On Monday evening, Sported Ambassador and Tottenham Hotspur defender, Eric Dier, made a surprise visit at a Haringey football group awards night.

Eric Dier who was welcomed warmly, praised Darren Wiltshire, Co-Founder of the club, and told the students that they were “very lucky to have him”.

Estudiantes, a football group in the Sported network, use the power of sport to drive academic excellence in Tottenham. They work across North and East London to provide outstanding sports provision free of charge. To have access to the opportunities, students must show an excellent attitude to their education. The club is open to young people of all abilities, including those with special educational needs who can play for the inclusion team.

About 70 students, parents and friends had gathered for the Estudiantes’ annual awards ceremony at Haringey Sixth Form College, celebrating the achievements of the students, with no idea that they were going to have a visit from the football star.

Eric explained to the students that growing up, he attended “an academy in Portugal where the values were very similar. Education first. If you didn’t go to school, you didn’t attend, or your grades weren’t right, you weren’t allowed to play football. I can see how important that is now.”

He went on to say how grateful he was for having football in his life because it meant that “it gave him the opportunity to travel, to learn languages, to meet people from all over the world and from different cultures, different countries, different backgrounds.”

When asked by a student about how he kept motivated, he replied that it wasn’t difficult when you are doing something you love. He was keen to share that “Finding something you enjoy, makes it very easy to work extremely hard at it and I think for me the most important thing is working hard – it beats everything else. I enjoy playing football, so to work hard at it and to do it is extremely easy, which is a very lucky thing.”