The FA's Director of Football Development, Sir Trevor Brooking, believes the future of the national game depends on getting more kids involved in the sport between the ages of five and eleven.

The former England international was speaking at Ryders Green Primary School in West Bromwich on Tuesday, as the FA showcased a £4.5million investment project in local community football.

Brooking said: "Sometimes, everyone focuses on the professional game, the success of the Premier League or the national team, and that grabs the headlines.

"But anyone who is lucky enough to have worked their way up to that level understands that the starting point and the key years are between five and eleven.

"All the top players started playing at primary or secondary school when it was just a bit of fun.

"Arsenal'sTheo Walcott is an exception, because he was a late developer, but most of the best players knew what to do with a football at the age of eleven.

"The whole football system is a pyramid. And to improve it, we feel we have to strengthen the base of the pyramid so that more youngsters come into the sport at a young age."

FA Racial Equality Project Manager, Brendon Batson, believes it's also important to encourage youngsters from all backgrounds to get involved in football.

Batson said: "Football is open for all. I started in the mid-1960s when there were hardly any black players around. We came through in big numbers and now it's no big thing.

"But there is still an issue with the Asian players. There has to be a meeting ofminds from both sides but I don't think there are any barriers that cannot be overcome."

England Women's international Rachel Unitt says the promotion of football in schools has, and will continue to have, a dramatic impact on the ladies game, with more girls playing the sport than ever before.

Unitt said: "The game has changed so much now that there are hundreds of girls teams, and thousands of players, all over the country.

"When I was at school there was no Astroturf on the playground. It just shows how much the game has developed over the last ten years for boys and girls. The kids are lucky these days."

Curtis Davies, who came through the youth system at Luton Town before moving on to his current club, West Bromwich Albion, says the kids he met at Ryders Green could go on to follow in his footsteps.

Davies said: "If you get footballers at a young age, who can make a mark for themselves, then they will spotted and the talent can develop.

"Hopefully these kids could be the bright stars of the future. You would like to think some of them could be playing in professional football in the future.

"Perhaps we ought to get their names now because we might be asking for their autographs in years to come!"

Hat-Trick Project information:

The FA Hat-Trick regeneration programme is a three-year scheme that has seen the appointment of 19 community football workers around the country after The FA secured £4.5million in funding from UEFA and the Government.

Their role is to provide a range of football opportunities for young people aged 7-16 in communities that suffer from multiple deprivation; poor health, housing, education, and high incidences of crime and drug abuse. These areas also include significant ethnic minority communities and this scheme is enabling The FA to further its commitment to Football for All.