A Winchester youth football club had someone unusual turn up to training this month - the city's MP.

Steve Brine visited Winchester Youth FC to take a look at how the club is growing and was greeted by around 50 players.

The club is based at Chilcomb Sports Ground, where senior team Winchester Castle play, and recruits children aged five to 16.

Club chairman Sam Pidgeon said: “The club has an ethos of providing quality coaching to kids in the local area - the end product being some very successful teams.

“We have current and ex players now in the academy systems with Reading, Bournemouth and also Aldershot and we still keep relationships with these clubs. There is currently a lot of effort into the back office functions and developing the club on the administrative side of things.”

Mr Brine, an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan, said: "The club seems to have a very wide appeal and it's to their great credit that they are known as a club which plays technically good football.

“I hope they can grow the club, and although we are nowhere near this yet, in the longer term it would be ideal to see this and the other boys football clubs in Winchester linked to and feeding into a successful Winchester City set-up."