More than 150 young Asian footballers joined Chelsea Football Club last weekend for a free coaching session at the world-famous Neasden Temple.

The coaching is designed to provide a boost to the number of Asian youngsters playing the national game and follows the club’s highly successful search for an Asian star, which will see three players from Asian backgrounds joining the Chelsea Academy this summer for a three-day trial.

The club’s Asian community tour kicked off with a free coaching session for girls at Nonsuch School in Sutton and will continue tomorrow when coaches visit the Alperton Community School in Wembley.

In association with the Asian Media Group, the club will visit 10 community organisations throughout the summer to address the lack of Asian players in the game.

Chelsea’s head of corporate social responsibility Simon Taylor said: “It’s important that Asian youngsters get the same opportunities as every other player and we hope our summer tour will help break down some of the barriers that exist between the game and the Asian community.

"The fact that more than 150 young people turned up shows that there is a passion for football within the Asian community and we hope to see many of the kids today go on to join local teams in their area.”

Kalpesh Solanki, managing editor of AMG, added: “We are delighted to be involved with Chelsea and the Neasden Temple to involve the Asian community in football.

"We are keen to break down the perceived barriers and encourage Asian families to go to football matches and watch their team and help their children to play football.”