PADIHAM FC U17s will be rewarded with a place in next season’s FA Youth Cup after winning silverware for the third successive year.

The talented young Storks team played up an age group to win the East Lancashire Football Alliance with a near perfect record.

Padiham won 11 of their 12 games to retain the title and their only defeat – to Barnoldswick Town – was their first loss in two seasons.

The league titles follow their ELFA U15s cup they won three years ago.

Now they will be only the second Padiham team to be entered in to the FA Youth Cup.

“This is a reward for two or three years hard work,” said club secretary Alan Smith. “This is a very talented team who have won the league title despite being a year younger.

“Entering the FA Youth Cup will be an ideal chance for them to test themselves on a national level having done so at county level in the past.

“Whatever happens, these players will be able to say they competed in the FA Youth Cup and that is certainly something to be proud of.

“There aren’t too many players who can say that – even many senior professional have never played in the FA Youth Cup.”

The majority of the team made up the ELFA side that won the Lancashire Inter League Trophy last season – a team managed by Chris Price who was in charge of Padiham last season.

Marc Beckett, who helped Price with the inter league team, is the current Padiham U17s manager – and also plays alongside a few of them for the Reserves team.

He is thrilled that his team will be able to get the chance to pit their wits against the top teams in the country.

“For the club to enter this team in to the competition shows just how highly they rate them.

“It is something they don’t have to do and haven’t done for a number of years.

“There are some very talented players in the squad which was proved by winning the league basically against teams that were a year older.”

While Padiham haven’t tasted LFA glory themselves, they have been beaten by the eventually winners in each of the last three years – this time losing 2-1 to Fleetwood Town who beat Nelson in the final.

“We were very unlucky against Fleetwood and that is a game we could have won. I don’t think they would have had a tougher game in this year’s competition.”

While the U17s season is now over, a number of them are playing for the Reserves alongside Beckett.

“There are three or four of the lads who play for the Reserves and they do a decent job too,” he added.