Marvin Humes and Gareth Southgate are encouraging thousands of children to try football.

Marvin Humes

Marvin Humes

The TV presenter and the England football manager joined forces on Thursday (28.03.19) to invite parents across the UK to sign up for one of over 600 McDonald's Fun Football sessions, which have been made to introduce kids to the popular sport for the first time.

Over 12,000 spaces are available for children to sign up to and the course is aimed at introducing 5-11 year olds to football regardless of gender of disability.

The Fun Football sessions are part of a four-year-deal between fast food chain McDonalds' and the Football Association (FA), which will see the popular restaurant provide over 5 million hours of football to 5-11 year olds by 2022.

Speaking about the campaign, Gareth said in a statement: "McDonald's has played a pivotal role in supporting grassroots football for seventeen years and Fun Football is another crucial step in continuing to make football accessible for young children.

"This is an exciting launch and I'm honoured to be a part of it. It's really important that children all over the UK are given opportunities to play football so that we can continue to attract young, new players to the sport and get them enjoying the game."

Whilst Marvin added: "With Fun Football placing a focus on participation and providing opportunities to play, we're aiming to make football more accessible to the children who haven't played much before."

"As a parent of two young kids, it's exciting to know that grassroots football in the UK is continuing to grow stronger: not only will the programme help children to develop their skills but they will be able to make friends and have fun too."

Through these Fun Football Centres, over 500,000 children will have the opportunity to play football for the first time in 2019.