Exit Game
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
