Elloughton Football Club's cup glory: for one day only

CHILDREN in Elloughton were thrilled when the Premier League trophy came to the village football ground.

Club secretary Jonathan Moore arranged for the trophy to visit Elloughton Football Club as part of a fundraising drive for new football kit.

"To kit out ten teams is going to cost £500 or £600, so we decided to go on a big sponsorship push," Mr Moore said.

"We spoke to Barclays bank and they said they didn't do sponsorship any more but they might be able to get us the trophy."

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Staff at the bank went away to check the cup's availability.

And, for one day only, it was available to visit the village.

"It was literally just a telephone call," the club secretary said. "We couldn't really believe it.

"We thought, is it is a fake? But no, it was the real trophy, the one on TV a few weeks ago."

For a fee, children could have their photo taken with the cup when it visited Elloughton on Saturday.

"There were probably about 100 kids who came to see it lifted out of the car, then they all came rushing over," Mr Moore said.

"It's been so busy we had a barbecue and ran out of burgers."

Mr Moore thinks between 300 and 400 people came to see the trophy, making several thousand pounds for the village club.

As well as the cup and barbecue, football games including a penalty shootout were on offer.

Ben Moore, 11, was photographed with the trophy and said he had a brilliant day.

"Seeing the cup was just phenomenal," he said.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and to see the cup players have touched was a really amazing honour.

"So many people have seen it on TV – you just can't explain it."

Ben, who is Mr Moore's son, plays for Elloughton's under-12 side.

"I had a phenomenal day," he said. "It's nice to see the locals come down and support us.

"The pitch was in a really bad state before today and the groundsmen have done a great job tidying it up."

Under-14 player George Williamson, 13, had his picture taken with the trophy three times.

"At first I thought it was going to be a fake but it was the real one," he said. "I had great fun."

Mr Moore said the club had blossomed over the past decade.

"I've been involved for ten years and back then we only had five teams," he said.

"We've now got teams all the way through from under-sixes to under-18s and every team has a waiting list."