FOOTBALLERS from a north Durham team came close to victory in the English Schools FA (ESFA) Cup.

The team from Chester-le-Street District Schools' Football Association finished fourth out of more than 4,000 teams in the Under-11s Sainsbury's ESFA Cup.

The footballers were said by the school to have played extremely well in the seven-a-side district finals of the tournament, in Keele, Staffordshire.

They made it through the group stages to reach the semi-finals, but ended up being defeated 2-0 by the Leicester Primary Schools' FA team in the final. Leicester went on to take the title.

A spokesman for the awards said: "For most, it was their first taster of professional football.

"With national heroes like David Beckham having started off their careers playing in the Under-11s ESFA Cup, we'll have to look out for players from the Chester-le-Street Schools' FA playing in the World Cup in years to come."

The team was awarded a plaque and certificate by Kevin Wilbur, chairman of the ESFA, along with a goody bag from Sainsbury's for each player including a full football kit with kit bag.

The Sainsbury's Active Kids scheme encourages youngsters to get active and eat healthily so that they can play like their favourite stars.