and the agents cashing in on talented youngsters in breach of football rules. the approaches and the underhanded tactics, that is the dark side of the game. tonight we ask are football's young hopefuls paying too high a price for glory on the pitch? it's a relief if your son's successful. and if not? if not, it could be a disaster. my name's rory carson. before i became a journalist, i was a professional footballer. i've been investigating what can happen to kids who, like me, dreamed of a career in the sport they love. playing football was like the way out, the way we could express ourselves. when i was about 12, that's when i said to myself, i'm going to knuckle down and really try to become a professional footballer. literally everything was football, football, football. my love, everything. my first stop is the aylesbury estate in south east london. sayce holmes—lewis is a youth worker who grew up here. tell me about all the footballers that have come from around here? jaden sancho was around here a lot. he used to play in cages such as this. reece nelson grew up on the aylesbury estate. there's a lot of players, you know, at the top level to come here and grace these pitches. it was just that kind of arena attitude. here, you felt like superstars because everyone wanted to play professional football. that was everyone�*s goal, and that was our way out. with england stars like jaden sancho as role models, these young players dream of making it out of the cage and into the big time. we've had a lot of clubs come round here, you know, that are not even from london. really? your manchester cities come round to scout players around here. so it's obviously a hotbed of talent. all right, cool. nearly there. the clubs are looking for young players to recruit to their football academies, training schools set up to develop young talent. every year clubs in the premier league and the other top divisions sign up hundreds of boys and girls aged between 9 and 16. they train and play matches while still at school. all those months, years playing in the cage, finally got rewarded. at 16 the most talented will be offered a paid scholarship, combining education and full time football training. i thought, i'm on the right track now. i've made it. nothing's going to stop me now. it's every little boy's dream. the academy system has been incredibly successful at producing a new generation of players in the men's game. superstars like rashford, sancho, foden, grealish and saka. this summer — they took england to theirfirst tournament final for 55 years. also in the england squad is 21—year—old reece james. he came through chelsea's academy, starting out atjust six years old. his dad nigel has been with him every step of the way. we're fortunate that it's worked for reece. from the age of 13 to 15, he had some tough times. but that's what made him the person he is today, was it hard for you as a parent going through thatjourney? yeah, it's a journey. i wouldn't like to go through it again. the vast majority of youngsters whojoin premier league academies will never play a professional match. parents like nigel are on a constant knife edge. is it not exhausting as a parent? it's exhausting and it's a relief if your son's successful. and if not? if not, it could be a disaster. nine years ago the premier league and the football association introduced the elite player performance plan — or eppp. academies were expanded, money was ploughed in and ambitious targets were set. the first is for the england team to at least reach the semi finals of the euro championships in 2020. the second is for us to win the world cup in 2022. what we've seen as a result of eppp is the ability of clubs to recruit more young players at a relatively low cost to the club. but it also means that the number of kids who are going to fail is going to increase as well. the factory farm mentality of the academies has meant that there's an awful lot of pressure upon everybody involved. the scouts, the coaches, but also these young players. and it's that aspect which is the most brutal business part of the academies. they said unfortunately we're not going to give you a professional contract. and you feel like you're nobody at the time. jazz the footballer, when that got taken away from me, i felt a little part of me got lost as well. what it's like to be that close to the dream, is difficult. you're actually fingertips away. i know how that feels. i almost made it too. as a kid ijoined bradford city's academy, but at 19, without ever starting a first team game, i received the news i'd been dreading. i was deemed not good enough and released. i dropped out of the professional game forever. there are growing concerns that the pressure to make it is affecting young players�* mental health. the suspected suicide of 18—year—old jeremy wisten, who was released by manchester city's academy prompted top stars to take to social media. an inquest intojeremy�*s death is yet to be held. do you think enough is done to help those that don't make it? erm, not really. more academies are scouting players at a younger age group. when you've been in the system all your life and you get to 18, 19, and then you drop. the moment you're gone, you've walked out that door. you're on your own. if we don't have the support for these players in place, have something in place for them, we will have a crisis. eva collaco—thomas lives in norbury in south london. her son cassianjoined fulham fc�*s academy when he was eight. 