Academy honours footy student
A Sunderland academy is celebrating the achievements of one of its football stars.
The Northern Education Trust says it is proud of the achievements of a talented England Under-16s footballer from Red House Academy.
Following his call-up to England Under-16 squad, Joe Ridley, who studies at the trust’s school in Rutherglen Road, was presented with a framed England shirt by the trust’s chief executive, Rob Tarn.
The shirt presentation was in recognition of the youngster’s achievements on the pitch.
Joe, who plays for Middlesbrough Football Club’s Under-16s team, was called up as part of the England Under-16s squad as a result of the great promise he had shown in performances for the Teesside team during his time there.
The England Under16s squad, including the Wearside lad, played in the Aegean Cup in January, competing in matches against Albania, Moldova and Russia.
Joe was “over the moon” to get the call-up to be part of the national side.
He describes the experience of actually pulling in an England shirt and taking to the pitch to play for his country as “the best feeling in the world”.
As well as concentrating on his sporting life, Joe will also be hitting the books as he studies for his GCSEs this year.
Once Joe completes his exams in July, the teenager he will join Middlesbrough FC as an academy scholar.
A spokesman for Middlesbrough FC said: “We look forward to welcoming Joe as part of our intake for the start of next season and wish him and all our scholars every success as they take their first steps towards what we hope will be a long and successful career.”
Staff and students at Red House Academy are immensely proud of Joe’s success and are fully behind him in his dreams of a building a carrer in the football world.
Michael Burns, principal at Red House Academy, said Joe is very much a student to be proud of.
He said: “Joe displays all of the qualities and attributes that we try to instil in our students at Red House Academy – character, determination and a will to succeed – this is demonstrated in his school work as well as on the pitch.
“His unassuming nature disguises his achievements.”
He added: “We are all extremely proud of him, he is a credit to his parents and our school.”
“We are all extremely proud of him” MICHAEL BURNS