What classy gesture Conor Gallagher made ahead of Crystal Palace vs Chelsea FA Cup semi-final

Crystal Palace midfielder Conor Gallagher took part in a special event this week to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Premier League Kicks community programme.

PL Kicks started in 2006 and is the league’s flagship community programme, using the power of football and sport to inspire young people in high-need areas across England and Wales. The sessions consist of football and other sports and give young people a safe space to have fun with their friends. To celebrate the milestone, Gallagher spoke at an event on Tuesday with the Palace for Life Foundation at the club’s academy, getting a chance to see first-hand how the programme has impacted some of the young people in London since its launch.

Palace for Life has been running free Kicks sessions for young south Londoners for a decade, thanks to funding from the Premier League. In that time, approximately 8,848 young people have participated in the sessions, with more than 12,500 hours of free activity delivered across south London thanks to the programme.

“These programmes are very special,” said 22-year-old Gallagher. “I think it’s so important for [young people] to have a place to go and play sport with other kids, to express themselves and have fun.” He added: “This is my first [community visit] this season so I’m glad to see them and show my face, show what it means and how important [programmes like Kicks] are, and that it’s a great thing for them to do. Hopefully, they can come back, and it carries on.”

And if attendees at Premier League Kicks need to find any inspiration that they could take their sport to the next level, then they need look little further than the confines of the Crystal Palace training ground and Wilfried Zaha. The Thornton-Heath born