10 years later he was released and it hit him hard. it ripped my heart out because he cut himself out from all his friends. he didn't want to talk to anyone. eva offers to introduce me to cassian and we arrange another meeting. hi eva, is cassian coming along? i'm sorry, he's not up for it. he's not 100%, so he didn't want to come. he's not feeling great? no. how good was he? i don't want blow his trumpet, but he was, he was quite good. and the coaches were very positive from an early age? i remember they kept saying, "oh, you can buy your mum a house, you'll do really well." he had that drummed into him. you're going to make it? you're going to make it, yeah. can you tell me about the moment you found out that cassian was released ? it was the weekend, he went off to play a game and he got a little bit upset when he came back and he said, they didn't play me. so i called his dad and then his dad said, they've just called him and they said they've released him. ijust remember he didn't say anything. he wasjust quiet. his mental health went downhill. i think it was quite brutal. after he was released, fulham kept in touch with cassian. they put him forward for a number of opportunities outside of the club. but his mum says he wasn't ready to go back to football. now, four years on, he's just been offered a coaching role at fulham. there will be people who will watch this at home and they will say that it's inevitable. not everyone can make it. after being in the club for nearly 10 years. and just to release him — you're hero to zero in no time. ijust want him to be back to how he was. independent and do what he enjoys. i don't even know what that is any more. meeting eva bought back a lot of memories for me. a lot of things i hadn't thought about in a long, long time. i rememberfeeling so embarrassed having to explain to everyone that i had been released. i was no longer a footballer. ultimately i was able to move on with my life. but for eva's son it hasn't been so easy. and what she was saying raises serious questions about a system that brings in so many kids and spits them out at the other end. five years ago, dr david blakelock spoke to more than 90 academy footballers as part of a mental health study. a sizeable proportion did experience what we'd call clinical levels of distress. in the first month after release it was between 35 and 55% of players experienced those difficulties. symptoms linked with depression, anxiety, loss of confidence that can lead to really, you know, negative consequences for the individual themselves. the premier league says "player care is an integral part of eppp" and that "players receive mental and emotional wellbeing education, as well as practical life skills to help support them beyond the academy environment." it says it runs "pre—season preparation camps to support released players on career and pathway possibilities in and out of football." youth academies are also big money earners for premier league clubs. last summer they earned at least £250 million by selling their academy graduates. the commoditisation of young footballers means they are now being viewed by some clubs as potential profit centres and not part of the development of a young person. if you have a constant stream of players who are quite promising and you're able to sell them that can help clubs to further boost their revenue streams. money can also change hands if young players move from one academy to another. it's attracted the attention of football agents, despite strict fa rules to keep them out. as far as recruiting young people are concerned, you can't have an agent if you're below the age of 16. but if i'm an agent who spots the nextjack grealish, that young man is worth millions of pounds to me in terms of the commission i can make on a transfer. it's an opportunity some agents can't resist. i've heard of agents approaching children from as young as 10. the underhanded tactics to get players on your books, that is the dark side of the game. agents go to any player. any player that they feel they can just get any money off. you could be an absolute baller and an agent wants get you signed, because he knows that in 10 years time, your value will appreciate astronomically. i've been trying to find out more about how football agents operate. it can be a murky world, where the tapping up of young players is commonplace. and few in the game are prepared to talk openly. but i've had a breakthrough — someone extremely close to an elite footballer — a super—star, worth millions — has agreed to speak to me. this player has been approached countless times from a very young age by agents. but the family are worried that by speaking out it might jeopardise the player's career, despite the fact he has already made it. he's agreed to meet me on condition we disguise his identity. the first approach from an agent wasn't to the family, it was direct to the kid on social media. how did you feel when that happened? i was really, really angry. the kid was 12. it's grooming. they groom the family. groom? yeah. they will go through a process of building a relationship. they will work their way in to be trusted as caring, that they are working for the kid and the family's best interests. as an insider with years of experience of the professional game he believes it's notjust agents who are involved. the clubs are complicit. every kid in that academy system is a potential profit. it will be clubs showing an interest or talking about kids