Like back home, football plays a huge part in the nation's culture. Most villages have a clear area with makeshift goalposts which passes for the local pitch. Impromptue games start on the virtually traffic-free roads between groups of school children. Cheap replicas of European kits are sold at local markets, contributing to many of the locals having a 'English team' whose results and fortunes they follow from afar.

The shirts donated by Sunderland WFC were given to members of a team in the small town of Mtakataka, situated between the lakeside townships of Monkey Bay and Mangochi. The Sunderland badge was instantly recognisable to the players, whose knowledge of the Premier League - picked up from word of mouth, local press reports and the occasional showing of a match on the town's communal television - is impressive.

Despite the English club shirts and the fact the players go by nicknames like 'Gerrard', 'Messi' and 'Ronaldo', the surroundings and atmosphere at games in unmistakably African . The 'pitch' is almost exclusively dust, and what grass is visible grows wild and untamed around the touchline. Despite there being no actual pitch markings, on what would be the penalty spot at one end stands a large tree, which actually causes less interruptions to the game than you would first expect.

Games run on 'Africa time'. If kick off is scheduled for 3:00, a 4:30 start is to be expected. Most of the players play in bare feet, and the nearest shop selling shin pads is 900 miles and three international border crossings away in South Africa.

However, if you manage to get past the above factors and lose yourself in the game, you could easily be on an English academy pitch, watching players eager to advance their career, rather than youngsters who simply play the game to fill time during the day when their more fortunate counterparts are at school, getting the education which is affordable to so few in Malawi's more rural regions.

The players are natural athletes - games rarely lose their intensity, even when played in 35 degree heat. The standard of football belies the less than favourable conditions, and the passion and love for the game are obvious to any observer.

Sunderland shirts are now dotted all over the town, and the series of distinctive light  blue away kits and their new owners were apparent at the local market, schools and, of course, one of the town's football pitches.

In many ways Malawi is a land of contradiction. The breathtaking beauty of it's lake shore and mountain ranges lie next to heartbreaking poverty. The welcoming and friendly nature of the people mask the desperately basic conditions in which most of them live.

And, despite the recent influx of African players into the European game, Malawi is still waiting for it's first representative in the Premier League. However, if their passion, talent and enthusiasm for the game is anything to go by,  it won't be long before a Malawian graces England's top flight.