Harry Kane's first club celebrates Ballon d'Or win

The chairman of the football club that Harry Kane played for as a boy has said they are proud of his "hard work" after the England captain won the Ballon d'Or.

Ian Marshall, chairman of Ridgeway Rovers FC in Walthamstow, where Kane played as a youth, said he was welling up during the awards, adding: "I know how hard he's worked to get it, and I know what he's had to go through from the beginning."

The 33-year-old Bayern Munich striker was crowned the world's best male football player and men's striker of the year at the awards on Monday night.

Alex Welsh, former academy coach at Arsenal, said he was "ecstatic" Kane had won the award, which he described as "fully deserved".

"Harry has certainly reached the levels that we could never have foreseen all those years ago," Welsh said.

"The great thing about Harry is he's never forgotten where it all began, here at the Peter May Sports Centre."

The centre is home to Ridgeway Rovers FC and next door to The Arsenal Football Club Youth Academy. It is also home to a Harry Kane statue.

"We want every kid that comes on to this pitch to look at this statue and think, 'That could be me one of these days'," said Welsh.

"If you want to be a professional athlete, look at Harry Kane. What a brilliant role model."

The former academy coach said it was not always certain Kane would make it as a centre forward.

"When Harry was 10, the club weren't quite sure whether he was going to make the cut," he said.

"For my sins I was the part-time goalkeeping coach at the Arsenal Academy and they said, 'Look, he's good in goal, can you take him?'

'So I took him for five months, once a week, and tried to convert him into a goalkeeper.

"But in the end, I failed miserably to convert him into a goalie. The whole nation owes me a debt of gratitude that I was hopeless at my job."

Marshall said Kane's success was due to his continued self-belief and hard work.

"We didn't think he would be as good as he was," he said. "We probably thought he would be a good squad player for a team, but nobody saw what was coming.

"But it's down to him, his effort, his hard work, his application.

"He's better than all the rest of them and that's a fact."

Marshall said the club was considering paying tribute to Kane's Ballon d'Or on their kit.

"We're very proud of that fact," he said. "We're a club that produced a Ballon d'Or player... there's not many of them about."

Stanley, who plays centre midfield for the Ridgeway Rovers Under 10s Tigers, said he wanted to follow Kane's success.

"It's an inspiration for the whole team to follow on his journey," he said.

"[England] are really lucky because without Harry Kane they would be nowhere."

George, who plays centre back, left-mid and right-mid, said he hoped to become a professional football player and reach Kane's standard.

"I was actually sleeping when he won the Ballon d'Or, but when I first heard I was like, 'Get in there'," he said.

"It makes me believe that I can do it and all my other friends can do it as well."

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