Cumbrian village footballers to rub shoulders with stars like Rooney and Balotelli

By Julie Morgan

Last updated at 12:39, Thursday, 14 June 2012

Members of a west Cumbria football team are set to take their places alongside the world’s biggest stars of the sport.

Parton FC footballers are given a team talk by stand-in coaches Ethan Curtis and Jordon Toman

Parton FC in Whitehaven will be immortalised in a new National Football Museum alongside the likes of Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Mario Balotelli.

The village team were chosen to star in a movie called The Beautiful Game which will be one of the exhibits at the museum’s new £9 million Manchester premises.

The film follows every aspect of the game from the pre-match build-up to the final whistle, and covers kids playing on the streets right up to Premiership and international stars.

Joanne Singleton, secretary of Parton FC, said: “It is brilliant that we are to feature at the museum, we are absolutely chuffed.’’

The film-makers had chosen the teams which gave the best representation of English football, from the smallest clubs to the largest, aiming to bring grassroots football to life.

“When the film crew turned up, last September, the weather was so terrible the match had to be cancelled,’’ she explained. “So they filmed the team pre-match and doing cross-bar challenges. The crew was at the club all day and they were lovely.

“It is great we will be part of the film which will be shown to thousands of visitors,’’ added Joanne.

Meanwhile although the club has funding for new facilities, it faces problems with the conditions of their ground.

“We are only a small club with just one adult team,’’ Joanne said. “We want to build the club back up and encourage junior teams again.”

Anyone willing to support the club should contact Joanne on 07826 722929.

The new football museum in Manchester opens on July 6.

Other exhibits included the ball from the 1966 World Cup final and the shirt worn by Maradona during the infamous 1986 ‘Hand of God’ quarter-final match between England and Argentina.

First published at 11:28, Thursday, 14 June 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk