Former Arsenal FC legend, Patrick Vieira paid a surprise visit to the young people taking part on the Jason Roberts Foundation Summer Football Programme in Grenada earlier this month.
Vieira, a friend of Jason Roberts, dropped in on the football training session when he recently visited the Caribbean Island of Grenada, and received a warm welcome from the children and football coaches alike.
The Foundation’s Summer Football programme held in St George’s, which is running throughout July, has seen an average of 65 children per day – boys and girls aged from 7-16 years old, receive coaching from seven local football coaches – four of which hold English FA Level 1 coaching qualifications.
The Foundation is grateful to the local Companies and organisations who have generously sponsored the Summer Programme: Independence Agencies LTD, the Ministry of Sport, Grenada Bottling Company and Deco Industries.
Patrick Vieira is a retired French footballer of Senegalese descent who is the Football Development Executive at Manchester City FC.
He rose to prominence during a hugely successful spell at Arsenal FC from 1996 to 2005 where he won three Premier League titles – one unbeaten – and four FA Cups, eventually becoming club captain. After leaving Arsenal in 2005, he spent one season at Juventus before joining Internazionale in 2006. He has 106 caps for France, and was part of their 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning sides.
He announced his retirement from professional football on 14 July 2011 and is currently Football Development Executive at Man City with a role to oversee aspects such as youth development, commercial partners and the club’s social responsibility programme – “City in the Community”. *
For more information about the work of the Foundation please visit www.jasonrobertsfoundation.com
