FANS of talented young footballer Jake Hepple can expect little response from the six-year-old when he's sporting his favourite soccer strips - unless you call him by the name on the back of his shirt.

Jake, of Hawthorne Avenue, Reedley, takes on the persona of his favourite soccer stars and answers only if you call their name.

In his red England away strip, Jake will gel his blond hair into a Mohican-style and answer only to the name of his England hero David Beckham.

But when he switches his shirt for the World Cup champions Brazil his family have to remember to call him Rivaldo.

Jake, who lives with his mum Jill and grandparents Norman and Christine Hadfield, plays for Brierfield Celtic U7s.

He is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Mark, who played for the team, and his father Anthony, who played in local leagues.

The youngster also attends summer soccer schools run by Burnley Football Club and his good character and personality have earned him two trophies in just a couple of weeks.

He attended a school at Turf Moor and then another at Gisburn Primary School and both times he won the coveted Ben Lee Award, a trophy named in honour of an apprentice who tragically died at the club after going to retrieve a ball from the stadium.

Granddad Norman said: "It is a great honour for us that he has won this award not just once but twice.

"It is all thanks to the three team managers of Brierfield Celtic U7s, Alan Duckworth, Colin Gould and Steve Tomlinson, who instil in the children a good attitude to the game and each other."

Jake is a pupil at Holy Trinity Primary School in Brierfield but as soon as he returns home his uniform is quickly discarded and he dons one of his nine coveted football strips.

But although he likes having his hair in a Beckham style he is not allowed to attend school with it spiked.

It is not just Jake who is football-mad because Norman, who will be 63 next week, went in goal when Brierfield Celtic managers and parents were invited to a tournament which they wrongly thought was five-a-side.

Norman said: "It turned out to be six-a-side and so I ended up volunteering to go in goal.

"The players were mostly in their 20s and 30s but although I played four games I let in only one goal!"