Rovers search for next star

The centre, an extension to the club's school of excellence, is taking in children aged between eight and ten from the Torfaen, Newport and Monmouthshire area who want to follow in the footsteps of Newport-born first team star Anthony.

Over the last twelve months, Rovers staff had been scouring the region for possible recruits to the centre and in July more than 100 children from across the region attended a very successful training day.

They were whittled down to a lucky 36 who were invited to attend the initial centre which opened on September 14.

Each child selected will attend for a minimum of twelve weeks during which they will be coached in all areas of the game.

The boys will also have an opportunity to pit their skills against other professional clubs, culminating in a match against the school of excellence team in Bristol.

The centre will be run by three local coaches, Craig Filer from Cwmbran and Dave Murphy and Kevin Waterhouse from Newport who between them have over 50 years experience of coaching and playing at all levels in Wales and England.

Stewart Noughton, manager of the Pirates' school of excellence, said: "We are delighted to be able to provide this superb opportunity to the young footballers of Gwent.

"For many years Bristol Rovers has recruited from the region and we now have south Wales based players in every age group including the reserves and first team, which is a great testament to the quality of young players in the region as well as a great scouting network the club has.

"Having strong relationships with local clubs is vitally important to Bristol Rovers and this centre gives us an ideal opportunity to give something back to the area. We would like to thank Torfaen Council for their support and for sharing our vision."

l The centre will take in another group of young hopefuls at the end of the year. Call Craig Filer on 07989 427864 for more details.