From the producers of the multi-award winning Coming In From The Cold, comes a new podcast documentary series about the journey, the dream and reality of becoming a professional football player through the academy system. Only 1% of those in England’s football academies go on to become professional full-time players at a Premier League or WSL club. 99% won’t. This is their story. Many young players, both boys and girls will take the journey through the football academy system, so why do so...

This is the story of Black footballers in the English game. This is our sporting history, this is yours. In Episode 6, the final episode of the series, It’s a new millennium, and some of the biggest superstars in the English game are Black or Mixed Race. These players, the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, Ashley Cole, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford, are now striving to overcome new obstacles, in the spirit of those trailblazers who came before them. The Noughties and 2010's was the...

This is the story of Black footballers in the English game. This is our sporting history, this is yours. In Episode 5, we’ll head into possibly the most transformative period of time for the national game. The 1990s... When the game was rebooted off the back of the national team being a force once again in major tournaments; the Premier League was born; and a new age of superstar overseas talent changed English football for good. The changing perception of the Black footballer in England...

This is the story of Black footballers in the English game. This is our sporting history, this is yours. In episode 4 you'll find out about how Black players finally got national and international recognition by playing for England, as we learn about a group of players who survived and thrived in the 1980s. The 80s were seen as a dark period of English football, a decade characterised by images of violent, racist fans running riot across crumbling terraces. This was a period of immense...

This is the story of Black footballers in the English game. This is our sporting history, this is yours. In this third episode we’ll continue to find out about how Black players have been a fixture of professional football in England, during the 1970s. In this episode we’ll tell you all about the men who proved that Black players could hold their own anywhere on the pitch, anywhere in the land - and beyond. The influence of the Brazil 1970 World Cup winning team led by outstanding Black...

This is the story of Black footballers in the English game. This is our sporting history, this is yours. In this second episode we’ll continue to find out about how Black players have been a fixture of professional football in England, during the interwar years, the aftermath of World War 2, the 1950's and the 1960's.  In this episode we’ll learn about the Black player who really did become the first to wear the white shirt of England; West Ham's John Charles. The great highs and tragic...

This is the story of Black footballers in the English game. This is our sporting history, this is yours. In this first episode we’ll be finding out about how Black players have been a fixture in the game since the very beginnings of professional football in England. We tell you the story of the first black professional footballer in England, Arthur Wharton, You’ll learn about a player called Walter Tull who was a pariah on the pitch - but a hero in the field, and how a Colour Bar existed for...

Coming Soon... This is a story starting from the late 19th century up to the present day, spanning two centuries. The history of black footballers in England will be told and narrated by Jessica Creighton with insights from current and former players and managers. Our contributors were influenced by those first trailblazers in the English game, and then became pioneers themselves, who broke down barriers whilst playing professionally for English clubs and for England. We chart the history...