Arsenal starlet Reiss Nelson has spoken about what it was like to grow up on the 'battlefield of South London'.
Nelson recently produced a first person piece called 'The Empire of Warriors' which was published on The Players' Tribune website, with the 19-year-old opening up on what it was like to come from Aylesbury Estate, a place where he says everyone is 'fighting to get out'.
This competitive nature plays itself out in the football 'cages' according to Nelson, with the forward explaining these tight spaces are what transformed him into the Arsenal player he is today.
Not only that, Nelson explains what it was like to come from a 'tough place' such as Aylesbury Estate. Here is an excerpt from the piece below.
"When I was little, I was there in the cages every day after school. It was the place. And it was the place because we, the kids from Aylesbury Estate, could go and be ourselves — and not be judged by others.
"And down in the cages, you didn’t even have any friends, really. That was the battlefield.
"Aylesbury Estate was a tough, tough place. But it helped raised me. It influences my game and my life even now.
"I’m not the only one, either. Jadon Sancho is from right nearby. That boy knows his way around the cages, I can tell you that much. Same thing with Tammy Abraham. He can play, that boy. That’s why they’ve got all that skill on the ball — that little area, it creates more talent than you could ever imagine. And there’s more coming, too.
"So when people ask me about the estates in South London, I tell them about the cages. And I tell them that South London is where warriors come from. A little empire of warriors."
For the full piece, click here.
