EDUCATION and football bosses have met to discuss how they can work together better in the future.

Executives from Darlington Football Club, the Education Village and Darlington College are considering innovative ways of linking up and sharing facilities.

They got together to tour the new £35m Education Village, which is under construction in the Haughton area of the town.

Work on the village should be complete by the end of February - and the school, which brings three schools together to educate those aged three to 19, will welcome students full-time from April.

Link-ups between the groups could see Darlington's professional footballers training at the new village, and Darlington College students playing football at the 25,000-seater TFM Arena, off Yarm Road.

Sarah Farley, principal of the college, said there were plans to launch a new foundation degree in sport studies, with a specialism in football. Darlington FC would become heavily involved, with degree students even training with the professional footballers.

Community leaders have also planned other link-ups, including sending school students to the college, where they could study more vocational subjects, like hair and beauty therapy.

Not far from the village, a new £34.5m Darlington College is under construction off Haughton Road, and should be finished this summer.

Sarah Hind, business development manager at the village, said it was about sharing facilities to benefit everyone in the community.

"We really want to work with the college and Darlington FC. We want to get the community in, we don't want this wonderful building to be empty."

Dame Dela Smith, the interim chief executive of the village, said: "The facilities at the Education Village are second to none, and we want to open that up to everyone."

The Education Village is being built under the Government's private finance initiative, which means that Darlington Borough Council pays for the building every year for 25 years, before it becomes the official owner.

Construction work being done by Kajima, hit difficulties last year and the opening of the village has already been delayed twice.

Kevin Duffy, of Darlington council, said: "Kajima is convinced that work will be finished by February 28.

"Then we may bring students into the school for tours and to use facilities like the swimming pool."