The deal unveiled here today will see both parties commit £1.5 million ($2.3 million/€1.7 million) a year to the newly-formed Kickz initiative, as well as £1.3 million ($1.9 million/€1.5 million) to the Premier League 4 Sport (PL4Sport) campaign.

With top football clubs such as Chelsea and Fulham getting involved in the scheme, the hope is that the appeal of these top clubs combined with the knowledge and broad resources at the disposal of Sport England and the sports organisations it supports will provide a lasting legacy through the programme to enrich the lives of disadvantaged young people and enhance quality of life in these disadvantaged areas.

Athletics, boxing, golf and tennis have been added to the eight sports already on offer from PL4Sport, giving youngsters more opportunities to hone their skills in Olympic and Paralympic disciplines and have a greater chance of reaching a high level in their chosen sports.

"Our clubs have a fantastic track record in terms of investing in and committing to a wide range of good-cause and grass-roots initiatives," Scudamore said.

"Premier League Kickz and Premier League 4 Sport – both part of our Creating Chances programme and focused on sports participation – are hugely successful examples of that and have benefited thousands of young people in recent years.

"The increased investment announced today, along with the expertise brought in by our new partner Sport England, provides our clubs with the opportunity to take these projects to the next level and get more young people playing sport across the country."

Football clubs, such as two-time Premier League winners Chelsea, have joined the PL4Sport scheme

Bitel said: "This partnership will help sport to change the lives of tens of thousands of young people.

"We're determined that every young person should have opportunities to discover a sport that excites them and inspires them to develop a sporting habit for life."

The announcement was made here at a school in Brixton in East London, where British Olympic sprinter Adam Gemili, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Maria Miller, and former Chelsea and England star Graeme Le Saux were in attendance among notable others.

Miller spoke of how the new partnership will help leave a lasting legacy of sports on the back of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and can also be used as a benchmark for private and public sector organisations to join forces in order to make positive changes within the community.

"Premier League clubs have great pulling power and this £17 million ($26 million/€20 million) partnership with Sport England will encourage thousands of young people to try out different sports," she explained.

"It shows how the private and public sectors can come together to strengthen community sport across the country."

Students at Evelyn Grace Academy were given coaching from representatives from Fulham FC on the day of the announcement, and played hockey with Graeme Le Saux

The new PL4Sport partnership will also see the creation of 270 satellite sports clubs with the potential to reach tens of thousands of young people, as well as over 1,500 volunteers trained, 2,500 sports qualifications achieved and 450 competitions delivered.

The Kickz scheme has reached over 70,000 young people since forming in 2006, and with expansion plans now in place, the scheme now aims to reach another 30,000 children over the coming three years of the partnership, and will also see around 3,000 volunteers receive full training and the delivery of 600 competitions.

"Sport has played a massive part of my life, so it's brilliant to see how the Premier League and Sport England's Lottery investment is helping other young people to get involved," said Gemili, who was formerly on the books of Chelsea FC, and Dagenham and Redbridge before switching to a career in sprinting.

"Like so many kids, watching and then playing football was the way I first got into sport, but, of course, I've ended up a sprinter and these programmes are giving thousands of youngsters the chance to try different sports and find the one they love."

Sport England and the Premier league first collaborated in 2009 to create PL4Sport, which has since engaged 60,000 young people and created 320 of the clubs that formed the basis for the satellite clubs now being introduced across the country by Sport England and its partners.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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