An Indian summer for West Brom's initiative
West Brom's project with youngsters in India has taken another step forward with a Baggies-funded team taking to the field in a huge stadium in Delhi.
Under-17s youngsters from the club's Player Sponsorship Scheme claimed a thrilling 3-2 win at the 60,000-seat Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
The scheme has this season sponsored 22 Delhi youngsters, who have benefited from free transport, kit, league subscriptions, and healthcare.
The scholars wear Albion colours while representing the club's India football partners, Youth Football International (YFI), in the Delhi Youth League the club and YFI established together.
YFI Rovers Under-17s, who fielded an entire team of Albion scholars, came from two goals behind to beat BBFS 3-2 in a five-goal thriller.
Youth Football International director and Delhi Youth League chairman Paul Schuttenbelt spoke of the impact their presence has had,.
He said: "West Bromwich Albion are helping kids who have very little play football in an organised and professional environment with coaches who are qualified right up to the UEFA A-Licence.
"Before we established the Delhi Youth League there was nowhere for children to come together to play competitive football.
"The league gives the children the opportunity to integrate with other kids from substantially better off backgrounds."
Albion took their international coaching programme, 'Pass It Forward', to Delhi last year as part of a plan to promote the club in India.
They have held meetings with influential Indian companies about possible commercial deals and plan to expand the coaching programmes to other areas of the country as they scour for possible young talent to join the Baggies' academy.
Albion sales and marketing director Adrian Wright added: "We have a strong relationship with YFI and we are committed to developing football in India.
"The launch of the Indian Super League last year has given football in India a real lift and we have seen with our own eyes what football means to the children of Mumbai and Delhi.
"Our aim is to have an Indian child playing in our first team within the next ten years. Youth Football International are doing fantastic work and we are proud to be in partnership with them."
Last year's visit to introduce 'Pass It Forward' followed an initial trip in October 2013.
To deliver the project, Albion joined forces with YFI, an established coaching organisation based in the capital city.
The Delhi Youth League is the biggest Youth league in India and there are 60 teams. Demand is so high that teams have been turned away.
'Pass It Forward' coaching sessions are held at schools and in some of New Delhi's most deprived areas during the week-long trip.
Links between the West Midlands region and the Indian capital had recently been strengthened by Air India launching a direct flight from Birmingham International to Delhi, and Albion are keen to tap into the growing interest in the Premier League in India.
The club's head of audio-visual content, Ian Skidmore, said: "When I first visited India in December I was unsure what level of interest in football I would find.
"I've now walked through the streets, slums and parks of Delhi and Mumbai, and I have seen with my own eyes the impact football is having out there.
"The work the club is doing with Youth Football International is enabling deprived children from the slums the opportunity to play football in an organised league.
"The children I have visited in the slums are simply too poor to ask for some of the family's hard-earned money to spend on football.
"That's where the club and YFI bridge the gap through the Player Sponsorship Scheme.
"Kids who would otherwise be kicking a can through the streets of Delhi are instead playing at the Nehru Stadium."
