Young girls dreaming of becoming the next Lionesses have had their dreams torn apart after it is suspected a convicted fraudster fleeced their parents out of more than £27,000 - with their chance to play in a Paris tournament now in jeopardy.
For the last three years, RS Lionesses - an FA-accredited grassroots club - has brought together more than 100 talented youngsters to play against girls signed to premier league academies all over the UK.
Jay Austin, who also goes by the names James and Jamie, and lives in Greater Manchester, sold hundreds of girls aged under 12 the 'dream' of playing against big name clubs in front of talent scouts and at premier league stadiums.
The 44-year-old - who said the allegations against him are false - told scores of enthused parents their daughters could take part in elite events, including the Paris International Cup.
When the event takes place in July, it will mark the first ever junior tournament held at the prestigious Paris St Germain training ground.
But it is claimed only a handful of the matches and tournaments Austin advertised actually went ahead, with dozens of parents reporting they were never refunded for cancelled matches. They were shocked to discover Austin failed to pay entry fees, while some of the tournaments never existed.
In some instances, parents were even charged for tournaments that were sponsored by the hosting clubs and free to enter.
Parents also shelled out for kits they did not receive, alongside hundreds of pounds in registration fees and monthly subscriptions to retain a place for their daughters in the team.
And in the case of the Paris tournament, parents say they were pressured into collectively paying £8,500 upfront - only to find Austin never actually secured a place for RS Lionesses.
Convicted fraudster Jay Austin has been accused of fleecing £27,000 out of parents of girls signed to a football team he founded
RS Lionesses has launched an urgent fundraising appeal on GoFundMe to help the youngsters get to Paris after their parents were scammed out of thousands
Parents claim Austin failed to pay entry fees, fabricated tournaments, charged for matches that were free to enter and failed to provide football kits, among other allegations
Early last month a despondent Austin told parents over a WhatsApp voice note, heard by Daily Mail, that he had 'messed up' and 'got myself into massive debt'.
He added: 'For the last eight months I've been struggling. I've got credit cards maxed out, I've got a loan which has snowballed, which I got out to support the football [team]. I've got a store card maxed out. It's my mess up and I can only repay people in time. It's my fault.'
The team has now been suspended by Lancashire FA, while Austin has been issued with an interim suspension order and charged with bringing the game into disrepute.
Dozens of families have contacted their banks as victims of an authorised push payment (APP) scam, though most have yet to receive a penny back.
As suspicions began to rise, it emerged Austin has a long history of fraud offences to his name.
In 2008, Austin, originally of Weymouth, Dorset, was convicted of fraud and false representation, after he callously used his grandparents' names to open bank accounts.
He spent tens of thousands of pounds paying off gambling debts, while he wrote more than 200 cheques worth up to £15,000 which then bounced due to insufficient funds.
Four years later Austin was jailed for two years after being arrested for passing fake bank notes at Royal Ascot.
Then in 2017, Austin - now presenting himself as a talent agent - was accused by a Jamie Vardy lookalike of being scammed out of appearance fees.
Postman Lee Chapman found fame after he was pulled on to the team coach as Leicester City celebrated their Premier League win.
He featured across national press after his apparent resemblance to Vardy - with Austin swiftly stepping in to represent him. But months later, Chapman said he received only a fraction of the fees due to him.
In 2021, Austin again came into the limelight when former glamour model Katie Price accused him of trying to making thousands from her disabled son Harvey.
Parents say they were pressured into collectively paying £8,500 upfront for the Paris International Cup - only to find Austin never actually secured a place for RS Lionesses
Austin, at the time running a PR firm called Lucky7, told one web company he was a promoter and could get the 18-year-old to star in videos.
He engaged business with Price, but said she hadn't been made aware of any deal involving her son and raged to fans in a now-deleted Instagram video that she wouldn't touch Austin 'with a bargepole'.
She added: 'If he approaches you to do posts for me it's not legit.'
Now in his latest suspected scam, scores claim they have lost thousands to Austin and have fallen victim to his 'blatant lies'.
Parents fear that Austin took advantage of women's football as a rapidly growing sport - and preyed on young girls aspiring towards becoming professional footballers.
One parent, who said their loss comes to around £2,500, told Daily Mail he was 'absolutely fuming' over the situation.
He said: 'I was trying to do something positive for my daughter. It's made me feel really angry. I thought I was too shrewd to fall for something like this'.
