Farsley Celtic youngsters Nick Smith and Tom Hope have just returned from
helping Great Britain's Catholic Schools' football team win a gold medal in the FISEC Games in Madrid.
The duo are both members
of Celtic's Academy, who are Northern Alliance league champions, and were selected for their country after lengthy trials at Liverpool FC's Acad-emy.
Striker Nick, from Alwoodley, is also part of Celtic's first-team squad and has had trials at Leeds United's Academy. Nick, who scored in the 2-1 semi-final victory over Spain A, reckons the Games were a great experience.
He said: "There were a lot of quality players in the tournament and many of them are attached to professional clubs.
"We beat Holland in the final, which was pleasing because their team was their under-17 national side."
Midfielder Tom, also 17 but from Kippax, revelled in the atmosphere of the Games.
He said: "A lot of the parents also travelled to Spain for the tournament which all added to the excitement."
Great Britain beat the United States and Spain B, both 1-0, then Spain A and Holland 1-0 in the final.
Past members of the Great Britain side include full England internationals Steve McManaman and Paul Scholes and Welsh international Ian Rush.
Around 1,200 athletes take part in the Games, which also includes swimming, athletics, handball and volleyball.
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