A SOCCER school based in Isleworth received a visit from Chelsea star Flourent Malouda this week.
Sport Linx Football Academy was set up 10 years ago by Sean Conlon, a coach at Old Isleworthians, with the intention of providing players for the Wood Lane club.
However, the academy has grown so much that, through Conlon's work links with Chelsea and QPR, they are now providing players for Premiership and Football League club academies – with 40 having been fed into them in the past four years.
Conlon said: “We started out just wanting to give local players in Isleworth a path into football, and now it has grown into providing players with a path to club's academies.”
Sport Linx regularly run courses at Lampton School, Isleworth & Syon School and the Green School. Visit www.sportslinx.co.uk for more details.
French international Malouda, whose son is coached at the Sport Linx Academy, has become a key player in the Chelsea squad over the past five years, making more than 150 appearances since joining from Lyon in 2007.
