Each player runs onto the pitch holding a child by the hand - what's that all about?

Is it a way of mass-producing match mascots or is it supposed to signify something?

Any ideas?

I feel a bit uncomfortable about the mixed messages this gives. One the one hand we tell children not to talk to strange men and then we tell some poor kid to hold hands with Wayne Rooney!

Whatever the arguments about that, I just don't see the point. If the idea is to give the kids a great memory then why not let then run onto the pitch a couple of minutes before the teams appear and kick a ball into the net in front of 60,000 supporters who would cheer each time the ball trickled over the line. That would be much more fun than holding hands with Wayne.

I always see Chibber holding hands with unknown kids at Queens park 5 a side pitches. I don't get the meaning of it either.