Over the last 12 months, Serie A football team, AS Roma, have been following the rise of the semi-professional football club Hackney Wick after being incredibly impressed by what Hackney Wick FC founder Bobby Kasanga had already achieved in such a short space of time.
After serving an eight-year sentence in prison before finding the club, Kasanga then went on to build a community-based football club which was put in place to save lives on the streets.
Bobby grew up in Peckham and played football as a child, and has come to admit that football is something he has always wanted to peruse throughout his life.
After AS Roma discovered Bobby’s story, they wanted to cover and dig more into the life of the owner, along with his deeper intentions around founding Hackney Wick.
Bobby said in the interview, “For me, it was all about the youth. I realised in prison that a lot of them played football, very good football and many of them didn’t even know that there was such a thing as semi-pro team. I wanted to give them a chance”.
Be sure to read the full interview with Bobby Kasanga and AS Roma here.