BRIGHTON schoolboy Tom Hadfield has announced a sponsorship worth £52,500 to back this season's English Schools' Football Association Under-16s Cup.

The 17-year-old Sussex County Schools goalkeeper, a former Albion centre of excellence player, has set up the deal through the Schoolsnet website he runs with his father Greg in between his schooling.

The Varndean College pupil said: "The sponsorship is a way of marketing Schoolsnet but what I really want to do is put something back into schools' football.

"I think it's a great way to do that and encourage participation. Schools' football has been struggling lately."

Hadfield, now at Unijet County Leaguers Saltdean, was with Albion from under-11s to under-16s and on the bench for the club's FA Youth Cup tie with Premiership Coventry last season.

But he said: "I'm not thinking about a professional career now, although I still love my football. I have to balance my education and business with football and it seems to be working out okay

"Unfortunately my old school team Dorothy Stringer missed out on qualifying for the cup our company is supporting. That would have been nice."

With the continued sale of school playing fields nationally, reduced numbers of teams in competitions and the takeover of the English Schools' under-15s squad by the FA, the Schoolsnet backing is a welcome and timely lift.

Alan Ball, an ESFA official and teacher at Varndean, said: "Schoolsnet have given the ESFA £22,500 and the website facilities they are using on behalf of the competition is estimated at £30,000. It is a boost because it has been difficult for schools' football nationwide."

Schoolsnet, an education site, was valued at £40m in The Argus last month.

Hadfield, with his dad, created Soccernet, a soccer site which was sold to Associated News Media for a six-figure sum last year. Disney later bought a 60 per cent share for £15m.

Boundstone (Lancing) and Cavendish (Eastbourne) are the county schools which qualified for the cup this season.

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