Grassroots Football Quotes

To walk out at Wembley in an England shirt is a big deal for a girl who remembers playing in her local football cage down the park in Poplar with the boys.

I'm from a council estate myself, and the biggest release we had as kids was football. That's where all the great players learn their trade - as kids having a kickabout.

Racism is felt the most definitely in grassroots football.

I think people admire us for dedicating our lives to be professional athletes. But we need more people to come and watch club games; we need to encourage girls to play football from an early age.

The Copa del Rey is a different competition. It is football in its purest form and is different from the continuity of the league.

I do speak to a few people in non-league. There are a few people in Bristol where my family is based that I used to play with at Yate.

As football gets more globalised, it's probably more important than ever to have one or two players in your team who have grown up in the same streets or been to the same schools as the hard-core fans.

For me, the youth academy has a fundamental role in every club.

I want to help grow the game in India and encourage young kids to play football.

Everything I have achieved in football is due to playing football in the streets with my friends

Let's build women's football from the bottom before we get to the top; it's not about building from the top to get to the bottom. We can talk about the Etihad and Man United's ground, the Theatre of Dreams, in a few years' time. Let's fill the Academy Stadiums, the Kingsmeadows, first of all.

As players, we need to try to inspire young girls to keep playing because, at grass roots, we need more girls playing football.

Football is open to anyone, especially somebody like me who grew up in the Paris suburbs.

Every day, I was on the street dribbling, doing skills. I wasn't in an academy till I was 19.

Unfortunately apparently I am to blame because I don't produce enough English players.

Footballers from the street are more important than trained coaches.

I wish I could help in a more substantial way, the football in India in a more global, national way.

I used to play football on the streets with my friends and ended up where I am today.

I grew up there and played all the youth teams at Borussia.

In India, the key is to start at the base and start very young. We need professionally trained talent, talent that wants to make football their career, and people must see football as a strong professional career option.

I think with my generation, your first game of senior football was often a Sunday League game of football. Sometimes you're playing on pitches that aren't great, you've no referee, you've no goal nets.

We have professional football, but we also have a beautiful game which, wherever you go, can be used as a social tool for change. Football has an unmatchable power.

The national team can do so much for Italian football, as can even lads who no-one knows or who play in the lower Leagues.