Back to where it all started...

It’s been an incredible start to 2015 for Harry Kane.

On New Year’s Day, the striker catapulted himself into the spotlight with a two-goal Man of the Match display as we defeated league leaders Chelsea 5-3 at the Lane.

He then helped the team reach the League Cup Final and followed up hitting his 19th and 20th goals of the season at West Brom last Saturday by signing a new five-year contract at the Club.

But amidst all this, the local lad has not forgotten his roots. Indeed, it would be quite difficult to, given the fact he grew up in Chingford, east London, just a stone’s throw from the Lane.

And that’s where the 21-year-old was this week, paying a surprise visit to his old youth football team, Ridgeway Rovers, during their training session at the Peter May Sports Centre.

This is where it all began for a young Harry, before he was snapped up by the Tottenham Hotspur Academy and progressed through to make his first team debut back in August 2011.

Dave Bricknell, former Chairman of Ridgeway Rovers, said: “It’s great for the kids because when they look at Harry, they can see a pathway through to becoming a footballer.

“As the song goes, ‘he’s one of our own’, and hopefully we will see another Harry Kane or Andros Townsend coming out of the area.

“There is plenty of grassroots football in the area and plenty of talent, and now they can see that if you work hard enough, your dreams can come true.”

Furthermore, Harry was delighted to see that Ridgeway Rovers now work closely with the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, who provide coaching for the team through its degree programme.

Harry said: “I was at Ridgeway from a young age and Ridgeway really helped back then, as I’m sure it continues to do for young payers.

“Nowadays, we have coaches here from the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation degree course, who are gaining some valuable experience for their studies, so the Ridgeway players will definitely benefit from that.”

Tottenham Hotspur was the first Premier League Club to offer a foundation degree programme to students through Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. Launched in 2010, up to 60 students each year are given the opportunity to study one of two foundation degree programmes: FdA Applied Sport and Community Development and FdSc Applied Coaching and Performance.

The Foundation prides itself on its unique and personal approach to Higher Education and was recently commended for six areas of good practice including student support and high quality work placements.

One of these placement opportunities is at Ridgeway Rovers. As part of the course, foundation degree students deliver coaching sessions to young players at Ridgeway each week, which gives the students valuable experience into the grassroots industry.

Ciaran Hughes, one of the Foundation degree students, said: “I am building up a portfolio of work that I can hopefully take with me to a job interview and they can see the experience I have gained over the course of the year.

“It’s great to see Harry coming into the community and getting involved with the kids. He gave a demonstration of what we were going to do in the session, and it was a nice surprise for everyone.”