Sunday League, Serious Money

Scouts, agents and the teenagers caught between them.

This sport report follows the people at the centre of the story — how the work began, who carries it now, and what it costs them to keep going.

We spent time on the ground with the people involved, listening first and recording second, so the detail here belongs to them rather than to a press release.

What emerges is a picture of a continent building at its own pace: practical, unsentimental, and far more inventive than the headlines usually allow.

PINCHED will keep following this story. If you know more, or you live inside it, our desk is open.