Plymouth Argyle welcome nine Ukrainian refugees for tour around Home Park

Plymouth Argyle played host to nine Ukranian children giving them a tour of the stadium and a training session on the pitch.

The children, aged between 12 and 16, are living with host families in Tavistock and attended Tavistock College.

They were invited to the club for an hour long training session with academy coaches Lee Hodge and James Bradley.

Lee Hodge said “We started off with some skills, did some one-vs-ones, and then finished with a game at the end.

"Everything we did today, we would do with our young players at the Academy. We wanted to give them the opportunity to play at Home Park, especially after the awful things they have gone through.

"Football is a universal language and you could see that all of those students were passionate about football. It was just great to see the smiles on their faces."

The teacher at the collage, Chole Carrubba, contacted Argyle to see if they could offer some support.

She said: “Many of these kids have experienced many difficult and distressing things recently and all of them came to this country with just one backpack of belongings.

"I found that talking to all of them that they’re all connected through football. I wanted to show them the best club in the world and today has been just the most amazing experience for all of them.

She added: "It’s been wonderful for me, to see them genuinely happy excited about something and feel so welcome in the community.”

Two of the children - Matvii, 12, and Anton, 15, were thrilled by the experience.

They said: "It was beautiful. You have a very nice pitch."

"It would be great to see a game here".

The children were able to take home training kit and boots after the session.