Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Lowdown, a documentary strand for young people, follows the progress of the latest intake of boys at the Football Association's School of Excellence at Lilleshall, Shropshire.
Each year, an initial group of over 400 players are offered trials at Lilleshall, but only 16 will be given 2-year scholarships. 14 year-olds Robert Price of Oldham Athletic, David Schoenberger of QPR and Jonathan Stanger of Manchester United are among this year's group of 16. They will spend the next two years under the tutelage of FA Technical Director Dave Sexton and England goalkeeping coach Mike Kelly.
On top of their extensive football training, they will also have to adjust to living away from home for the first time, and studying in a new school - Idsall Comprehensive.
Clip taken from The Lowdown: On the Ball, originally broadcast on BBC One, 24 May, 1988.
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The Lowdown, a documentary strand for young people, follows the progress of the latest intake of boys at the Football Association's School of Excellence at Lilleshall, Shropshire.
Each year, an initial group of over 400 players are offered trials at Lilleshall, but only 16 will be given 2-year scholarships. 14 year-olds Robert Price of Oldham Athletic, David Schoenberger of QPR and Jonathan Stanger of Manchester United are among this year's group of 16. They will spend the next two years under the tutelage of FA Technical Director Dave Sexton and England goalkeeping coach Mike Kelly.
On top of their extensive football training, they will also have to adjust to living away from home for the first time, and studying in a new school - Idsall Comprehensive.
Clip taken from The Lowdown: On the Ball, originally broadcast on BBC One, 24 May, 1988.
You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.
Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1
You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - bbc.co.uk/archive
