety of things ranging from animal cruelty/veganism, her dog - who frankly is a great doggo -, life in Utah, mental toughness, favorite players, short-term goals, and many other topics. It’s an episode that you definitely don’t want to miss. Thanks for tuning into the Royals FC Show.

Don’t forget to treat yourself and follow a good doggo on instagram @_sirchai_ #adoptdontshop. Many borks, boops, and happiness guaranteed from an adorable woofer.

Episode #14 - RSL Women 101 Special Spectacular

Episode #13 - Mail, Injuries, Dash, and Four on the Road.

Wow. We are a third of the way through the season. Exciting, yet disappointing that so much football has already gone by. In this one, we incorporated some post-game press conference audio from Laura Harvey and Erika Tymrak since Cindy was able to attend the press conference after the game.

We Have Mail! Thanks Nick B and Family. We spend a bit of time talking about fan/player relationships in the NWSL and how it differs from the MLS and other leagues. We also give an injury update. Elise Thorsnes is expected to be back by this weekend or the next. Twenty-four year old Alex Arlitt has unfortunately joined Mandy Laddish on the Season Ending Injury list. Kelley O’Hara is at least a couple of weeks out, but most likely longer than that.

Additionally, we address the latest match against the Dash, which was filled with offensive excitement, and way too many fouls. We also talk about and give our score predictions for the upcoming road trip games against the Portland Thorns, Sky Blue FC, North Carolina Courage, and the Chicago Red Stars.

We have got a lot of exciting things coming out soon. Keep an eye out for two more episodes this week. One focused entirely on RSL Women and the other being Wirtjo’s sit-down with Erika Tymrak.

Episode #12 - Interview with Taylor Lytle

Hey, everybody! We got a special episode of the Royals FC Show. Before the Portland game, I had the cool chance to chat with Utah Royals midfielder Taylor Lytle, one of the first players to come to Utah via a trade last December.

In our chat, featured on the latest Royals FC Show, we hear about how Lytle got into soccer, the NWSL as a league, her time with Sky Blue FC, coming to Utah, and playing for a new organization like the Royals and with Laura Harvey as her head coach.

I also asked her what has been challenging about being a sub this season and having limited playing time as opposed to her time with Sky Blue where she was a starter, and how, as an athlete, did she approach that going into practice every day and how she contributes to the team.

We also realize that our hometowns are 45 minutes away from each other in the good ol’ Southwest, which is pretty sweet!

Towards the end, we break away from the traditional questions to learn about Lytle’s favorite soccer team, favorite player growing up, the best part about her home state, funniest player on the team, and how team chemistry in #URFC is growing each game.

And in case you missed it, check out my awesome journalism piece on Taylor Lytle that was published this week here on the Soapbox.

Thanks for listening,

Cindy

Episode #11 - Wear sunscreen, be careful kids, Houston Dash Preview, and other nuggets of wisdom.

t’s episode 11! We have an official Twitter now. Lots and lots of exciting things coming up not only in this episode, but look for unique special releases coming in the next few weeks.

The Utah Royals FC has six, yes SIX, different players who have signed up to be on the roster for Playing For Pride. How it works is that every player on the roster donates $5 a game, $4 for an assist, and then $6 per goal to the Human Rights Campaign. Some fans are matching players to contribute to a good cause. Here’s the link if you have further interest. On that note, we don’t like Eddie Robinson the new assistant coach for the Houston Dash as a person, at all.

Additionally, we had a lot of awesome questions come in for this episode, so we spend a lot of time at the end going over some of your thoughts.

Public Service Announcement: Saturday’s game is at 1:30 PM. Don’t be like Wirtjo, wear sunscreen.

Episode #10 - Paint the World Gold, Revenge, and Random Ramblings.

Welcome to the Royals FC Show! We won! We won! We won! It was obvious that it was coming, but getting it done on our home pitch feels so good, and what a celebration it was after. A big thank you to all the fans who stuck around and shared such a special moment with us.

This one is a bit of a random one and slightly all over the place. We talk about Amy Rodriguez’s goals per 90, drop a potential Ashley Hatch rumor, emphasize how much of a game-changer Katrina Gorry is, hate on Orlando a little bit, and spill the beans about some potential upcoming interviews.

