BBC Sport and COPA90 have partnered for a new global, multiplatform women’s football podcast - The Players - that will flip the script on women’s football, handing the mic to those who know the game best: the players themselves.

Launching on 11 November and available via BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds, The Players will change the way we talk football.

Hosted by Rebecca (Bex) Smith, former New Zealand World Cup and Olympic captain, listeners can expect laid-back chats with professionals at the top of their game and legends of the sport.

With themes such as leadership, resilience and relationships at its core, and a different topic each week, The Players will enhance visibility and accessibility to some of the great personalities within football.

Bex Smith says: “I’ve had some awesome, awe-inspiring, heartbreaking and hilarious moments through football, and I can’t wait to hear other players’ experiences as well. Not only do these players deserve the spotlight, but the world deserves to be a part of what’s really going on… on and off the pitch.

“I always felt as a player and now a fan, that if people were able to see the sport from how we as players are able to experience it, they couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters and the sport.”

The opening episode, released on Wednesday 11 November, finds host Bex Smith chatting with Manchester City and England’s Jill Scott and Steph Houghton.

Throughout the remainder of the series, guests include World Cup winners Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle; Everton’s Hayley Raso and Izzy Christiansen;PSG’s Nadia Nadim and Christian Endler, and many more to come.

A new episode will be released every Wednesday via BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Throughout the series, additional content related to The Players will be available on COPA90 (@copa90), BBC Sport (@bbcsport) and BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) platforms.