Teenagers designed a mural for Finsbury Park station in a series of art workshops set up by Arsenal Football Club to be installed in the New Year.

The Gunners invited pupils aged 14 to 15 from the nearby City of London Academy to join the workshops at their Emirates Stadium community hub, working with Co-Creative Connection community art organisation.

The project led by professional artist Rose Hill got the go-ahead with a grant from Thameslink Rail to be installed at the station in 2024.

“Our first workshop at the Arsenal hub showed incredible creativity,” Rose said. “The enthusiasm and discussions sparking excitement about where their creativity will lead with the final mural.”

Rose guided each youngster taking part to produce a “creative mood board” to reflect their feelings about what visual and emotional effects they want the mural to evoke.

She is taking the young artists through the development of pattern designs before coaching them to work together to design the mural themselves.

Arsenal’s head of community Freddie Hudson praised the pupils at the academy school in Highbury Grove, who have been taking part in the project with Thameslink.

He said: “It has been fantastic to see the passion that young people have in the community. The mural project is a way we can bring that passion to life and show their creativity beyond the football pitch.”

Arsenal was recruited for the station mural project by Thameslink’s Tracy Jarvis through her interest and experience in women’s football.

Tracy explained the concept behind the mural. She said: “We’re working together to provide Finsbury Park with a public artwork to enrich the community that the station serves, with Rose’s creative leadership and the young artists’ commitment.”

The Co-Creative arts organisation that is putting the mural together works with people in the community to transform public spaces into works of art. Its Finsbury Park project is part-funded by Thameslink to pay for a professional artist like Rose Hill to run workshops designing and installing the mural.

The mural is to give the station “a sense of pride and connection” as part of the community.