A group of female footballers from Brent were given a rare private coaching session with England Under-21 manager Gareth Southgate today.
Sisters Faduma and Jawahir Roble from Harlesden, and Hani Abdulgadil, Shani Osman from Neasden, got the chance to train with the former Aston Villa defender by taking part in the StreetGames Football Pools Fives competition.
Taking place at the Westway Sports Centre in Paddington, the grassroots programme targeted thousands of young men and women from disadvantaged communities.
Mr Southgate, the programme’s ambassador, put the players through their paces in a special session to mark the success of the scheme’s first year.
He said: “It was clear just how much football means to the young players I coached today and I was very impressed with their attitude and their ability as well.
“It is so important to continue to build the game in deprived inner-city areas and, as a keen advocate of developing the sport at grassroots level, I believe that taking sport to underprivileged young people is truly vital.”
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