A UNIQUE piece of sporting memorabilia yesterday found a new home - in a museum usually devoted to matters military.

A football used a month ago during the soccer match between British troops and an Afghan side in Kabul has found a permanent home in North Yorkshire.

The ball was presented to the Green Howards' Regimental Museum, in Richmond, by the regiment's former Colonel, Field Marshal Lord Inge.

It was brought back to England after the match and raffled at the recent Variety Club of Great Britain's annual dinner to raise funds to entertain children in London during jubilee year.

Lord Inge was a guest at the dinner and, after his ticket won the football, he decided it should be placed somewhere that the public could always see it.

Football was only tolerated under Taliban rule under the very strictest of rules that took the fun out of the game and meant it was rarely, if ever, played.

For example, players were not allowed to wear shorts during the game and spectators had to watch in silence as shouts and cheers were strictly forbidden.

During the Taliban regime the main football ground in Kabul was mainly used for a far more grisly spectacle - as a place of public execution.

The match between British soldiers and a local side proved a huge success with the Afghans, helping them to shake off the fundamentalist shackles of their recent past.

The curator of the Green museum, Lieutenant Colonel Neil McIntosh, said after yesterday's ceremony: "We are delighted that our former colonel of the regiment has presented this unique football to the Green Howards Museum.

"The Green Howards are proud of their football heritage - one of our 18 Victoria Crosses was won by a professional footballer in World War One, and the famous Middlesbrough footballer, Wilf Mannion, was a sergeant in the regiment in the Second World War.

"This symbol of peace from war-torn Afghanistan will be displayed with pride in our museum for all to see.