FORMER Prime Minister Tony Blair showed off his football skills on a visit to a Northumberland school yesterday.
Mr Blair, ex-Labour MP for Sedgefield, joined in a coaching session with pupils of Burnside Primary School at Cramlington, during the visit organised through his Tony Blair Sports Foundation.
The former Labour man was in the region to launch the foundation’s drive to get 30,000 schoolchildren involved in sport in the run up to next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games and to ensure a legacy from 2012 for the region.
Mr Blair visited the Cramlington School and Framwellgate School in Durham to meet students, teachers and local communities which are benefiting from the foundation’s work to partner sports club with schools in a bid to improve access to sport for thousands.
At Burnside he saw first hand the close links which have been established between the school and town football club Cramlington United, which only formed in June 2010.
The foundation helped secure six trained football coaches for the club, which allows it to offer coaching sessions at the school. Around 100 children from the school are now on the club’s books, half its number of young players.
The increase in the number of coaches has allowed the club to up its number of teams from 11 to 19, giving almost another 100 young people the chance to get into football in the past six months.
Four of the coaches led pupils in a session at the school yesterday, in which Mr Blair played a cameo role, showing off his dribbling skills.
The former premier was presented with a Cramlington shirt emblazoned with ‘Blair’ and ‘10.’
Mr Blair was then special guest at a school assembly, taking questions from pupils and giving a short speech.
The former politician was asked some tough questions, including what it was like being prime minister, and told children he had wanted to play for Newcastle as a youngster “but that never happened”.
Afterwards, he told The Journal: “Cramlington United do a fabulous job for the local community.
“The fact they are partnering with the foundation and coaching and mentoring, that helps with children and their fitness.”
Mr Blair told how he formed the foundation because he “wanted to give something back” to the North East.
Asked how his time with the school’s pupils compared to being prime minister, he replied: “It is more fun, that is for sure.”
Jonathan Buck, Cramlington United chairman, said: “I think Tony got the fact we are not just about football, yes we are a football club, but we genuinely want kids to play other sports. He was very complimentary about what we are trying to do.”
Headteacher at the school Jane Ramsay said: “I think it has been wonderful for all of us, for the children, for the staff, for the football club.”
