Indoor soccer league with a big difference

Pupils at Barnes Junior Mixed School in Sunderland have found their way around the problem of bad weather.

Twenty-four of the boys have formed their own ‘league’ to play table soccer on the floor of one of the school halls.

One teacher, Russell Hardy, said the league was started nearly two years ago after many of the boys had approached him and asked for some form of after-school activity which would cater for the table soccer enthusiasts. The various matches are played every Thursday evening with ten pitches taking up all the room in the hall and the boys playing as keenly as when they first started. Some boys have as many as nine teams to choose from, although not many play in the Sunderland AFC strip.