“I used to play professionally, then four years ago, I had a bad injury  and wasn't getting contracts any more. But I still loved football and I used to go and kick a football around in the park.

“Kids started coming up and saying, ‘Can we play with you, mister?’ More arrived and I started showing them ball skills. Eventually, I set up Samba Street Soccer.

“That was in March 2005. I now have over 100 kids and we train four days a week. None of the kids are from what you might call regular households. I've got kids who have been banned from youth centres, ones with health issues, you name it.

“We're doing something where they don't want to go out and smash a window, don't want to steal a bag or smoke drugs. None of my under-10s is excluded from school anymore.”