Carlisle United’s hopes of Wembley glory were cruelly dashed in injury time in their play-off match against Exeter City, but the city will be proudly represented by another team on the hallowed turf today.

It will be a dream come true for youngsters from Carlisle’s Newlaithes Junior School who head down to the national stadium this weekend to represent the Blues and Cumbria.

They had hoped to be joined by United’s first team in a Cumbrian final double-header, before Keith Curle’s men fell to a dramatic League Two play-off semi-final defeat in Devon, losing out to Exeter 6-5 on aggregate.

But Newlaithes will be involved during a busy weekend at Wembley, where the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Arsenal will be staged this evening.

Newlaithes’ Year Six football team, managed by Jose Sanchez, have won a number of tournaments this season and will compete in the EFL Kids Cup.

The competition is set to take place before the League Two play-off final between Blackpool and Exeter.

Mr Sanchez said: “I can’t believe that we are going down to Wembley.

“We started off in a local tournament in Carlisle. We thought we had a chance to win it, but it was just against local teams, we didn’t play against anyone other than those teams.

“We won that. We were very happy with that and very proud to do it for the school.

“We then went to represent Carlisle down in Doncaster.

“When we were down there, we were playing against teams from Blackpool and Doncaster. Teams that we knew were going to be quite strong sides.

“I just thought, if we go down there and play decently and do as much as we can, we could then come back to Carlisle happy.”

It was at that point that Mr Sanchez and the young players, realised they could have a good team on their hands.

“Then, we started our first game. We played quite well and won quite easily, as well,” he added.

“We thought ‘hang on, we have a chance here’. So, we kept trying hard and, game by game, we kept going and got into the semi-finals.

“We played brilliantly in the semi-finals and we played some really good football, with good communication skills being used by the boys.

“After that was the final, where we played Morecambe. It was quite tight. But we got a goal and then we held on to make the dream come true.”

And Mr Sanchez feels it has been a good experience for the Carlisle school students to play against different teams from different areas in the UK throughout the competition, which has earned them their dream trip down to Wembley.

He said: “It has been a good experience for them, travelling together and being a little bit more independent. And being away from their city. Having tournaments, and playing against different teams.

“We have played different formats. Sometimes, it is six-a-side and sometimes it is seven-a-side. So, it is good. It is good and educational for them, as well.”

Among Newlaithes’ impressive set of accolades from this season is a special achievement award, presented by Carlisle United at the club’s community awards.

First-team striker Shaun Miller paid a special visit the school earlier this month and Mr Sanchez said of the club’s support for the youngsters: “To be honest, I cannot be any happier with them.

“I think it is so good and having that link, which is quite strong now, with Carlisle United is great.

“The kids, myself and the head teacher, I think we all feel proud about representing Carlisle United.”

Newlaithes head teacher Andrew Cannon was full of praise for the team and their coach.

“The teamwork itself is something I have to say, I have not seen before. That is all down to Mr Sanchez – our superhero,” he said.

“I have been training football teams for 25 years or more and I have not had this success.

“I have got teams through to finals and things like that, but I haven’t had this level of success.

“And the consistency, as well. We are five-a-side county champions, six-a-side county champions and seven-a-side county champions, as well. And North of England champions at seven-a-side.

“It is just brilliant for the children and the school. And for Carlisle.”

But the team have also have endured some slightly tougher times in the recent past in competitions in Sunderland and Liverpool against much bigger schools than Newlaithes.

Mr Cannon said: “It is nice for them to have experienced losing because it means they don’t rest their laurels.

“It broadens the horizons and it changes their expectations. When we started with the football this year, we just had the aim of being respected.

“So, no matter where we went, it didn’t matter if we won or lost, as long as people were thinking ‘oh, we are playing Newlaithes next’. I think we have achieved that aim. It is a very proud time.”