that they want to try and recruit. and someone somewhere along the lines speaking to an agent. it makes a game which should be fun, into something really dirty. i found that quite shocking. i've been told about how agents will approach kids who are under—age but that family memberjust described how the agents and the clubs are implicated in this system, which views kids and their dreams as a way to make money. as my investigation continues, more football insiders open up about how agents prey on young players. i have finally got a scout at a premier league club who's going to tell me all about it. he doesn't want to speak openly because he's worried it'll harm his career, so we've agreed to hide his identity. he says agents often go after struggling families. they target a single mum family because it's easy. the approach is, "oh, hello, auntie, hello, uncle. how can we help you? we notice that you're working two, threejobs. you know, we'll look after your son. we'll look after him like he's our brother." it all starts from a very, very young age. who are some of the worst agencies? i would say colossal. their aim and their goal is simple to sign as many players as they can. colossal sports management is one of the best known agencies in football. it's owned by super agent aidy ward. he made his name nurturing the career of one of england's biggest stars. sterling! with 79 goals so far in the premier league for manchester city, raheem sterling helped the club to three league titles. earning him a reported £15 million per year. aidy ward's been around football for years. before he set up colossal he'd been on the look—out for young talent. and i've found someone who's prepared to speak openly about it. he was a footballing prodigy, like a future superstar wanted by all the big clubs in england. but what no one knows is that aidy acted as his agent from a very, very young age. how are you? foday nabay was born in sierra leone and moved to england with his mum when he was six. and he went on to become part of the england youth set up from a young age. a star at birmingham city's academy, he had high hopes for the future. did you think i was going to drop that? my time at birmingham was really good, it was fun. i didn't want to go home and when i went home i couldn't wait to go back into training. that's like how much i was enjoying football at the time. my long term goal was being the youngest ever player to make a debut for the first team. it wasn't long before aidy ward got in touch. what age were you at that point? 12, not older than 12 years old. he came across like friendly but serious. kind of likejokey. he liked nice things. every time i saw him it was a different watch. and then he'd joke about, "ah, when you make da—da—da—da, i'll get you one of these." looking back at it now, there is alarm bells. if it was outside of football, would you speak to a 12—year—old on the street when you saw them without their parent? foday says his mum him signed him up with aidy ward. and that aidy ward began talking to him about moves to other clubs. what did they say? just that how many teams wanted me to go to them and why i should, like, why i should go. that's like when my head started getting to... into my head a bit. birmingham was in the championship. now foday was being introduced to premier league clubs. went to man city the first meeting. went to like chelsea for the day. went to west ham for the week. went to liverpool, that's like out of all the clubs i went to look at probably was the best one, the one i felt understood me the most. but the club aidy ward pushed him towards was fulham, also in the premier league at the time. and i've discovered the proposed move was about more than just foday�*s career. i've obtained a series of confidential emails from spring 2013. it's a back and forth conversation between fulham's academy director, hquennings, aidy ward and another agent he was working with. they are discussing the terms of a transfer from birmingham city to fulham for foday nabay, who was just 11; years old at the time. the negotiations conclude with an offer from fulham's academy director to pay the agents their full fee — which is £120,000 — if the deal goes through. under fa rules foday was too young to even have an agent, but that didn't seem to bother fulham's academy. the agency fees ended up being way more than like my contract, i was happy with what i got, because i didn't move there for money. but when i got to look at it, i thought, that's not right. when foday found out there were agency fees involved he says he told fulham he'd only sign if they weren't paid. fulham fc didn't respond to our detailed questions, but said the club had neither paid nor agreed to pay aidy ward or the other agent in relation to foday�*s registration with the club. foday completed his move to the fulham academy when he was 14. did you feel manipulated? i was young, i didn't know much about football. my mum doesn't know anything about football, ijust thought it was normal. did it affect your mental health? i was in my room 21w, didn't want to leave, i didn't want to do anything. like i was really not in a good place. foday was released by fulham in march 2018. he blames aidy ward for pushing him into a move he was never happy with. i didn't want to go there in the first place. i didn't feel like i ever really settled in. i would be on my phone to my friend on the way to training, crying, saying how much i didn't want to go. it was very