SOUTH London received a major community sporting boost last week as two of the capital's oldest football clubs, Crystal Palace and Tooting & Mitcham United, launched a joint community initiative with a roadshow at the KNK Stadium as part of their Easter community programme.
Using the ultra-modern facilities at the stadium in Morden, home of Tooting & Mitcham, the roadshow attracted a large number of local young people, despite the cold weather, who participated in mini football tournaments, skill sessions, a hardest shot test, bungee football game and human table football.
At the end of the day, Crystal Palace first-team squad players Alex Wynter and Republic of Ireland U19 goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons presented some lucky participants with special prizes with everyone else in attendance receiving a goody bag.
The roadshow marked the beginning of a partnership, which will continue with community coaching courses before rolling out further projects to support key local priorities such as education, youth engagement and healthy lifestyles.
This continues the successful link between the two clubs, which currently involves the Crystal Palace FC development squad while playing a selection of their Barclays U21 Premier League games at the KNK Stadium.
Director of Tooting & Mitcham United, Steve Adkins, said: "It was fantastic to see young people come down here to participate in our roadshow.
"This is just the start of our partnership together on a community level and there will be a whole lot more to look forward to for the local community in the coming months."
And head of Crystal Palace FC Foundation, Donald Forde, was delighted with the turnout from a number of youngsters.
He said: "Despite the weather, the young people came out in numbers, which just goes to show how much the community is supporting our partnership.
"We spoke to a lot of the young people and their families about our plans going forward and we are excited about our future projects together for the whole spectrum of the local community."
For more information visit, www.cpfcfoundation.org or call 020 8768 6047.