FOOTBALLERS at Bedale hope to have the opposition licked, thanks to a five-year sponsorship deal with a local company.

The deal with Leeming Bar-based R&R Ice Cream, formerly Richmond Ice Cream, is worth £2,500 each year and will enable Bedale AFC to make improvements to its ground and develop a youth section.

For the first time, the club will have an under-18 team playing in the Teesside Junior Football Alliance, Europe's largest junior football league.

Matty Gibb, new product development controller at R&R, approached the company about sponsorship.

Mr Gibb, who is also club captain at Bedale AFC, said: "This valuable sponsorship is great news not only for Bedale AFC but for the development of youth football in the area.

"We can now upgrade spectator facilities, have new playing kits and work on forming a pool of talented youngsters to play in the club's three teams in the future.''

Bedale AFC was founded in 1933. The senior reserve team has won the Harrogate League Division 1 Cup for the past two years.

R&R Ice Cream chief executive James Lambert said: "As a local employer, R&R is delighted to support Bedale AFC. The club can now provide local youngsters with even more footballing opportunities."