David James MBE Launches Football Rebooted In Portsmouth

The former Portsmouth goalkeeper was at Tesco Extra in Fratton this weekend to support Utilita and the launch of Football Rebooted.

As an ambassador and patron of charities with Utilita, David James was in attendance to open Tesco's first-ever football boot collection box on Saturday morning, prior to Pompey's Championship clash with Middlesbrough at Fratton Park.

The ex-Liverpool, Portsmouth and England shot-stopper signed autographs for supporters, posed for selfies and most importantly spoke about the impact of Football Rebooted, which was first launched by Utilita in 2021. The aim is to encourage people to donate their pre-loved football boots and help PitC to make them available to families, clubs and schools in need.

Since then, it has already collected and reallocated thousands of quality football boots, saving hard-pressed families a small fortune whilst helping to reduce landfill and carbon emissions.

Loretta Spridgeon at Utilita said "Since its launch in 2021, the successful Football Rebooted campaign has already collected and reallocated thousands of quality football boots, saving hard-pressed families a small fortune and helping to reduce landfill and carbon emissions."

Jamo even surprised a few unsuspecting shoppers by operating the checkout for a few minutes, though it's safe to say he's better off between the sticks as opposed to between the tills!

David James told Express FM: "There's, we believe about a million pairs of football boots which are not being used, which are usable. Whether it's in someone's cupboard, the back of the car or under the bed.

There's a lot of people who unfortunately can't afford them and the idea is by donating to Football Rebooted, these boots will get redistributed around the local community, saving on environmental impacts and get people out there to enjoy football."

"Pompey In The Community is, dare I say it, the flagship of football community setups. Clare Martin has done, and is still doing an amazing job and more often than not when I get to speak to other football clubs and their community departments, I will often advise them to maybe give Clare a call if they ever need any help, which she's more than willing to do."

Listen to the full interview with David James on the next episode of The Football Hour on Express FM - Monday (January 20th) evening from 6pm!

Gemma Morrison is the community champion at Tesco Extra, Fratton and she is right behind the Football Rebooted movement: "As a Pompey fan, it's great. I was one of the people that camped out along Rodney Road for tickets to the (2008) FA Cup Semi-Final the night before they went on sale."

"It was fantastic to have David James here. We at Tesco want to do our best to help recycle and reduce waste and Football Rebooted with Utilita does exactly that - It stops perfectly good football boots going to landfill and encourages lots of people, children and adults, to get involved with the game without the financial burden of having to go out and buy boots.

"Hopefully having the donation point here, and supporting our friends at Pompey In The Community, will help reduce barriers people face when trying to participate in football."

The football boot collection box at Tesco Extra, Fratton (PO4 8FD) will remain in the store as a permanent fixture for those who wish to donate their football boots at a later date.

To find out more about football's biggest ever environmental movement, visit www.footballrebooted.co.uk.