Lionel Messi is mobbed at Hackney Marshes

World player of the year Lionel Messi caused a bit of a stir when he dropped into London's Hackney Marshes on Wednesday.

Organised as part of a publicity stunt by Messi's boot sponsor, the Barcelona and Argentina star flew into the spiritual home of Sunday League football via helicopter from London City Airport.

However, the organisers - who posted photograph clues on Facebook as to where Messi would be throughout the day before revealing the location around 30 minutes beforehand - had not banked on the levels of interest.

And after being surrounded by fans just moments after stepping out of the helicopter - alone, with kit bag in hand - Messi was quickly bundled into a van by his minders and taken towards a secure area further away from the pitch.

The planned stunt was expected to see Messi come on as a substitute for one of the teams for the final ten minutes of the match - although the unexpected crowd levels scuppered those plans because of 'security fears'.

Next he was off to central London where young players were asked to turn up with their current football boots which would be exchanged for brand new pair free of charge.

The 23-year-old star duly signed each box of boots and then disappeared almost as quickly as he had arrived.