A football coach has been given the boot after using political donations to pay for a youth club’s kit.

Dave Kinsell was shown a straight red by Hangelton Rangers’ Under Tens club committee after he admitted taking money from UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

The 49-year-old said all of the 16 shirts - which were only to be used for training - will now be burned.

The row erupted after Mr Kinsell contacted businesses and MPs to get donations towards a new strip.

South east MEP Nigel Farage offered £150 of his own money to the cause.

By way of a thank you, Mr Kinsell, who also put in £50 of his own money to cover printing costs, had the MEP's name printed on the front of the shirts, as he would for any sponsor.

But the club's committee ruled that the donation was a political one from UKIP, which contravened club policies, and last week kicked Mr Kinsell out.

Mr Kinsell, who has coached the under-tens squad for the last two years said: “I've explained to them that it was a personal donation from Mr Farage but they just won't listen.

“It's so unfair. I love this job, I love the kids and we have been doing really well.

“All I wanted to do was get the team a new training kit and I've sponsored them in the past to pay for kit, goals and all sorts of things.

“I do it for the kids. We are a very successful team and have hardly lost a game since I have taken over.”

Mr Kinsell, whose own nine-year-old son still plays for the team, has won two of its last three tournaments and made the final in the third.

Angry parents have been left fuming by the decision and met with the committee on Saturday to demand their coach was reinstated.

But their pleas fell on deaf ears and the committee members stood by their decision.

One parent, Joanna Gurr, said her ten-year-old son Kit had been left upset by Mr Kinsell's departure.

She said: “It's absolutely ridiculous and has come as a total shock.

“The committee said it represents the club but it certainly doesn't represent the parents.

“Dave is great. He is polite and friendly hard-working, everything we were looking for in a coach.”

Others have called Mr Kinsell in tears, telling him they don't want him to leave.

Mr Farage said the donation was quite clearly a personal one and came from his own pocket.

He said: “This was a personal donation. I was glad to help.

“Being an MEP is being part of the local community and if I can help that community in some way then I always try to.

“Nobody from the club has had the courtesy to contact me to ask whether it was a personal donation or a political one.

“If they had then none of this would have happened.

“The real losers here are the kids themselves.”

The club's secretary Kevin Aughney said “This was a committee decision that was not taken lightly and procedures have been followed.”