Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino joined scores of young footballers on Saturday to celebrate the reopening of the five-a-side pitches at Market Road, Islington.
The site was refurbished during the summer and 15 teams of youngsters got their first taste of the new pitches at an invitational tournament held by Camden & Islington-based Pro Touch Soccer Academy.
Spurs fielded a side in the tournament – including their head coach’s son – while Arsenal in the Community were also represented and Reading put out no fewer than four teams.
Pochettino also spoke to the young players, in both English and Spanish, after the competition and took part in a question and answer session.
Pro Touch director Ash Rahman said: “It was great to bring top clubs to our grass roots in Islington and we’re grateful to them for kindly sending academy teams along.
“The pitches are magnificent, as good as you’d find at professional clubs, and it was nice for Pro Touch to return to what has been our home since we established the academy in 2006.”
Pro Touch triumphed in the Under-12 tournament, while Tottenham took the honours in the Under-14 section and Reading were the winners in the Under-11s, all of which were seven-a-side.
The Under-nine competition, also won by Reading, was six-a-side – as was the Under-10 event, won by Hackney team Focus Academy.
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