Tottenham launch game for young fans

Tottenham Hotspur have become the first football club to develop a digital interactive game for children.

Tottenham have a strong worldwide following and they are now looking to broaden that fan-base with the launch of a game called Tottenham Turfies.

The north London club say the free game is the world's first "fully-interactive digital experience for children to be created and developed by a football club."

Young fans under the age of 10 can create their own avatars and take part in games such as Topsy Turfie and Training Run with fellow supporters to earn virtual coins.

Those coins can then be exchanged for virtual and real-life prizes, such as tickets to open training sessions and stadium tours.

Spurs, who finished fifth in the Premier League last season, have sought to protect the young online players by not including a chat facility on the game. Players must also register their parents' email address so they have a copy of their child's log-on and password.

Tottenham head of marketing Emma Taylor said the club had made a "significant financial investment" to come up with the game, which went live at 10:30 this morning via the club's website.

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe, who has trialled the new game, said: "When I was a young boy, we had football stickers to swap in the playground, but I would have loved to have been able to play against my friends online and create my own 'Turfie'.

"Tottenham Turfies takes things to a new level and it's a great way for kids to have fun and get into football from an early age."

Digital agency Hangar Seven, who have worked on projects for CBBC, Disney, Cartoon Network and Lego, developed the game.