A GROUP of students have swapped their school uniform for a football kit as a new soccer academy kicks off.

The 25 boys are the first intake to Middlesbrough College's new Soccer Academy - a joint initiative with Middlesbrough Football Club.

The aim of the programme is to enable students to gain qualifications as well as coaching from the academy's manager and some of the club's coaches.

The boys will spend 30 hours a week in college, the time being split between the classroom and the football pitch.

Matthew Welburn, 16, is one of the academy's recruits. He said: "I love playing football, but I also wanted to go to college full-time. Eventually I would like to be either a soccer coach or a fireman, so the National Diploma in Sports Science will be useful. I can even go on to university when I've finished college if I want to."

Brian Deane and Steve Vickers, from Middlesbrough FC, met the academy's students to give them tips and to share their experience of being professional footballers.

They were filmed with the students for the college's new promotional video, which will be shown in secondary schools throughout Teesside to encourage youngsters to apply to the academy next September.