painful. foday is currently without a club and training with a non—league team. aidy ward's career as a football agent has gone from strength to strength. but the evidence is mounting, that his agency colossal targets under age players. i've spoken to the parents of seven under 16 footballers who all told me that colossal had made approaches offering their services. i've also been leaked this email detailing the minutes of a colossal meeting that took place at this south london restaurant in 2017. the email includes a list of players the agency wanted to sign — six of whom were 11; or younger at the time, and aidy ward is cc�*d in. i've also been shown whatsapp messages from 2019 that show that the agency still had under age players on its books. and last year a complaint was lodged with the fa, alleging aidy ward had paid £15,000 to the mum of an under—age player. the fa are still investigating the case, but i've a source who says he's got the inside track. and is willing to meet. that was extraordinary. we knew that aidy ward was being investigated for alledgedly approaching an under—age player, but we didn't know the detail. and i have just seen text messages from representatives of colossal to the family and then the alleged bank transfer on money from colossal to the family of a player who was under—age. i've been given evidence, which i've agreed not to show on screen. testimony to the fa from a former colossal employee about how aidy ward signed an underage player. first he took the boy and his mum to this italian restaurant in london. here, he made a video call to his most famous client, raheem sterling. a minority shareholder in the agency. aidy ward passed the phone to the boy, a move guaranteed to impress any 15—year—old. later there were gifts from aidy ward — first football boots, then cash to the boy's family. a total of £15,000. before the final payment was made, the boy's mother signed an agreement, even though the player was under age. raheem sterling dropped aidy ward as his agent last year. his lawyers told panorama that as an england international he feels a responsibility to speak to aspiring players and has done so a couple of times at mr ward's request. however, he doesn't speak to them about agents or financial issues and he supports fa rules designed to protect young players. we wrote to aidy ward with a detailed list of questions. he says he can't comment on matters being investigated by the fa out of respect for that process. and says he was never foday nabay�*s agent. he didn't respond to the other points i put to him, so i've come to his house to try and get some answers. i'm just going to dial his intercom, see if he picks up. the person who answers says i've got the wrong house — which is odd because we know he lives here. but today there?s no sign of him. we put a series of allegations to him about approaching and signing under—age players and using them to make money and he just didn't think to respond. the football association says it thoroughly investigates all allegations of rule breaking by agents, and that around 50 have been sanctioned over the last three years. but with so much money at stake, many agents still seem willing to take the risk. we do see some players being led by the agent and the agents themselves exploit that relationship of trust. they will look to develop the player's career in a manner which is the most financially beneficial for the agent and not necessarily in terms of the players long term football development. it's moving kids around at the whim of adults for the purposes of adult�*s benefits. to places where they don't necessarily want to go, need to go or are the best places for them. they're commodities of a club. they're a commodity of the agent. aspiring young players are being caught up in a system driven by money and national success. if england win the next world cup, it'll vindicate a system that also breaks many football dreams. hello there. it will be another warm day in the offing for many with spells of sunshine once the early mist and patchy, dense fog clears away. however, further north we do have a different complexion to the weather for the day ahead. some cloudy skies with some rain, heavy to start and the risk of an autumnal galesjust on cue for the autumn equinox. that's all being brought by this advancing area of clouds, it's a low pressure system. we do have a weaker weather front ahead of it. so in contrast, it will be quite a mild start in the north while we could see a little bit chilly down to seven or eight in the south. it is here we will see the best of the sunshine once that mist and fog clears away, this is bbc news, our top stories: president biden promises a new era of �*relentless diplomacy�* instead of �*relentless war�*, as he delivers his first presidential address to the un general assembly. we will stand up for our allies and ourfriends and oppose attempts by stronger countries that dominate weaker ones, but we�*re not seeking — i�*ll say it again — we are not seeking a new cold war. a 5.8—magnitude earthquake strikes southern australia. it�*s felt in melbourne, canberra and sydney. pakistan�*s prime minister, imran khan, gives the bbc his hopes for the future of neighbouring afghanistan after the us pullout and the taliban�*s victory. what we

Related Keywords

