Players on an under-eight football team in Ipswich have impressed scouts for Norwich City Football Club.

Archie Rowell, Luca Bramble, AJ Page and Harry Lait, who play on the Achilles under-eight team, have been scouted for Norwich City and have completed the club’s centre of excellence six-week programme.

The four boys, all seven years old, have impressed them so much that they are still training with the club.

Dean Lait, coach of the Achilles under-eights and father to one of the scouted boys, said: “I’m immensely proud of all of them. They’re such a lovely bunch of lads and they crave football. It’s just unbelievable really."

He went on to say that his son, Harry, has always had a passion for football.

“I’m really proud of him every day. Every time he puts his football boots on, he loves it, he wants to watch it constantly.

“It’s not something we’ve forced him into doing. He’s just picked it up.”

The Achilles team which is split into two groups, the Vikings and the Saxons, are also celebrating their £250 pot of funding granted by UK Power Networks.

The Team Sport Award scheme encourages staff to volunteer in the community and aims to promote healthy living, teamwork and developing sports activities.

The £250 has been a real boost for the team and has meant that pop-up goals could be bought during the pandemic.

Kerrie Lait a control systems data analyst at UK Power Networks helped grant the funding.

She said: “Everyone is amazed and thrilled at being offered this funding.

“Achilles is like a family, the boys get along so well, the parents are all more than happy to help out with anything, and the coaches work so hard to ensure the boys have fun, but also develop and progress in their footballing ability.”

Going forward, Dean hopes that he and the other coaches will to continue to work for the community and inspire other children to take up football.