TEENAGE football talent Carly Telford has been signed up by a US university.

The 17-year-old goalkeeper, from Stanley County Durham, who is an England player, has won a four-year, all-expenses scholarship to Fayetteville University, in Arkansas, where she will study athletics and play for the university's team.

Carly, who plays for Sunderland Ladies, hopes it could lead to a career in the professional women's game in the US.

She was bitten by the footballing bug aged seven when she watched her father, Colin, playing in Sunday league matches.

She began playing for Tanfield Comprehensive School as a winger, but Carly, who is 5ft 9in, became a goalkeeper by chance.

She said: "I didn't play in goal until I was 13. It was an accident. I went for trials with Chester-le-Street Ladies and I had a thick goalkeeper's top on because it was so cold."

She was talent-spotted by Sunderland a year later and has played several games for England's under-17, under-19 and under-21 sides.

She said: "I hope to develop as a player.

"They have a professional league for women and when I finish my degree, I could play for a team out there."

Carly, who is studying for a BTEC in sports and science at Gateshead College, hopes to be picked for England's under-19 squad to play in the European championships next month. She will cheer on the senior women's team, who are playing Finland in the European Championships tomorrow.

Durham County Council is a strong supporter of female football and runs a league that has more than 60 school teams.

Carly and Edna Hunter, the council's first female vice-chairman, who is councillor for Tanfield, raised the cross of St George, signed by Sir Bobby Robson, at County Hall yesterday to support the team.