Reported by Alex Millar
Drama written by Nick Perry

Drama-documentary exploring the highly competitive world of the men’s professional football youth system.

At top football clubs across the country, floodlights illuminate the latest superstar youngsters from football’s production line as they twist defenders inside out and the fans chant their names in unison. But away from the lights, with stories that we rarely hear, are thousands of ‘Lost Boys’ rejected on an industrial scale by the football youth system in England.

Alex Millar, a journalist who has spent a lot of the last 20 years writing and broadcasting about lesser-known stories from within the footballing universe, takes us on a personal journey through football's youth system. Interwoven with Alex's journey, a fictional drama based on his research, explores the stories of two boys navigating their way through the system and the pressures their friendship comes under.

How are the latest footballing gems produced, and at what cost? And, how can football clubs produce tough, elite players - without a tough, elite system?

Jack . . . . . Tim Preston
Young Jack . . . . . Harvey Chapman
Nathan . . . . . Olatunji Ayofe
Young Nathan . . . . . Cannon Hay
Simon . . . . . Jonathan Forbes
Cath . . . . . Fiona Skinner
Grace . . . . . Chloë Sommer
Head Coach . . . . . David Hounslow
Dave . . . . . Roger Ringrose
Coach . . . . . Tom Kiteley
Ash . . . . . Hughie O’Donnell
Liam . . . . . Aaron Gelkoff

Sound design by Peter Ringrose
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko

This docu-drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4