Young footballers star in TV advert

5:45pm Thursday 15th March 2007

When the young footballers of St Margarets FC lost almost very game in their first season, they felt a long way from rubbing shoulders with David Beckham.

But some three years later the players have turned the team around and now sit proudly at the top of division three in the Sussex Sunday Youth league.

Now the dramatic turnaround has led to the team being picked to star alongside the likes of Beckham and Barcelona star Lionel Messi in a global advertising campaign for Adidas.

The "impossible is nothing" series of adverts are already being shown on television, and also feature the likes of rugby legend Jonah Lomu and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

The boys, who play their home games at Happy Valley in Woodingdean, were whisked to London for a film shoot and got to meet Argentina World Cup star Lionel Messi.

Under-13 team manager Tony Catt said: "It all started after one of the parents was chatting to someone about the history of the team. We barely scored a goal in our first season but they stuck to it and now we are joint top of the league. I'm really proud of the boys.

"We went up to London to film the advert. It was a long day but a great experience, and I can't wait to actually see it on the screen.

"Meeting Lionel Messi was a real inspiration for the team. Messi has had to get through his own challenge after being told he was too small to become a professional footballer, but he stuck with his dream against the odds."

Harrison Perry, a 13-year-old defender, said: "It was amazing. To actually meet a real professional footballer was brilliant. The advert looks really cool, it tells the story of how we turned things around."

Other adverts in the series feature David Beckham, who tells how he fought back after being vilified for getting sent off in the World Cup in 1998 to become England captain.

Right winger Ollie Ebdell, 13, said: "In our first season we weren't very good, but we love to play football so we kept going.

"We are doing really well now, but I couldn't believe it when I first heard about the adverts. I haven't seen our one on TV yet but it is coming on soon.

"It was good to meet Messi. He can't speak any English so we had to talk to him through an interpreter, and we got signed shirts and had our picture taken with him."

The Argus reported last month that Rob Gauntlett and James Hooper also starred in an advert for Adidas.

Rob and James, both 19, were the youngest Britons to reach the summit of Everest last year and are aiming to break another world record by travelling Pole to Pole by using man power alone.

Rob, whose parents live in Petworth, and James were flown to Madrid for filming where they met David Beckham. They have now set off for their latest challenge.

To watch the advert visit www.theargus.co.uk.

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