A SMALL school in the Ribble Valley has followed in the footsteps of the mighty Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal by booking a place at Wembley.

But while the giants of the Premier League battle it out for a place in the FA Cup final, Salesbury Primary School have already reached the final of their competition.

The Lovely Lane school have played no fewer than 19 games on their incredible journey to the home of English football having won town, county and northern titles to reach the English Schools FA Under 11s final.

The newly crowned Northern champions will take on their counterparts from the Midlands and the South at Wembley in June in the seven-a-side competition – on the same day England Under 18s play France.

But it appears to be the teachers and dads who are counting down the days for the trip of a lifetime and not the players themselves.

“I don’t think anything like this will every happen to us again,” said teacher Stephen Bird who has masterminded the march to Wembley.

“But the players seem to be taking it all in their stride.

"There was the initial realisation that they were going to Wembley but they have been very cool about the whole situation.

“In fact, I think the teachers and the dads are more exciting and nervous than the players.”

And the players showed nerves of steel to reach Wembley after they had to win a penalty shoot-out to get there.

The Northern finals were held at St Bede’s High School in Blackburn.

Salesbury reached the knockout stages after narrow 1-0 wins against Shotton Hill, Durham and Park End, Cleveland while they battled out scoreless draws with Our Ladies, Cheshire and Garforth Green, West Yorkshire.

In the semi final, Salesbury defeated Cumbrian school Newlaithes 2-1 and, despite dominating the final against Gosforth Primary School from Northumberland, the match ended 0-0 after extra time.

But the Salesbury stars showed they were cool under pressure to secure a 4-1 shoot-out win.

The winning team were paraded before Blackburn Rovers fans at half-time in Saturday’s Premier League clash with West Ham at Ewood Park.

Now the next time they step on to a pitch, it will be the hallowed turf at Wembley.