Ledley making Football Dream a reality

Ledley King has been in Beijing over the past week making dreams come true for a number of young Chinese footballers.

As part of the Chinese government-backed Football Dream initiative, the Club Ambassador has helped select a group of players who will get the chance of a lifetime to travel to Europe later this year.

A total of 20 players between the ages of 14 and 16 will visit either Tottenham Hotspur or Inter Milan in a bid to help develop the game at grassroots level in China.

Backed by our principle partner, AIA, Football Dream will air as a reality TV show in China later this year, following the journeys of the young hopefuls.

Ledley took part in the Beijing Mega Selection last weekend, alongside Inter legend Ze Maria and grassroots coaches from both Clubs – Tony Tillbrook and Ross Embleton represented Spurs.

This saw over 100 young players from the city put through a series of tests to whittle the number down to a final 12, with previous selections having taken place in Guangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai, supported by Ossie Ardiles and David Howells.

As part of the Beijing visit, Ledley was taken to the Great Wall of China by a group of participants, before the winners from each Mega Selection came together in China’s capital city for a final stage to determine who will visit Europe.

With the selection now complete, Ledley said: “It has been a fantastic experience for me to be involved in, seeing first-hand what the young talent has to offer in this part of the world.

“The attitude and hard work shown by those involved in the Football Dream process has been encouraging, and it has been great for me to work alongside Tony, Ross and the Inter guys to help the players develop their skills.

“Now those who have made it to this stage will get an incredible opportunity of visiting Europe and our world class facilities back in London, which is the perfect way to broaden horizons and bring these youngsters a step closer to their dream of becoming a Premier League footballer.”

While in Beijing, Ledley also attended an AIA Football Carnival, attended by around 2,000 people, and got the chance to meet members of our Official Supporters Club in the city, with whom he enjoyed Saturday’s opening day victory over West Ham.

Ledley now heads south to Guangzhou and Shenzhen for further events in association with AIA before heading back to London on Saturday.