GARSWOOD Juniors FC have become one of only 40 clubs nationwide to receive the new Charter Standard awarded by the Football Association.

Club chairman Colin Jones and secretary Tommy Nugent travelled to Leyland to receive the award from Jamie Redknapp, the Liverpool and England midfield player.

The club, which plays most of its matches at Birch Grove playing fields, is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary and caters for more than 200 boys and girls taking part in junior football in the Rainhill, St Helens, Warrington and Wigan leagues, with some 15 teams aged from under 7s to under 16s.

Colin Jones told the Star:"Achieving Charter Standard status is a great honour for our club, particularly as we celebrate our 20th season in existence.

"We have worked hard over the last nine months to achieve this, attending FA seminars and adopting the FA policy on Child Protection. We have appointed our own child protection officer and all our coaches and managers hold a minimum of the FA Junior Coaching Certificate.

"We see this standard as bringing quality into junior football and are pleased to have satisfied the FA's strict criteria in our Charter Standard Development Club Status, which is re-assessed every three years and covers items such as mini soccer, girls soccer, discipline and spectators' behaviour".