Bosses at a West Yorkshire football team are hoping a new star signing will give them the X Factor on the pitch.
Local side Frickley Athletic have brought in TV talent show hopeful Jake Quickenden to bolster the ranks at their Westfield Lane home.
Fans will be glued to their screens this weekend as they watch 23-year-old Jake try to impress pop megastar Nicole Scherzinger, after winning his way through to the judges’ houses round last week.
But after signing up with Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division side Frickley this week, Jake faced a very different kind of audition when he was asked to sing for his new team-mates.
Speaking to the YEP, manager Karl Rose said: “Jake is a good friend of our centre half Tom Johnston and he’d told him he wanted to get back into football. He came down to training on Tuesday and he did well. It’s great that he’s having his shot at fame and I wish him all the best with that, but all I’m concerned about is his footballing ability.”
Jake, who works as a lifeguard at Scunthorpe Pods pool, wowed the judges in the auditions with his rendition of Use Somebody by Kings of Leon.
He made it through to the final 24 on last weekend’s show.
And his singing talents weren’t entirely lost on his fellow footballers either.
Karl said: “After training, we made him get his guitar out and sing us a few songs. He sang Kings of Leon and one of his own songs called My Life.
“Lads are lads and he got a fair bit of stick about being on the show – they gave it to him both barrels.
“But you could have heard a pin drop when he was singing.”
Historic club Frickley, based in South Elmsall, outside Pontefract, was established in 1910.
They face an FA Carlsberg Trophy home tie at Westfield Lane against North Ferriby United this Saturday. The game kicks off at 3pm.
Karl said the added star power had already had an effect on some of his squad.
He said: “Some of the lads are already saying they’ve got the X Factor as well but that remains to be seen!”
X Factor fans can watch jake and all of his fellow contestants vying for a place on the live shows on ITV 1 at 8pm on Saturday.
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