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Video: Wortley teenager shoots for soccer skills glory
He may not be the tallest lad on the pitch, but Wortley's own Stuart Murrell is certainly not short of footballing talent.
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At just 5ft 3in, the 18-year-old has been turned down by professional teams for being too small.
But he's hoping to have the last laugh on the soccer scouts who rejected him – by winning one of the toughest football contests in the UK.
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Stuart, who plays for Wortley Boys, has beaten off competition from thousands of other players to get through to the finals of Wayne Rooney's Street Striker 2009.
Stuart said: "I'm really pleased I've gotten through to the finals and very excited.
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"I have always wanted to be a professional footballer and I haven't given up yet. But from a young age I was told I was too small to ever make it.
"I hope I can prove to everyone who wrote me off that, yes, I might be small but I am very skilful.
"I was turned down by Leeds United and Bradford City and I want them to see what they are missing!"
The competition, to be shown on Sky TV, tests footballers' skills like never before.
Players had to show they could control balls dropped from the top of tower blocks – and then hit a target 10 yards away.
In other challenges they have to do keepy uppys while walking up and down a ladder and strike balls into moving vehicles.
All of the trials are supervised by Wayne Rooney himself.
Stuart was due at the final in Manchester today and has no idea what lies in store.
He said: "You don't know what you are going to be doing until the day. It means you can't prepare so they are just judging you on your natural ability.
"It's stuff you would never see on the football pitch."
Stuart is no stranger to showboating, however – he's previously given demonstrations at Old Trafford and at the Football Masters contest in Sheffield.
He began playing when just two-years-old and joined his first team aged four.
Trained by the Brazilian soccer school Futebol De Saleo, he has previously played for Farsley Celtic, Stanningley Albion and Garforth Town.
As well as proving his critics wrong, if Stuart wins the contest he is set for the soccer experience of a lifetime – an all-expenses paid trip to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
He said: "If I win, I've promised to take my dad – so he's cheering me on even more than ever!"
If he wins, Stuart will have some big boots to fill, as last year's winner was Travis Beckford – younger brother of Leeds United hotshot Jermaine.
The finals of Wayne Rooney's Street Striker will be on Sky TV in November.
* The shortest footballers in the Barclays Premier League are Liverpool's Emiliano Insua and Tottenham's Aaron Lennon, who both stand 5ft 5in tall.
Fanny Walden, the Tottenham Hotspurs winger who played for England in 1914 and 1922, was reportedly the nation's shortest player at 5 ft 2in.
At 5ft 5in Leeds legend Billy Bremner was rejected by Arsenal and Chelsea for being too short before signing for Leeds aged 17.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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