It’s episode 10, y’all. Thanks for all the continued support and love. As always don’t hesitate to reach out to us at @rslshow, @wirtjogets2yell, @sirveaux24, @cinderL9, or use the hashtag #RFCShow on Twitter.

You can also hit us up on Facebook following the RSL Show, or if email is your preferred method of communication, that also works: URFCshow@gmail.com.

P.S. Royals play Orlando on Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium. Get your tickets here!

Episode #9 - Order in the court, commemorating Kalaukoa, Thorns, and more.

There’s a lot to talk about this week, and we mean a lot. We specifically want to talk about the statement made by the Court SG. While Wirtjo is the only one who sits in that section and isn’t involved outside of it being where he sits, the statements made created problematic backlash directed towards all Royals fans from across the entirety of the NWSL. We, as a show, and really as an entire fanbase (minus one person), want to make extremely clear that we condemn the original statement, applaud the follow-up statement, and endorse the fact that everyone is and always will be welcome at the RioT.

We also talk a little bit about the passing of Lo’eau LaBonta’s brother. We were able to have a moment of silence in the 9th minute while holding our scarves up, and thank you so much to the Rose City Riveters for joining us in that moment despite the aforementioned fiasco.

Among other things, we also talk about the game and Amy Rodriguez making Utah Royals history by scoring the first ever home goal, a scouting report of the Washington Spirit on Saturday, the Monarchs opener, and RSL injuries.

Full Disclosure: We had some problems with Cindy’s mic in this one that we didn’t find out until we had all parted ways for the week. We decided ultimately that we would rather push out an episode with a few problems than not give you an episode at all this week. We promise we’ll be back with better quality next week, but we really hope that you enjoy this one.

As always, thanks for listening.

Episode #8 - Rocky Mountain Cup, Rants, and Royals

It’s episode 8 already!!!

We want to thank everyone so much for the support so far, it’s been incredible, but we really want more and more of your feedback. We want multiple fan comments and questions making it into every episode, if possible, so be sure to tweet at us: @rslshow, @wirtjogets2yell, @sirveaux24, @cinderL9, or use the hashtag #RFCShow on Twitter.

You can also hit us up on Facebook following the RSL Show, or if email is your preferred method of communication, that also works: URFCshow@gmail.com.

Wirtjo wants to do some short fan interviews this summer, and a lot of them, so please let us know if you want to be involved.

In this one, the group spends a few minutes talking about the glory of the Rocky Mountain Cup, and a very quick debrief of the Monarchs game in which they took their first loss of the season.

In other notes, there’s a lot of exciting things coming up in terms of the Utah Royals. We talk about a four-game stand at home, potential roster shake-ups and our feelings about them, and what is most likely to be the first rivalry game in the Royals’ history against the Portland Thorns this weekend. Wirtjo also tries to be funny and is really just a jerk, but Cindy and Ryan land some zingers later in the show. It’s a bit of a long one; hope you enjoy it.

 

Episode #7 - Royalty Enters the RioT

Utah Royals FC played their first ever home game. While the result was disappointing, the RioT was bumping. 19,203 were in attendance for this game alone, while the other 3 games this weekend combined featured just under 22,000 visitors. Such a large number also beat out seven MLS games for attendance this weekend including games against out rivals in Kansas City and Colorado.

Amy Rodriguez played! Making her first appearance minus 60 minutes in the last two years. It has been 265 minutes since we last scored a goal. What’s the cause of this problem? And more importantly, how can we fix it.

This weekend URFC take on the top team in the NWSL, the North Carolina Courage who have 4 wins in 4 games, outscoring opponents 7-2. How can the Royals get points on the road?

We break down all of these things, plus more in episode #7 of the Royals FC Show.

Also, are you sunburned? Wirtjo wants to see your sunburns. His are bad. And gross.

Episode #6 - Interview with Lo’eau Labonta

On the international break we’ve had the privilege to be able to interview some pretty incredible people.

In this one Wirtjo breaks it down with Stanford Alum and Royals midfielder Lo’eau Labonta.

The two talk about a variety of topics ranging from making her debut, tifo ideas, finding out that she was coming to Utah via SnapChat, discussing the upcoming home opener this Saturday, and plenty more. It’s an episode that you definitely don’t want to miss.

