Hear the words 'football' and 'prison' in a sentence together and images of self-styled hardman-turned-actor Vinnie Jones throwing himself around in Mean Machine won't be far behind.

That's exactly what Ian Wright thought when fellow ex-pro footballer John Scales, incidentally an old Wimbledon teammate of Jones's, told him about an idea he'd had for a TV programme.

"I bumped into Scalesy earlier this year. We were talking about old times, and then he said about this prison thing," says the Arsenal legend.

"I said straight away, 'I don't want to be involved in Mean Machine!'"

Thankfully, he stuck around a little longer to find out that new Sky1 series Football Behind Bars isn't at all like the 2001 Brit-flick which sees a footballer captaining a team of cons to victory against 'the screws'.

Instead, Football Behind Bars has Ian involved in a rehabilitation project in Portland Young Offender Institution in Dorset.

The aim is to use football to help young people discover skills such as teamwork, communication and discipline.

Ian's involvement was cemented when he heard one frightening statistic. Of all young offenders released from British prisons each year, 70pc will reoffend and end up back there within two years.

Engaged

From an initial football trial, where attitude was assessed as well as sporting prowess, 300 youths were whittled down to 24 inmates who were given special permission to move wings to be together.

Building teamwork and trust, says Ian, is all part of the grand plan.

"Football is the by-product of what we're doing; it's just the method of getting them engaged. After that, we can smuggle the education in."

He can reel off stats about reoffenders, age ranges of criminals and the probation service with ease. He's clearly found something he finds more worthwhile than his stints as a TV presenter or as a pundit on Match Of The Day.

Anyone who's seen him on TV will know he's a larger-than-life character, enthusiastic to the last, animated and sincere.

When Ian talks about his latest series, however, he even more passionate than normal, involved and full of belief for what he's doing.

When asked if he thinks any of the lads under his watch will go back to prison, he categorically states they won't.

"I've had one-on-ones with these lads, big talks in their cells, and I can look some of them in the eye and I know they won't go back," he says.

After a while, Ian reveals why he was so taken with the idea of the series. When he was a youngster, he had a brush with the law himself and ended up spending time in prison.

Although he was locked up for a matter of weeks, rather than months or years, and his conviction was for the non-payment of parking fines -- most of the youths featured in the series have been incarcerated for violent incidents, some genuinely disturbing acts -- he understands what it's like to have freedom taken away.

"I know what it's like to alone, locked up and thinking, 'My gosh, how have I ended up in here?'" he says.

Choices

"I knew from then I was never, ever going to get in trouble again. I trained to be a plasterer before I became a footballer, so I would have tried that. I would have been a bad one, but I would have tried.

"You get some players who say they would have ended up inside if they weren't a player, but I hate that. Why say it? They're saying they're so useless all they've got is football, but it's such a cop out.

"There is good in everyone, and this series has shown me that. There are some good guys who just made the wrong choices, simple as that. It's just about refocusing people's minds and getting them into something they can love."

Football Behind Bars continues on Sky1 on Monday, September 14