StoryCast '21: EP7/21 A Football Fairy Tale

In December 2012, Bradford City, a team that cost less than £10K to assemble, and then in danger of dropping out of the football league, wrote one of the most romantic chapters in the history of British sport when they met Arsenal, one of the elites of the game, in a competitive fixture.The game represented not only a collision of football extremes, but economic circumstance. For Bradford, the contest symbolised a broader north-south divide. So, led by former supermarket-shelf-stacker turned striker James Hanson, they set out to achieve the impossible. New Episode every MondayStoryCast '21: Using the timeframe of the last 21-years, Sky News returns to some of this century's biggest news stories, using the focus of extraordinary personal stories, defined by these events. CREDITSA Football Fairy Tale was written and produced by Rob MulhernOriginal idea - Joe Rawson, Sky News Radio Sports EditorSpecial thanks to our contributors, James Hanson, Tim Thornton and Carl Smith.Additional recordings and digital by Tom Gillespie.Archive, Simon WindsorSound design, Rob MulhernTV treatment, Gemma WatsonTV output editor, Emily DeekerHead of Radio, Sky News, Dave Terris Design and graphics, Brian GillinghamSocial media, Chris ScottPress and Marketing, Alexandra HortonEmail: [email protected] more on this story log on to www.skynews/storycast21#StoryCast21

Om Podcasten

At the height of lockdown, 19-year-old Ellie Williams claims on social media she’s been trafficked by an Asian grooming gang across the North of England. Photos of her horrific injuries add to the outrage and the post goes viral – shared more than 100 thousand times.Social media rumours lead to attacks on Asian men and businesses in her hometown of Barrow-in-Furness. But when she’s arrested for perverting the course of justice, things really explode and there are protest rallies and claims of a cover-up. At the trial the prosecution claims she’d lied, faked text messages and even caused the catalogue of injuries to herself.   In season 6 of StoryCast, Sky News’ Jason Farrell and Liz Lane, who reported on the case at the time, return to Barrow to investigate what could have led her to make these claims and if, underneath it all, there is some other secret buried amongst the lies.With access to her family, police investigators and those most impacted by her allegations, we ask: Why did Ellie Williams create such an elaborate lie? And what happened AFTER the trial – once all the media attention died down and other allegations began to emerge? For more investigative stories from the award-winning Sky News StoryCast strand, listen to our past seasons.   SEASON 5: Patient 11 (2024) Following the death of her brother, young mother Alexis Quinn seeks temporary respite in NHS psychiatric care, never imagining that three days, would turn into more than three year ordeal that would ultimately expose a national scandal.  SEASON 4: StoryCast 21 (2021) Through extraordinary personal stories, Sky News revisits 21 of the world’s biggest news events this century.   SEASON 3: Polonium and The Piano Player (2020) Two Russian agents release a miniature nuclear weapon in a 5-star London hotel. But former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is not the only victim.   SEASON 2: What happened to Annie? (2019)  In 2005, the body of 30-year-old Swedish woman, Annie Börjesson, was found on Prestwick beach in Scotland. Could one of the world’s most secretive security agencies be behind her death?  SEASON 1: The Hunt for the Brinks-Mat Gold (2018) In 1983, an armed gang stole £26m in gold bars from a high-security depot near Heathrow Airport. Dubbed the crime of the century, the heist changed the face of Britain’s criminal landscape and the life of one undercover Scotland Yard detective.