“You’ve got to be bold and be respected to play the game.”
Arsenal 's Reiss Nelson knows exactly what it takes to stand out in a packed south London cage pitch, it’s how his rise from Walworth’s Aylesbury estate to the Emirates Stadium began.
Therefore, at least in his eyes, it is only right he help provide the best facilities for the next Reiss Nelson, as exhibited by his latest charitable endeavour at the Michael Faraday School.
The Gunners star has donated the entirety of the funds to help his childhood primary school build a new football pitch, which officially opened on Friday, November 18. His club, Arsenal and mentoring organisation Mentivity supported the grand launch as Nelson aims to play a big part in inspiring the next generation of South London talent.
That part of the capital is widely regarded as a bit of a hot-bed for promising footballers, as Nelson alludes to when asked what is it about South London’s cage pitches that has helped produced so many Premier League stars, including Manchester United ’s Jadon Sancho - one of Nelson’s closest friends growing up.
The Arsenal academy graduate exclusively told Mirror Football : “The pitches have made some great players, some are in the England squad, some are in great Premier League teams. I think it has moulded them into the players and characters that they are so it is good.
“I think South London is the reason why all these players have gone on to do this stuff – I can say a lot of different names but if you ask them about their childhood memories growing up, they will literally all say ‘I remember being in the cages, playing for hours on end’ - not caring about anything that is happening in the area, just playing and playing.”
Football is woven into the fabric of this area, as Nelson adds: “In South London, if you go to an estate, they have got a pitch in there. It is kind of like, not forced on you but it is the only thing you can really do.”
Arsenal have an illustrious history of South London talent, with one of their greatest ever goal scorers in Ian Wright also growing up in that neck of the woods, where cage pitches are so common.
But what is it about this particular types of pitch that helps breed such skill? Well, as Nelson explains, a lot of it boils down to the ‘sink or swim’ mentality many youngsters have to adopt to thrive inside the cage.
“Just the rawness of it you know, there’s nothing fancy in it – two goals, little rebound boards – you just got to do whatever you can to get out of the tight spaces,” the Gunners star adds.
“The pitches are often really small so you have just got to do whatever you can, you’ve got the pressure of all the adults and different ages – there's not a sign on the door saying 8-10 years old, you can walk in and see a group of 30 year olds and if you want to play, you’ve got to be bold and be respected to play the game."
Discussing his hopes for 'The Nelson' as an initiative moving forward, Nelson claimed: "This one, in my primary school is like my baby because I used to go but of course my ambition is to change the whole astroturf pitch scene in London and make it much more fun.
"I feel like a lot of the times when I go to astroturf pitches now I see a lot of older people there, it’s become a thing where I’m seeing a lot of guys coming from work and playing – I'm not really seeing the youth, any younger people going there.
"I want the Nelson to change that and allow the younger generation somewhere they can go and take their skills to the next level."
To mark the opening of the pitch, Nelson was joined by Arsenal icon Wright as the pair cut the red ribbon together.
Talent from Gunners past and present coming together to try and produce a star of the future, it was the fitting end to an undeniably feel-good story that highlights just how keen Nelson is to reward the place that put him in his current position.
