A prime time reality TV show where celebrities train to take on a team of football legends will be filmed in the North-East.

The Match will see an 18-strong celebrity football squad trained by a leading international coach, before taking on a team of former stars of the beautiful game, in a charity match at St James' Park, home of Newcastle United.

The 18 male stars - whose names are being kept under wraps - will spend a week at Newcastle United FC's academy in Benton, North Tyneside.

They will be prepared to take on a Legends XI made up of some of the most famous former players in the sport's recent history.

Cameras will capture every minute of the action, as the squad are trained and disciplined in all aspects of fitness and skill using the academy's state-of-the-art facilities.

Every night, the three squad members that the manager believes have not been pulling their weight, will be put up for eviction. The public will vote to decide which of the trio is thrown out.

By the end of the week, the starting line-up will be selected to go up against Legends XI in a live charity cup final to be broadcast on Sky Sports.

The winning team will receive a cash prize for the charity of its choice and a trophy.

The programme, to be filmed this autumn, is the brainchild of Initial Television, whose parent company, Endemol, gave us Big Brother and Fame Academy.

It will be shown on Sky One and Sky Sports.

Sunderland-born Malcolm Gerrie, Initial's chief executive, said: "I am delighted that Initial will be working with Sky and NUFC on The Match as they are both the home of football. the A-team to the production."

Newcastle United chairman, Freddy Shepherd, said: "We are delighted that our friends from Sky Television have chosen Newcastle United to host The Match.

"Our facilities both at St James's Park and the Academy are second to none and the decision to produce the programme on Tyneside reflects Newcastle United's standing in the game."

The TV show will begin on Sky One on October 3 with a 90-minute live launch programme, followed by six live prime time shows from Monday to Saturday.

The big match will be shown live on October 10 from 7pm.