The devastated dad explained how Austin had presented himself and the team on social media as an 'inside man' with connections at premier league clubs, persuading him through repeated compliments about his daughter to part with money for upcoming 'opportunities' that could boost her career.
Now he says he believes Austin was simply playing on his emotions.
'It was kind of like a guilt trip. When he was selling tournaments to me he would say, "I just thought it'd be a really good opportunity for your daughter". I never thought it was forceful, I never thought he was trying to twist my arm.
'It's only in hindsight now looking back that he was clearly just after the money and didn't really care about my daughter's development.'
'We need justice. He needs to be taken down, because he's just gonna do it again.
'He's got no morals whatsoever. He just does whatever he likes. That's Jay Austin.'
Another parent, who reported losing more than £1,400, said she felt 'groomed and manipulated' by Austin and was left 'devastated' after learning the truth.
She said: 'The most horrifying part is knowing that I allowed someone capable of this behaviour to be close to my daughter because I believed the club was legitimate and properly safeguarded.
'My daughter is deeply upset and heartbroken that the trip she had been promised to the Paris International Cup may never happen without support.
'She placed her trust, excitement, and dreams in something that now feels like a cruel deception. The emotional damage caused by this situation goes far beyond the financial loss.'
A third parent, who has lost around £600, told how the club seemed 'quite legit' at first, but then she felt Austin was continually asking her for money.
'He was taking monthly subs, then asking about the kit, admin fees, sign-up fees. It started to spiral.
'Obviously being associated with the FA, Austin had contact with all these big name clubs, such as Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City, Brighton, and so on, and he told us about all these tournaments and opportunities to go and play with them.'
On one occasion, she paid up front for a tournament with girls from Manchester City's academy team - only to be told the match had been cancelled after she had set off from home.
'We got in the car and were two hours down the road when I got a message to say, "Man City have canceled it" and a screenshot supposedly from the club. Jay said they had lost their accreditation, something along those lines, and that they would definitely reschedule.
'When I spoke to him on the phone about what would happen if we can't make the other date, could we have the money back, he just said no it won't come to that - and sort of brushed it under the carpet.'
The concerned mother said she believed Austin had taken advantage of the 'gaps' that exist around girls' football as the sport gains popularity.
'He and others like him are exploiting girls' grassroots football, because the infrastructure just isn't there for them as it for boys, and that is the wider problem.
'There are opportunities for girls, but the academies and emerging talent centres are still funded by parents.
'This guy has basically stolen money given in good faith to get the girls the same opportunities the boys get for nothing.
'Unless the FA and clubs step in and provide guidance, there's nothing to stop anyone from doing this again.'
Austin, who previously set up a talent agency, ran into conflict with a Jamie Vardy lookalike, who claimed he had scammed him out of appearance fees, as well as former glamour model Katie Price
Lee Chapman, who was catapulted into fame for his resemblance to former Leicester City footballer Jamie Vardy, said his involvement with Austin as his agent turned his short moment of fame into 'the most toxic thing ever'.
Not only does he claim Austin scammed him out of his appearance fees, but he also alleges that he ran into trouble with Vardy when the conman took over his social media accounts and began excessively tagging him on the sportsman's posts.
Within weeks the footballer - who now plays for Italian side US Cremonese - accused Chapman of 'stalking' him and his wife, with the pair blocking his accounts.
When that happened, Austin sold the story to a national newspaper and pocketed £750, despite the damage it did to his own client's reputation.
Ten years on, Chapman said people still come up to him thinking he stalked Vardy and has been on the receiving end of hateful comments.
Speaking to Daily Mail, he said: 'Jay is someone who catches lightning in a bottle.
'He gets in early, before you even know what's happening. One minute I was a postman and the next, every media outlet wanted a piece of me - and he stepped in.
'He's very clever and manipulative. He's controlling, reassuring, everything you can possibly think of in a con man. He's like an illusionist.
'It's a shame because he's good at social media and promotion, but it's always for his own self-gain, his wallet. It's never for the client.
'If there's an opportunity to ruin someone's life or make some money off of someone in some bad way, he's gonna lick his lips and take it.'
Daily Mail contacted Austin and put the allegations to him.
He said all funds had gone through a business account and not to him personally, and the issue was a civil matter.
Austin added it was 'not true' he had taken payments for the Paris tournament and failed to book a place for the team, and said the number of parents making allegations had been 'exaggerated'.
He said that as a 'gesture of goodwill' he had paid 'a significant four-figure sum' in recent days to parents claiming money back.
'These are all false allegations,' he added.