The families, friends, media, agents, fans and unusual characters who move in and out of the football world — each one connected to a real player, manager, owner or coach through a story of their own. 26 people and counting.
Jack Sherborne's mother, who raised him alone in Sheffield after his father left when he was seven.
FamilyCallum Reece-Fry's father, a promising centre-half himself until a serious knee injury ended his career at nineteen — the same age Callum is now..
FamilyRoland Fettiplace's estranged son, thirty-four, who hasn't spoken to his father in any real way since he was a teenager competing with a football club for his dad's attention and losing..
FamilyGraham Sheardown's daughter, who runs Sheffield Blades' community and player-welfare programme, including a mental health outreach scheme she built from nothing three years ago..
FamilyConnor Cook's younger sister and full-time carer for their mother, who has advanced multiple sclerosis.
Danny Pearce's best friend since primary school on the same Newcastle estate, now travelling with him most matchdays and, unofficially, managing a good deal of his spending..
FriendsRhys Ramsbotham's best friend since primary school, still living at home in Glasgow and working full-time at a sports shop while Rhys breaks into Glasgow Union's first-team picture..
FriendsHarry Marsh's closest friend from their shared academy days at a big city club — Dominic stayed and made it as a fringe squad player; Harry was released at seventeen and rebuilt a career at Torquay Gulls..
FriendsLandlord of The Anchor, the pub nearest Wolverhampton Heathens' training ground, and a former non-league player himself.
A self-described “lifestyle and brand consultant” who attached himself to Sheffield Blades striker Frank Whitely Jr.
Bad InfluencesA well-connected figure on Glasgow's private betting-circuit scene, who became close to striker Fraser Gilchrist through a mutual friend eighteen months ago..
Bad InfluencesA club promoter who books Leeds Tykes striker Danny Osei for paid nightclub appearances across the city, several scheduled the night before Saturday fixtures..
Bad InfluencesA former non-league player, now in his fifties, who has begun turning up regularly to watch Coventry Weavers' U21 training sessions and has been seen giving gifts to sixteen-year-old striker Sammy James..
Known to every regular at Bristol Colliers as “Psychic Pauline”, a matchday fixture outside the ground for over a decade who predicts each week's scoreline from a folding table of tarot cards..
Unusual CharactersAn eighty-one-year-old volunteer groundsman at Torquay Gulls who has maintained the pitch, unpaid, for over fifty years, and has missed exactly one home match in that time — his wife's funeral..
Unusual CharactersKnown simply as “the Coin Man” at Nottingham Foresters, Harold has thrown a single commemorative coin onto the pitch before every home kickoff for thirty-one years..
A former top-flight midfielder turned national television pundit, known for a direct, occasionally combative style on the Saturday highlights panel..
MediaLocal newspaper journalist who has covered Torquay Gulls and the wider Alliance Semi-Pro tier for the Torquay Herald for almost forty years, largely unpaid overtime included..
MediaNational tabloid reporter with a reputation for football's financial and off-field scandals, currently working a source close to Glasgow Union's dressing room..
MediaSunderland Miners' local radio matchday commentator and phone-in host for twenty-five years, a former season-ticket holder himself before he ever picked up a microphone..
MediaRuns an independent football gossip account with a following in the hundreds of thousands, built on a reputation for accurate, unverifiable dressing-room leaks..
MediaHost of a national football phone-in with the biggest weekday audience in the sport, known for letting callers run long rather than cutting them off..
A high-volume football agent representing over thirty players across three countries, who signed eighteen-year-old Leeds Tykes striker Tunde Adeyinka on the strength of a single U21 hat-trick..
AgentsA one-woman agency representing eleven players across the Alliance Semi-Pro tier, including Torquay Gulls midfielder Ethan Smith, run from her spare bedroom for over twenty years..
Leader of Sunderland Miners' largest organised supporters' group, a fixture at every home and away match for fifteen years, and the public face of the club's fan boycotts this season..
FansNottingham Foresters season-ticket holder for fifty-two consecutive years, Row F, Seat 12, a seat she first sat in next to her late husband in 1974..