Manchester student shines light on ‘the truth’ of Moss Side

Ahmed Yassin is a community leader and football coach.

He has trained teams in the area, and was so keen to help young people, he started a project which he called Manchester’s best kept secret.

The 10-year project was started by Ahmed and his colleagues to use football as a tool to prevent anti-social behaviour and build community relationships with children and young people.

He said: “I’ve always known there was always talent and potential in the most deprived communities like Moss Side, Rusholme, where I’m from.

“Sadly, not enough were getting a level playing field so I embarked on a journey, a 10 year project. I call it Manchester’s best kept secret.”

For nine years in a row, his teams, who are aged nine to under 18s, won cup finals and some of the players went on to academies at Manchester United and Manchester City.

Ahmed added: “The area and the community gets a bad reputation but it’s not the locals that are doing the crime sometimes and that’s what’s been saddening for me, personally, that we’ve not been able to tell our own stories.”