Barrowford schoolboys achieve their goal

Two football-mad boys from a Barrowford primary school are celebrating after “netting” contracts to play at professional clubs.

Best friends Kitt Nelson and Kaylon Cotterill, both eight, will become football rivals next season when they play against each other for their new teams.

Kitt, of Wheatley Lane Road, Barrowford, has been selected to play for Preston North End FC’s Under 9s squad, while Kaylon, of Fence, will be the goalkeeper for Accrington Stanley’s Under 9s team. The talented year three boys currently play for Barrowford Celtic and both previously attended the Burnley FC Academy. Kitt also plays for the Pendle Forest Fireflies.

Kitt said: “I’m so excited! I can’t wait for the season to start. We’ll be playing matches against quite a few of the local academies, including Accrington Stanley and Burnley – and I’ll be trying my best to get lots of goals past Kaylon, which won’t be easy because he’s a brilliant keeper.”

Kaylon said: “I’m definitely going to make sure Kitt doesn’t score against me. He’d never stop going on about it at school if he did! It’s going to be really strange playing against my best friend because we’ve always been used to being on the same team.”