A Doncaster-based charity and educator has teamed up with an internationally renowned football academy to give budding sport stars a place to call home.

Doncaster College for the Deaf will be the dwelling for all 16-24 year old budding footballers on the books of Esprit Football Academy based at the Keepmoat Stadium, for the length of their courses.

Football players enroll on one or two-year courses with Esprit Football Academy, who run elite football development programmes for players with a desire to make it as a football professional.

The teenagers and young adults - who come from across the world to train with the top class coaches at the academy - will be staying in the accommodation blocks at the Leger Way site and will also be able to use the sports and fitness facilities, too.

Current Esprit players hail from Malta, India, the Cayman Islands and Oman, and some have been chosen to represent their countries at the forthcoming Olympics.

Alistair Boyd-Meaney, managing director of Esprit Football Academy said; "We were looking at potential accommodation but we didn't find any that was suitable until we visited the Deaf Trust.

"We initially placed our players on site for a temporary basis but this has now become a permanent decision given the help and support of Bobbie Roberts and her team at the Trust and the ideal facilities on offer.

"If we'd placed the players in a hotel, they wouldn't have had access to a sports hall, football pitches and a gym. So the partnership is perfect!"

Bobbie Roberts chair of trustees said; "This is the start of a sound professional partnership between two Doncaster organisations and I look forward to working with the Esprit team for many years to come as this relatively new business continues to grow and flourish."