The manager of a new Hackney-based football club has revealed ambitious plans to grow them into a successful non-league outfit by using talent from the local area.

Sporting Club de Mundial have just completed their first season in the Hackney & Leyton Sunday League Premier Division, which has been cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic with head of football and manager Alan Bond’s side unbeaten and averaging the best points per game in the division.

Bond has up set the club in co-operation with Mundial, a creative agency which also produces a quarterly football magazine.

The club have taken on players who have played for youth teams at professional clubs such as Alfred Mugabo, who played with Hector Bellerin and Serge Gnabry at Arsenal, as well as Jonathan Muleba who has played for Chelsea and Bournemouth and former West Ham academy player Nigel Seidu.

Many of the club’s players grew up playing together and Bond says having a local ethos is key.

“We started it in the summer and the decision was made to start in the Sunday league so as the club grows you can always say it was started on Hackney Marshes,” he explained.

“A lot of them grew up together and have been at West Ham or Charlton or Tottenham or Arsenal. They were all on the path and didn’t make it and have now all come back together to play on the marshes for this club.

“It’s an exceptional team and that’s what’s important to me, that’s the driving force. We say it’s like the Ajax of Hackney because Hackney produced these players and now we’ve got them all together.

“We want this group of players to be role models for a younger generation of players from Hackney, sharing their experiences and building a reputation as the borough’s leading football team.

“We’ve seen lads who have fallen out of love with football but have come to play for us, then signed for non-league clubs on a Saturday.

“It’s hard to lose them when they’re quality players, but it’s nice. It’s the club serving its purpose as a Sunday league club.”

Bond, who also manages a women’s five-a-side-team for the club, has ambitions to move the men’s team into the Essex Alliance League, which is at step seven of the non-league pyramid, but says the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has pushed these plans back slightly.

He expects his side to complete another season of Sunday league before moving across to Saturday football and has been pleased with the progress made this season.

“It’s been a good start to the season for us, very good, but we can only take the experience as it is and look to build on it and get confidence,” he said.

“It’s a good league. There’s some good players in it and some good teams who are competitive so to win the league would have been nice.

“We’ll return strong and just try and build our legacy from there. It’s a case of unfinished business and we want another crack at it with the learning we’ve had this year.

“I think what you’re seeing now is the first stage of the development because it’s a very talented area for football.

“In terms of paying players I think we’re a long way off that but we’re just in a fortunate position when we can get nice kit and support with equipment and everything. Our players are paying to play at the moment.

“I think we’ve got to walk before we can run with it. I think that will be the best thing for us.”

The club have picked up some impressive results this season which included a 14-match winning streak.

But Bond is keen to stress he is not just concerned about matters on the pitch but wants the club to be a key part of the community to help youngsters in the area.

He added: “There’s no stadium in Hackney. The best-case scenario would be to have a sustainable football ground where it was a school as well and kids could learn.

“There’s the old Leyton FC ground we’ve looked at, that would be the one ,but we’ve got to get the support of the community before that.

“The motive isn’t just about being a professional footballer because that’s what a lot of this generation are now. If they don’t make it as a professional they tend to drop off.

“But it’s about what else you can learn from football. What other career can you go into?

“We want to bring that approach. No matter where we’re playing, we want to provide that.”