Charlton coaching day hailed a success

Around 130 eager young footballers were put through their paces at the Pilot Field on Saturday by 10 coaching staff from the Premiership club as part of an initiative also involving Hastings Borough Council and its Sport4U programme.

Walters said: "It went really well, the feedback from the kids and their parents was first class. It looks as though it will be the first of many because Charlton are talking about coming down again, maybe sometime in September to run another course."

For the first two hours the course was structured with youngsters receiving tips at a number of footballing stations on basic skills such as shooting, dribbling and heading. There followed five-a-side matches on inflatable pitches and a shooting gallery for potential Wayne Rooneys.

The day also marked the handover of the council's 10,000 sponsorship cheque to United. Hastings Mayor Cllr Pam Brown, council leader Cllr Jeremy Birch, Cllr Jay Kramer and Cllr Paul Smith then watched the first team friendly against Worthing.

Cllr Kramer, portfolio holder for leisure, said: "We're really pleased and proud to be involved with Hastings United. We want our teams to compete at the highest level; sponsoring them means we really have put our money where our mouth is."