The latest Wolves Studios production shines a light on the club’s Golden Chance programme, which offers young footballers from across the globe a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience a Premier League academy.
Launched in 2019 by Wolves Academy, Golden Chance offers unsigned talents the chance to impress Wolves coaches and earn priceless opportunities with a professional football club, and Wolves Studios’ hour-long documentary focuses on the 2022 instalment in the US.
Having already provided opportunities for footballers in Hong Kong, with Loong Tsz Hin and Tang Tsz Shing enjoying the facilities of Compton Park after catching the eye three years previous, Golden Chance headed to Phoenix, Arizona, last summer to expand the project further.
In July 2022, US males between the ages of 16 and 21 aimed to impress elite player development manager Darren Ryan and international projects manager Joe Hunt, with the two stand-out performers linking up with James Collins’ under-21s training camp in Salt Lake City.
On the project, Hunt said: “At Wolves we want to be different. We’ve got licence to go out there and be different and try things. We decided to try a Golden Chance project where we would go to Phoenix and see players and the end goal would be two players would come across to Utah to train with our under-21s.
“They would have the experience of training with a professional academy, top players, top coaches, top support staff, and see how we do things in the UK.”
The documentary follows the trials in Arizona and the decision-making process from Ryan, Hunt and the FBSL Tuzos staff in Arizona, before the winning pair are revealed, with their backgrounds shared with viewers, ahead of them linking up with Collins’ training camp.
Exclusive interviews come from Collins, Ryan and Hunt themselves, as well as academy manager for football Jonathan Hunter-Barrett, under-21s duo Ollie Tipton and Harry Birtwistle, Wolves Academy product Theo Corbeanu. We later hear from the lucky winners and those who know them best, and the commitment they’ve put into their football.
Corbeanu said: “The Golden Chance is perfect for someone coming out of North America, who is trying to make it at a top club. The opportunities that some of these kids have, with this being implemented now, is huge. I honestly wish I had something like that.”
The lucky duo’s experience with the Wolves Academy is later documented, as Collins prepared his group for the 2022/23 campaign in Utah, which provided a real insight into the workings of a Premier League academy for young players on the other side of the world, giving them the opportunity to impress.
Hunter-Barrett said: “North America is a huge, huge, huge market. There are players out there that we just wouldn’t see unless there are projects and initiatives like this, that are actually put into place.
“Golden Chance is a fantastic opportunity and that’s the way we all see it at the football club, to basically unearth new talent. It’s an opportunity for us to look at a number of players on mass, as opposed to going to 100 different games, we’re able to get players into one environment to assess and see levels of performance.”
A guest appearance from a member of the Wolves first-team comes later in the show, as does a big final reveal for the pair, ahead of another busy summer of tournament action for the club.
