Football's Home Fans

Available for over a year

One of the most embarrassing moments in Ian Stone's life was when a coach made him player of the season in front of his team mates. The coach was his dad. Ian was 22. Now Ian is a football dad himself (and a comedian and broadcaster) and, in Football's Home Fans, he investigates the rapidly changing world of children's football. From campaigns to improve parents' behaviour on the touchline, to bans on league tables for younger players, many in the game believe we're at the start of a new era. Ian tours the touchline, talking to parents as they stand behind plastic barriers, trying not to shout "get stuck in!" to a bunch of eight year olds. We ask whether the Football Association's Respect campaign has worked, learn about the work of the National Children's Football Alliance, and talk to the author and broadcaster Jim White, who spent years coaching his own son's team and then wrote a book about it.