Authorities , Volcano , Island , Canaries , Evacuation Efforts , La Palma , Football , Dreams , More , Bbc News , Sterling , Explosions , Gasses , Sea , Crowds , Football S Come Home , Lava , Panorama , Wembley , Officials , 100 , Way , Game , Training , Generation , Side , Phone , England , Stars , Home , Football Academies , Mental Health , Superstars , Heart , Agents , Son , Relief , Tactics , Youngsters , Football Rules , Breach , Hopefuls , Price , Pitch , Glory , The Dark Side , Footballer , Career , Disaster , Journalist , Sport , My Name , Rory Carson , Kids Who , Everything , My Love , 12 , Footballers , Youth Worker , Stop , Aylesbury Estate , South East London , Holmes Lewis , Sayce , Players , Lot , Jaden Sancho , Everyone , Kind , Cages , Level , Pitches , Reece Nelson , Arena Attitude , Everyone S Goal , Clubs , Cities , Cage , Big Time , Round , Role Models , Manchester , Talent , Hotbed , Premier League , School , Training Schools , Matches , Divisions , Hundreds , Boys And Girls , 16 , 9 , The Cage , It , Academy System , Dream , Education , Football Training , Talented , Nothing , Scholarship , Track , Men , Little Boy , Academy , Dad Nigel , Reece James , Tournament , Squad , Nextjack Grealish , Chelsea , Saka , Rashford , Foden , Theirfirst , 21 , 55 , Six , Age , Step , Greece , 15 , 13 , Person , Times , Parent , Journey , Majority , Premier League Academies Will Never Play A Professional Match , Thatjourney , Whojoin , Parents , Knife Edge , Money , Academies , Eppp , Targets , First , Football Association Introduced The Elite Player Performance Plan , Nine , Team , Semi Finals , Euro Championships , Premier League Club , Kids , Number , Us , World Cup , Ability , Second , Cost , Result , 2020 , 2022 , Part , Coaches , Pressure , Aspect , Everybody , Scouts , Business , Factory Farm Mentality , Contract , Feels , Nobody , Jazz , Fingertips , Bradford City , Kid Ijoined , 19 , Steam Game , News , Fulham Academy , Social Media , Manchester City , Suicide , Concerns , Jeremy Wisten , 18 , Don T , Inquest Intojeremy S Death , System , Life , Scouting Players , Erm , Age Group , Place , Something , Support , Door , Crisis , Eva Collaco , Friends , South London , Norbury , Eight , 10 , Eva , Anyone , Cassian , Hi Eva , Meeting , Trumpet , Mum , House , Ijust , Dad , Say Anything , Wasn T , The Club , Touch , Opportunities , People , Coaching Role , Four , Being , Zero , Things , Him , Memories , Son It Hasn T , Questions , Saying , Spits , End , Experience , Academy Footballers , Depression , David Blakelock , Levels , Month , Difficulties , Loss , Mental Health Study , Proportion , Distress , Release , Anxiety , Confidence , Symptoms , 90 , Five , 35 , Player Care , Individual , Consequences , Life Skills , Wellbeing , Academy Environment , Youth Academies , Commoditisation , Development , Preparation Camps , Possibilities , Pathway , Academy Graduates , Profit Centres , Money Earners , 50 Million , 250 Million , Fa , Football Agents , Revenue Streams , Stream , Another , Rules , Attention , Hands , One , Agent , Player , Terms , Transfer , Books , Commission , Millions , Oman , Opportunity , Children , World , Baller , Value , Astronomically , Football Agents Operate , Memberjust , Someone , Super Star , Worth Millions , Few , Identity , Fact , Condition , Kid , Approach , Grooming , Process , Relationship , Caring , Profit , Interests , Insider , Recruit , Interest , Notjust , Fun , Somewhere , Lines , Football Insiders , Scout , Investigation , Families , Hello , Uncle , Auntie , Threejobs , Two , Agencies , Goal , Starts , Aim , Sports Management , Brother , Club Aidy Ward , Goals , Name Nurturing , 79 , Look Out , League Titles , 5 Million , 15 Million , Three , Superstar , Prodigy , No One , Foday Nabay , Sierra Leone , Hopes , Star , Youth , Birmingham City , Birmingham , Debut , Point , It Wasn T , Friendly , Watch , In Touch , Likejokey , These , Street , Alarm Bells , Da , Moves , Teams , Head , Bit , Championship , City , Most , Liverpool , West Ham , Move , Series , Foday S Career , Emails , Spring , 2013 , Academy Director , Conversation , Hquennings , Deal , Fa Rules Foday , Director , Didn T , Fee , Negotiations , Offer , 11 , 20000 , 120000 , Agency , Fees , Foday , Agency Fees , Weren T , Relation , Foday S Registration , Pay , 14 , Anything , Room , Fulham In , Didn T Want To Leave , Mum Doesn T , 2018 , March 2018 , Friend , Evidence , Strength , Football Agent , Mounting , Seven , Email , List , Restaurant , Services , 2017 , Messages , Complaint , D , Show , Alleging , Whatsapp , 2019 , Case , Source , The Inside Track , 5000 , 15000 , Alledgedly , Detail , Text Messages , Representatives , Family , Bank Transfer , Boy , Italian Restaurant , Screen , Testimony , Employee , Video Call , Client , Minority Shareholder , Gifts , Total , Football Boots , Payment , Agreement , Mother , Ward , Responsibility , Couple , Request , Lawyers , Issues , Comment , Respect , Intercom , Answers , Points , See , Allegations , Sign , Risk , Rule Breaking , Stake , 50 , Led , Manner , Relationship Of Trust , Football Development , Places , Commodities , Commodity , Adults , Adult , Benefits , Purposes , Whim , Success , Fog , Mist , Sunshine , Many , Offing , Weather , Complexion , Spells , Skies , Rain , Galesjust , Cue , Autumn Equinox , Area , Pressure System , Contrast , Clouds , North , Weather Front , Start , Best , South , Biden , Allies , War , Era , Stories , Address , Diplomacy , Un General Assembly , Countries , Attempts , Ones , Felt , Earthquake , Cold War , Southern Australia , Sydney , Melbourne , Canberra , 5 8 , Imran Khan , Victory , Pullout , Pakistan , Afghanistan , Taliban ,