European football giants Real Madrid will open a football school in Croydon.

Club legend Emilio Butragueno, who made 341 appearances for the Madrid side in the 1980s and 1990s, will open the facility at the Cedars School, near Lloyd Park, on Wednesday, March 22.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, and representatives from Croydon Council will also join the former striker at the ceremony.

The “social sports school” will be the first in the UK to be run by the Real Madrid Foundation, which operates similar institutions in 75 countries around the world.

It aims to support children in south London aged between six and 11 by offering activities to develop their skills in sports and social integration.

The centre will be run between the independent school, the foundation, Football for Unity (FFU) and Kinetic Foundation (KF).

FFU sets out to support young footballers by highlighting the importance of health and wellbeing and KF was founded to engage disadvantaged young people from south London following the 2011 riots.

Real Madrid are one of the most successful teams in Europe and are the current FIFA Club World Cup champions. The side also count Cristiano Ronaldo, whose trademark is CR7, among its star-studded squad.