Colchester United striker Samson Tovide making impact on and off pitch

And the 19-year-old forward is making a positive impression off it, too – as a manager.

Tovide runs Get Rich Together FC (GRT) in his birthplace of Hackney in East London, where the aim is to help young players flourish and achieve success as a family.

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The U’s striker leads the GRT team at Hackney Marshes, the spiritual home of Sunday league football and says being in charge of the side means a lot to him.

“It’s something that I started two or three years ago,” said Tovide.

“It’s really grown and we’re planning to hopefully become a professional side in the next couple of years.

“I wanted to help young people and give them a chance that they may not have had, when they were younger.

“We’ve had young players who have played for us before who have gone to play for professional clubs already.

“I grew up in Hackney my whole life, lived there, seen a lot – you never forget where you come from.

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“We play at Hackney Marshes, where I’ve played before in school.

“There’s never a dull moment there and you see a lot of familiar faces.

“It’s there for a lot of people to come and play on a Sunday and it’s good for players to be able to go there and play freely.

“I’m the manager, so I do all the tactics as a manager would do on a Saturday.

“Coaching is definitely something that interests me for the future and I’ve applied for my coaching badges, to get that started.”

Tovide has been a regular in Colchester’s starting line-up so far, this season.

After returning from a three-match suspension following his red card in a Carabao Cup tie at Cardiff City, the teenage striker has started the last five league games for the U’s, scoring twice.

Tovide is in line to make his 50th senior appearance for Colchester against Notts County, this weekend.

“I wouldn’t say I feel established in the squad yet but I’d like to keep working towards that,” he said.

“I’ve still got a lot more to give, a lot of goals and assists.

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“It’s been really good under Ben Garner and he helps me day in, day out.

“All of the coaching staff work really hard and working with Ben, I’m learning a lot every single day.

“I can feel myself getting better.”

Tovide has struck up a productive strike partnership with Joe Taylor for Colchester.

The pair combined well for the U’s consolation strike in their defeat at Crewe Alexandra last weekend, with Taylor providing the assist for Tovide’s goal.

“We work really well together,” said Tovide, who made his senior debut for Colchester in November, 2020.

“He’s obviously scored a lot of goals this season already and I’ve got a couple.

“Me and Joe have got a good relationship and we work well together.

“He tries to look for me every time he has the ball and I do the same for him.

“If I see him on the move, I’ll try and put him in.

“Compared to last year, this season it feels like I’m getting a lot of chances.

“We’re getting a lot of shots off in games.

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“It’s a stronger division and there’s a lot of good teams and good players that have dropped down from the league above.

“But that doesn’t really faze us too much – we know how good we are and what we can do.”

Colchester host League Two leaders Notts County on Saturday, aiming to get back on track following their defeat at Crewe.

The U’s have been performing well but have not necessarily had the results to reflect that of late but Tovide is confident they can claim victory.

He added: “It’s going to be a tough game and Notts County are top of the league.

“But we’ve shown that we can beat the top teams in this league, so there’s no reason why we can’t get a result on Saturday.

“In this league, anyone can beat anyone on their day.

“It’s just about who turns up and gives 100 per cent.

“With our young squad, I don’t think any other team has the hunger that we have.

“If we keep putting in the performances, the results will come.

“Our last three performances have shown that we have a lot of quality in the squad and we can achieve a lot, this season.”