A weekly newspaper journalist is writing a book about an unsung football scouting hero.

Barnsley Chronicle production editor Ashley Ball has been researching the life of Mark Crook with football historian Chris Brook.

Their work has revealed Mr Crook, pictured, discovered over 100 professional footballers up until his death in 1977.

Those he successfully scouted included World Cup winner Ron Flowers, FA Cup final winning hero Alan Sunderland and one-time British transfer record holder Steve Daley.

Mr Crook ran Yorkshire club Wath Wanderers, a feeder team for Midlands outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers, from around 1938 until 1970.

The resulting book, ‘Feeding The Wolves: The story of Mark Crook and the Wath Wanderer’, will come out later this year.

Chris said: “Mark’s Wath Wanderers was an incredibly successful nursery club providing more than 80 professionals, many of these to Wolves.

“It is believed that it was the first of what we now refer to as football academies.”