Friday 15 April 2016 19:31, UK
West Brom have joined forces with Delhi Dynamos in a first-of-its-kind partnership between a Premier League club and an Indian Super League League side.
The clubs will work in collaboration with the UK Trade and Industry, the New Delhi government and the University of Wolverhampton on a grassroots initiative taking football to children at more than 2,000 schools in the wider Delhi region.
A select group of students from the university will join West Brom coaches in travelling to India where they will also help build the technical expertise of local coaches.
The initiative feeds into Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to take football to every village in the country as India gears up towards hosting next year's FIFA U17 World Cup.
West Brom worked with Delhi last season when former England youth international Adil Nabi joined the Dynamos, becoming the first Premier League player in history to move directly to the Indian Super League on loan.
The ongoing partnership between the two teams also saw them cross-promote one another at their home grounds last season.
Delhi promoted the signing of ex-Chelsea winger Florent Malouda - who played in the Indian capital last term - on the digital perimeter boards during last season's Monday Night Football clash with Manchester City at the Hawthorns.
Delhi returned the favour by promoting the Baggies across their 60,000 capacity arena at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the primary venue for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
"We are delighted to team up once again with West Brom on this ground-breaking initiative," Delhi Dynamos president Prashant Agarwal told Sky Sports.
"At Delhi Dynamos we have shown a great deal of ambition by bringing some of the household names of world football to the club in the past such as Roberto Carlos, Alessandro Del Piero, John Arne Riise and Florent Malouda.
"But ultimately we want to develop homegrown talent who can go and become the next household name in world football. To do that you need to develop football at the grassroots level. A tree cannot grow without strong roots."
West Brom sales and marketing director Adrian Wright added: "We want to establish a legacy that leaves a lasting impression on Delhi and India. It should be a legacy that extols the values of West Bromwich Albion and of course hopefully brings new fans to our attention.
"But we are also developing our relationship with Delhi Dynamos all the time and our message is clear. We're there to stay and want to help football develop and through that improve the health and well-being of thousands of youngsters whose lives we can genuinely hope to change for the better."
