The site is overlooked by the estate he and former friend and teammate David ‘Rocky’ Rocastle grew up on. The pair honed their football skills on the old concrete pitches at the school before going on to play alongside each other for Arsenal FC.

The new floodlit all-weather facilities provides local children with a quality, safe and inclusive place to play all-year round. As well as being used by Turnham Academy, Millwall Community Trust will use the ‘Rocky & Wrighty Arena’ outside of school hours to run Premier League Kicks, walking football for adults, Weetabix Wildcats, Millwall Lionesses and Millwall Roman LGBTQ+ sessions. Local club Hillyfielders FC will also be using the pitch for their training sessions throughout the week.

“It’s going to make such a difference to so many kids in the area I grew up in. For me, it’s more than a pitch, it’s a tribute to my dear friend, David Rocastle, which I hope will inspire more young people to fall in love with football. We used to spend hours kicking a ball about and now these kids have a proper pitch to play on,” said Wright.

The project was funded by the Premier League, The FA and government’s Football Foundation and EA Sports.

“The investment of the Premier League, The FA And Government is providing more and more people with the opportunity to lace up their boots and enjoy the transformative benefit grassroots sport can have on lives and communities up and down the country,” said Robert Sullivan, CEO of the Football Foundation.