Episode #5 - Kendall Johnson Interview

We took a break a from chatting about the NWSL because of the FIFA international break and Wirtjo really needed to focus on writing papers.

However, we decided to share an interview I had an opportunity to do over the NWSL preseason. I had the cool chance to chat with Utah Royals defender Kendall Johnson, who at the time was in preseason camp as a non-roster invitee. She is now with the Royals as a practice player and just this week signed a temporary contract. You heard that here first on the Soapbox.

In our chat, featured on the latest Royals FC Show, we hear about Johnson’s soccer story, the concussion she suffered while playing in Australia that put a pause on her soccer career for her to fully recover, being released by the Portland Thorns, all about Arrow Living, her trip to Peru this past off-season, coming to Utah, her appreciation for where she is now, and how she has been impressed with the Utah Royals organization.

And in case you missed it, check out my awesome journalism piece on Kendall that was published yesterday here on the Soapbox.

Also, I say “Cool” a lot on this interview. The one who guesses how many times I say the word will get an opportunity to be on the Royals FC Show as a guest, subject to approval by my co-hosts.

Thanks for listening,

Cindy

Episode #4 - Zlatan Finds Love and Ryan Presses a Button

It’s Episode 4 of the Royals FC show!

In this one its Cindy’s turn to take the lead. Doing so, we breakdown some of the action from Week 2 in the NWSL including a recap of the Royals FC vs Dash match. We wish a couple of players happy birthday, vent about Allen Chapman, the ethics of RSL fans adopting the viking clap, (something we really want to hear your thoughts on), Wirtjo gives his really, really horrible and just plain stupid opinion about the home kit, and Ryan briefly talks about continuing to boycott Ronaldo, despite the beautiful goal against Juventus. We conclude by talking about Royals internationals and their matches, as well as previewing the Red Stars visit for the home opener on April 14th. Discussions about a hypothetical Zlatan Ibrahimovic WWE crossover and dating reality TV show also somehow seep there way into the conversation.

Also, it was Ryan’s turn to hit a button.

We’d love to hear from you about anything relating to the Royals or about the show in general. Send all questions and/or feedback to: urfcshow@gmail.com or tweet at us.

 

Thanks for listening!

- Ryan, Cindy, & Wirtjo

Episode #3 - Gunny and Albert are a Power Couple

Well, this was an interesting one, and not because Ryan took the lead this time.

In this one, we sing happy birthday twice in two different languages. We jump our discussion around this past weekend’s NWSL matchups, including a recap of Utah Royals vs. Orlando Pride(We are still convinced Royals were robbed of the victory); how Albert Rusnak and Gunny could be a power couple (Well, one of us made that assessment); discuss how Gunny is amazing; rant about that terrible PK/yellow card ref call (ya know “that one”); we answer a bunch of questions; preview the upcoming Houston/URFC game; encourage listeners to fill the RioT for the home opener on April 14, and Cindy hits a button.

It’s Episode 3 of the Royals FC show!

We also have an email if you want to get in touch with us for any questions and/or feedback: urfcshow@gmail.com.

We’d love to hear from you about anything relating to the Royals or about the show in general.

Also, is there a particular player you want us to interview? We are hoping to make it possible because that would be pretty cool!

Thanks for listening!

-Ryan, Cindy, & Wirtjo

Episode #2 - Rabid Royals Fans

Did you want another Royals FC episode this week?

WELL, HERE YOU GO.

In this episode, hosts Wirtjo, Ryan, and Cindy break down the roster position by position, and player by player. If you have wanted more information about the Royals FC this is the show for you! They also talk through what they think will be the starting line up for Saturday vs Orlando.

Episode #1 - The Beginning

We're really excited to present the Royals FC Show as part of the RSL Show podcasts. This is the first episode as we get ready for the season to officially start. This show was really important for us and we're very excited about what it could become this season. It's hosted by three fans who are digging in to be your source for news and hot takes around Utah Royals FC.

In this episode, the hosts introduce themselves and tell their soccer stories so that we can all get to know them. They will be covering Royals FC this year for the podcast and will have another episode later this week that dives into the roster and the season opener this weekend vs Orlando.