A HEREFORDSHIRE primary school have recorded a piece of history after being crowned national champions.

Kingsland CE Primary School’s football team are celebrating the unprecedented success of winning the English Schools’ FA under-11 seven-a-side Schools’ Cup.

Having been crowned runners-up for Herefordshire in the autumn term, they were invited to participate in the regional finals, held in Birmingham.

Despite playing some quality teams, Kingsland stormed through to the semi-final with 1-0, 2-0 and 4-0 victories, and a 0-0 draw. The semi-final was a tight affair but Kingsland squeezed through to the final with an impressive 1-0 triumph.

And so the team, proudly led by captain Charley, stepped onto the field for the West Midlands regional final. All the players played fantastically, epitomising excellent team work. It was a tight game but Kingsland managed to find the net and win with an inspirational 1-0 victory.

As a result of winning the regional finals, the team travelled to Coventry on Friday to take part in the national finals.

After winning two matches (2-1 and 3-0) and drawing one match (1-1) in the group round, they progressed to the semi-final, winning that match 1-0 against St Andrew’s Primary School.

They played St Paul’s CE Primary School, Kent. After normal time, the score was 1-1. During extra time, Kingsland scored what they thought was the winning goal in the last minute of the match, only to concede an equaliser seconds later, resulting in a 2-2 draw after extra time but won the trophy on penalties.

Headteacher Stewart Debenham said: "We are extremely proud of our fantastic football team and what they have achieved this year.

"They have demonstrated excellent team work and epitomised our school vision of ‘let your lights shine’.”