Moulding Young Minds

Welcome to the second half of this week's Socially Distant Sports Bar, where Mike Bubbins, Elis James and Steff Garrero turn their attention to the documentary and book of the week.

This time we're travelling back to 1988, when England's future football stars were being moulded at a residential school in Shropshire, before heading across the Atlantic to meet a man who helped create the only perfect season in modern NFL history.

Two very different approaches to sporting excellence. Both involving a considerable amount of shouting, presumably.

Documentary of the WeekElis: 1988 — Life at the FA School of Excellence

Elis has uncovered a wonderful piece of BBC archive footage from 1988, following a group of 14-year-old footballers arriving at the FA's School of Excellence at Lilleshall.

More than 400 promising youngsters are offered trials, but just 16 are selected for two years of intensive football training, schooling and life away from home.

Under the watchful eye of FA Technical Director Dave Sexton, the boys are being prepared for careers in professional football at a time when the modern academy system was still a distant dream.

It's a fascinating glimpse into football development in the late 1980s, complete with the hairstyles, training gear, coaching methods and extraordinary confidence that only British television of that period could capture.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=viEnIRCR0hU&pp=ugUHEgVlbi1HQg%3D%3D&ra=m

Book of the WeekMike: Head On by Larry Csonka

Mike heads to America with Head On, the autobiography of legendary Miami Dolphins fullback Larry Csonka.

A Hall of Famer, two-time Super Bowl champion and one of the toughest players of his generation, Csonka was at the heart of the Dolphins' extraordinary undefeated 1972 season.