NEW College have kicked off the start of an international football partnership with China, in a bid to increase and success in the sport.

The £80,000 UK-China Innovation Challenge Fund will focus on creating more football coaches in China and adding to levels of football players in the country.

New College, joined by Barnet and Southgate College of Further and Higher Education, Doncaster College and University Centre and Stratford-upon-Avon College are taking part in the three-year project.

The Chinese government announced plans to encourage 50 million people to play football by 2020 with hopes of taking home the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy by 2050.

This month the New College team jetted off to Changsha, China to meet with representatives from the Hunan College of Finance and Economics to build relationships with senior leaders of colleges and schools

Their president Chen Bao has also visited Swindon as part of the partnership.

The first nine-day trip involved football training with young people and learning more about the sport skill level in China,

Sam Bramfitt, sports, health and creative studies faculty manager at New College said he was impressed at the footballing skill of the young people.

“The first trip was about relationship building and getting to know our contacts in China,” Sam said.

“It was amazing to visit and see the level of talent. The students can be quite shy but they were actually brilliant and we had a great time going through techniques with them.

“We did see some shining stars so we’re looking forward to our next visit.”

The visit enabled staff to seek out potential coaches who can then be trained on a special development programme starting in October.