ENGLAND footballer Jonathan Woodgate has told a jury he gave a wad of cash to a teenage player who hours later was arrested for drug dealing.

Middlesbrough defender Woodgate, 27, took to the witness stand in defence of youth team player Lewis Walker, 17.

The youngster is standing trial at Teesside Crown Court along with his mother Tracy Walker, 37.

The ex-Real Madrid and Newcastle United player told a jury that he often gives cash to young players because "they don't have much money".

Giving evidence for the defence, Woodgate told the court that he knew Lewis Walker professionally and personally and that he was a "nice, genuine and shy lad".

Woodgate gave £100 cash to Lewis Walker in Tall Trees nightclub, in Yarm, near Stockton on October 14 2006 - the day before the teenager and his mother were arrested.

Woodgate said: "I probably said (to Lewis Walker) go and get yourself a drink.

"If you give someone £100 they can do whatever they want with it.

"I know what it is like to be a young player and they don't have much money."

Asked by defence counsel John Gillette what would happen to a player found to be taking drugs Woodgate said: "The player would be sacked immediately and that is only right."

He added: "There is always a second chance in football, that is a fact, but it would not be a very good position to come back from."

The money from Woodgate was found along with £70 Mr Walker said was from his wages in a black wallet inside a fridge in the attic bedroom of his family home last year.

A further £740 in a Morrisons carrier bag was discovered under his bed, and £940 was found in a tin during the raid on the three-bedroomed council house last October.

Mr Walker, an academy player with Middlesbrough, wept as he told the court he had no idea where the money in the carrier bag had come from.

The jury heard that he told police the money in the tin was savings with which he planned to buy a car when he turned 17.

Of the money given to him by Woodgate he said: "He told me to get a drink, he gives all the lads money."

David Parnaby, 53, Academy manager at Middlesbrough football club also spoke in Mr Walker's defence.

He said: "We spend a lot of time with the boys advocating the right type of lifestyle."

The police raid also uncovered £25,000 worth of cannabis in a cupboard in Mr Walker's converted bedroom, and £370 worth of cocaine in his mother's bedroom.

The jury has been told that Mr Walker's mother, Tracy, a part-time nightclub bouncer, has pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

The mother-of-four has also admitted possessing cocaine, but has denied the more serious charge of possessing it with intent to supply, saying it was for personal use.

Mr Walker has pleaded not guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply, and has been cleared of any involvement with the cocaine that was found.

The court heard that the drugs were seized when officers raided Miss Walker's home in Kirkstone Road, Middlesbrough on the afternoon of October 15, last year.

In a cupboard in Mr Walker's attic room, 25 nine-ounce bars of cannabis resin were wrapped in Cellophane in a yellow carrier bag from supermarket Netto.

A purse containing £151 and five small packages of cocaine were discovered in Miss Walker's bedroom, while three small pieces of cannabis resin were found in a gas meter cupboard in the kitchen, along with four small bags containing traces of cocaine.

Miss Walker told the jury that her cocaine habit cost as much as £200 a fortnight, and that all of the powder found at her home was for her.

She said the cannabis had been brought into the semi-detached house, in Kirkstone Road, the night before the police raid by two men who wanted it to be stored for them.

Miss Walker said she reluctantly agreed to their menacing demands, but said she told the men, who she refused to name, that they had to return the next morning to collect it.

She told police: "I was forced to mind the bag, but I do not know the amount of drugs involved. I cannot name the person for fear that I or my children will be seriously hurt."

Asked whether her son was involved in illegal substances, Miss Walker told officers: "Lewis does not do anything with drugs. He does not believe in it. He does not even drink. He is dedicated to his football."

The trial continues.