Darlington Spraire Lads have again been invited to take part in the prestigious annual international youth tournament being staged near Darlington's twin town, Amiens in northern France.

Hosted by US Camon on the outskirts of Amiens, this will be the tournament's 20th year with Spraire being one of only two clubs competing that aren't part of a professional club.

The other is host club US Camon with club's from across Europe sending their academy teams while even an Israeli team is making the trip.

Taking place towards the end of next month, the tournament caters for under-15s, however, as Spiare found to their cost at last year's competition, English age categories vary from those in France.

The tournament caters for those aged under-15 as at January 31, 2003 while the age category in English competitions is usually related to age at August 31.

A Spraire spokesman said: "This difference of four months is very significant.

"Last year The club was represented by its Under-14 B team, with a few additions from the Under-14 C team. Although the opposition teams were clearly very talented, they were also very much bigger, largely due to the age difference.

"Fortunately many of the Spraire that went across last year are eligible to return and this time they will be a good few inches taller and broader.

The Spraire team will be drawn from this year's Under-15 B and C teams, bolstered by some of older members of the Under-14 squad.

Spraire already know who they'll be facing and are looking forward to clashes with teams from around the continent.

Competing in Group B, Maccabi Hafa of Isral, French sides Troyes, Amiens and Valenciennes will all take on the Darlington juniors while other teams taking part include Kazanlak Arsenal of Bulgaria, Waalwijk of the Netherlands and Caen, Camon and Auxerre, from France.