How London Produces The Best Footballers…

there's something special about London no not the iconic sites the fancy restaurants and shops or the royalty and grander but away from that the communities that are relentlessly creating professional footballers London has always fostered incredible players but recently released data crowned it as the best city in the world at producing footballers England's capital is home to players with the highest combined market value of any city in the world 1.4 billion so how is London overshadowing sou Poo's faelas in paris's suburbs what makes its people so special how's London become the world's best footballer Factory the

Gap whilst London is predominantly viewed for a lent of wealth luxury and Splendor there's a darker side to England's capital that's not so widely acknowledged or shown a quarter of londoners live in poverty out of a population just shy of 9 million that's 2.3 million people living without Basics like food and toiletries to Outsiders not living in the city the number comes as a shock London is widely regarded as a place of opportunity not adversity but if you live and breathe the city air it's obvious there's also the threat of crime in 2023 there were

105 crimes per 1,000 people that's 31% worse than the UK average being a kid living in an urban jungle surrounded by the threat of poverty and crime is an extraordinary way of growing up but I think it's key as to why the city breeds such extraordinary talents for example Jaden Sancho has spoken about how hard his mom worked just so he could eat and wash just so he could survive Raheem Sterling who wasn't born in the capital but grew up there has shared how he didn't have anything as a child we've all heard stories of

how psychologically challenging football can be especially inmes at a young age it can be brutal but when you've been exposed to the dark corners of society so early on in your life trials performing in big games facing setbacks making your debut is almost insignificant when your environment forces you to fear the worst at a young age you become Fearless to everything else even during a player's career being mentally strong can determine whether you become a star or Fade Away saaka has to score it's saved by Don rber and it's Italy who are the champions of

Europe Baya Saka faced a tsunami of racism following his penalty Miss in the Euro 2020 final I'm confident that a huge part of the reason why he was able to bounce back from such a low face and stand up to such disgusting abuse and go on to become one of the world's best forwards is because of the challenges London tested him with as a child additionally it's not just footballers that the capital seems to reduce you only have to glance at the top of the charts all red carpets to see London's ragster richer Stories the

city religiously churns out stars and it's no coincidence of course with all the threats that London possesses it can easily go the other way for every success story there's probably thousands of unheard tragedies it must be a terrifying fine line that young londoners Have To Tread but seeing your parents's work ethic their commitment to providing for you whilst also seeing violence and crime all at a young age humbles you it evidently makes you stronger than most there's an unbreakable resilience that is forged through London's disadvantage when you don't have much your chances to be successful

can be restricted and lond but when it comes to football the opportunities are endless in the city football is a way of escaping literally and figuratively no matter where you live in the capital a place to play the game is never far away if you have to commute to a pitch London and its 32 burs are connected for its extensive web of public transport the underground the overground the DLR buses trams black cabs London boasts arguably the best public transport of any city in the world but whilst the capital was home to around 1,500 Playing

Fields most of its Pro footballers refin their talents on concrete not grass Eber Mel Antonio jayen Sancho and Callum Hudson adoi as well as ex-pros like Rio Ferdinand all played cage football in London at a young age primarily situated in the heart of communities typically in the center of councelor states most young londoners who love the game play in the cage looking back on the poverty that exists within the city playing football especially in the local cage is as cheap a sport to play as any you just need a ball due to frequently playing against

older kids who are more physically developed many Pros that were def finded in London's cages had to quickly learn to be tough physically and mentally and to be skillful it's again another example of where a Londoner strong resilience is formed the resilience that you get playing with older boys as well it build something in you that you you're not going to get anywhere else I don't think from the cages many of the London players that now dominate our screens move to Sunday league as you can imagine the skills they've learned on the concrete translate with

ease to the grass places like Hackney marshes have become almost a right of passage for londoners looking to make it as a professional for nearly 80 years the capital's playing field to become a breeding ground for footballers this is common knowledge in the industry hence why Scouts use these locations as hotspots to find potential Stars London is home to 16 professional football clubs more than any other city in the world because of this if you're good you'll be seen what it also means is that if you fail at one Academy there's several others you can

try your luck out for example eay was released by Arsenal Fulham reading and mil wall before finally getting his breakthrough at QPR from the concrete and metal cages to acne marshes to the bright lights of the Premier League all connected for its vast transport system London is a perilous spiders web of football opportunity the the majority of footballers I've highlighted are ethnically diverse whilst these players were born in London they may only be partially English or not English at all one of London's greatest strengths is its vibrant Cosmopolitan culture 46% of its population are black

and minority ethnic compared to just 14% of England as a whole the reason for this well to uncover the answer we need to look back from its Inception London has been a Melting Pot shaped by other nations the city was found in 47 ad by the Romans with its main purpose to be a commercial Port as a result over the subsequent centuries London emerged as a thriving hub for trade as merchants and tourists passed through however most never stayed for good only the elite could permanently relocate to the capital it wasn't until recently in the

late 20th century that London started to welcome large waves of immigrants from across the world the British nationality act and later membership to the EU allowed people from Africa Asia and Europe to migrate freely to the capital in search of work and a better life because of this the proportion of people in the city who claim to be white British has shrunk from an estimated 87% in 1971 to 37% in 2021 a 50% decrease in 50 years now London's permanent population is culturally ethnically and religiously diverse what I'm trying to illustrate is London doesn't just

represent English people it's not just England's capital it's a home away from home for many communities and cultures it isn't just one city for one nation it's one city for hundreds however even when taking all the factors I've raised into consideration when you think about it there are cities full of poverty and crime and therefore strong resilient people there are cities that provide young aspiring footballers opportunities to train and refine their talent there are Cosmopolitan cities that have vibrant diverse cultures so why is London the best city in the world at producing footballers well despite

there being many cities who share these factors none of them have these three elements mixed together but London does it has resilient diverse people who use their environment to maximize their talent even when there might not be much to work with that's what makes England's capital and its population so special that's why London is the world's best footballer Factory