Fear and loathing in Premier League academy football: Scouts in a pen, no team sheets and denying access
“At a Manchester City Under-16s game last month, 21 academy scouts were corralled into a tight square next to one of the corner flags, far from the rest of the spectators. They had not congregated together out of choice. This was the designated area, outlined by bright cones, other clubs’ talent spotters were frogmarched to before kick-off. A few years ago, it would have been a peculiar sight. Today, it is a scene recreated every weekend across most of the Premier League academy landscape. The motive? To keep rival scouts isolated from parents, so they cannot lure away your top players. …”
NY Times/The Athletic