A football agent has put his money where his mouth is by spending a small fortune to ensure his son can continue training during lockdown.

Ben Barratt, of The Landway, Bearsted, decided to begin the mammoth four-week task of converting his garden into a training ground last month, including astroturf, floodlights and even a sunken trampoline.

He was inspired to transform their outdoor space after his eight-year-old son Finley was offered a contract with Southend United to begin playing next season.

The conversion cost Mr Barratt about £8,000, but said it was money well spent to keep Finley training.

He has spent the past few years driving his son to different clubs, as coaching staff told him of Finley's natural ability on the pitch.

The 40-year-old said: "Finley’s a natural striker, and we’ve been told by a premier club that he’s one of the best finishers they’ve ever seen.

"I honestly believe with the right training he could go very far."

He added: "To get signed at an academy at the age, he’s probably technically one of the best kids in the county - if you’re signed by academy under 9, it’s a massive privilege, a big deal."

But when the national lockdown was announced in response to the coronavirus crisis, Mr Barratt wanted to ensure Finley would be able to keep his training going without needing to leave the family home.

The football-mad dad said: "The club started sending through homework for him to do, but our garden wasn't very football friendly, with a shed up and just a small grassy area.

"We made the decision to get the garden done to keep the training going."

Not content with stopping there, Mr Barratt even installed cameras in the garden so he could keep an eye on the boy's progress whilst he works from his home office.

Mr Barratt does a 90 minute session with the budding footballer every day, but he often spends many more hours practising and honing his technique.

He said: "He’s just out there having fun in the garden, it’s great.

"I’ve got my Level 1 coaching badge, so I know the basics, but it’s been a real learning curve having to take on the role of his coaches.

"We’ve even had independent coaches doing zoom video coaching sessions with him - I give them the login details to my CCTV feed so they can see what he’s doing."

When Finley found out about his success with Southend United, he and the family were over the moon.

"If you’re signed by academy under 9, it’s a massive privilege, a big deal..."

But due to the ongoing pandemic, the 8-year-old missed out on being clapped by the team's fans and spending time with the first team during a game against Portsmouth.

The dad-of-four said: "It's all been cancelled because of what's been happening, which is so disappointing."

But with his state-of-the-art back-garden training ground, Finley is determined to keep working hard until he can be unleashed onto the pitch once again.

Mr Barratt added: "The neighbours love it, keep popping their heads over and seeing what’s going on."

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