A UNIVERSITY student and keen football fan has used his love of the sport to create an animated film documenting the history of his hometown team.

Joshua Gilroy-Rossi, of Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was studying Graphic Art and Design at Leeds Beckett University when he had the idea for his final year project.

The 21-year-old said he spent hundreds of hours piecing the film together documenting the history of Bishop Auckland Amateur Football Club, which was founded in 1882 by theological students from Cambridge and Oxford who were studying at Auckland Castle.

The film opens with the lines: “This is the story of the amateur football club that were on the brink of greatness, but fell short of the mark.”

Using a series of old video clips, animation and interviews, it follows the club’s first “spiritual” home of Auckland Park where it started life as the Bishop Auckland Church Institute team.

It’s most successful period came in the 1930s, with player and future Liverpool Football Club legend, Bill Paisley.

It continued to be successful in the 1950s with players such as Bobby Hardisty but also had its less successful days in the 1970s and beyond.

Mr Gilroy-Rossi, who has been attending matches with his father Matthew Gilroy-Rossi since he was a child, said the project had been a labour of love but he was really proud of the film which gained him a 2.1 at university.

He said: “I have been going with my dad since I was a little boy and I love football, so it just seemed appropriate to choose the club for my final year project.

“It was five-month’s work and animation takes ages but I worked on it for at least five hours a day and also did a lot of research.”

Mr Gilroy-Rossi also asked for people’s memories of the club which led to some comical revelations including player John Grady who turned up to a match in sandals in 1985.

Now studying a masters in Animation at Northumbria University, Mr Gilroy-Rossi hopes to become a professional animator and has shared the video on YouTube and The History of Bishop Auckland Facebook page.

He said he has had only positive feedback from the club and its supporters.