A FORMER professional footballer who traded his boots for paint brushes has stepped in to help a school.

Lance Cronin, who lives in Henfield, stepped in to paint Benfield Primary School, in Old Shoreham Road, Portslade, after the school advertised for help from parents.

Lance, who was born in Portslade and is a former Brighton and Hove Albion youth academy member, was only too happy to lend a hand, along with his team at Repainted, a painting and property maintenance company.

Lance, 33, said: “Portslade is where I grew up, the school is near my parents’ house.

“The school was asking parents for help with decorating the playground and I thought it would be a nice gesture for me and my team to paint it for them.

“We did the painting free of charge but it was about £2,000 worth of work.

“I also organised with Johnstone’s paint company to get £400 of paint free of charge.

“Rather than parents coming in and taking a while to get it done I knew my team could get it done in a couple of days.

“It was very rewarding.”

The former footballer made a name for himself in the early Noughties as a goalkeeper for Crystal Palace.

He went on to play for Oldham, Shrewsbury, Ebbsfleet, Gillingham, Bristol Rovers and Whitehawk before hanging up his boots in 2014.

Lance may have given up his football career but said he would not trade his day job for anything.

He said: “I set up the company in 2012.

“I had to retire due to injury and had to start something up and fell into painting.

“It wasn’t a tough decision, I had fallen a bit out of love with football. I wouldn’t change what I do now for the world.”