The Dream Factory

The Dream Factory provides the most intricate, intimate and all-encompassing insight yet into the machine of football's academies, and everything it spits out in the process, going behind the scenes of to lay bare the genesis of football's next generation of stars.

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Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Football Book of the Year 2022



'A forensic insight into how our football academies operate. Every angle covered by a splendid author' - Daniel Taylor, The Athletic



With unparalleled behind-the-scenes access to academies at all levels of English football, The Dream Factory: Inside the Make-or-Break World of Football’s Academies is a journey deep into the heart of youth football, revealing in gripping detail how home-grown Premier League stars such as Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold are created, and at what cost.



The Dream Factory introduces a rich array of characters – players, coaches, directors – behind talent production lines at several Premier League clubs, including Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City, zooming in on the stories of Alexander-Arnold’s unique development, how Rashford’s sense of social responsibility was nurtured, and how Phil Foden has become a beacon to City’s young hopefuls.