Students at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School in Woolston were given a special surprise on Friday afternoon when former Premier League striker Glenn Murray arrived for a kickabout.

The former Bournemouth and Brighton and Hove Albion forward – now an EFL ambassador – presented the school with a Southampton Football Club jersey, signed by members of the first-team squad.

This comes after the school’s U11 six-a-side team qualified for the Utilita Kids Cup Final, which will be played at Wembley Stadium prior to the Football League Championship Final next month.

The team will play the small-sided match representing Southampton – wearing Saints’ colours – against another school representing West Bromwich Albion.

The competition began in 2007 and sees over 700 schools across England and Wales take part each year.

Following an assembly with Glenn Murray – who scored 217 goals across his 18-year career – the former Premier League striker had a training session with the school’s U11 team on the primary school’s 3G pitch, before taking part in a match.

READ MORE: Bazunu ruled out until 2025 through ruptured Achilles injury

Daily Echo:

He told the Echo: “I think since the initiative started, over 350,000 kids have been involved in the competition nationwide and that’s an amazing amount.

“It’s something I’ve been involved in since I retired three years ago. It’s an amazing competition that gets young children involved in playing team sport – in a sport that I owe everything too – and a sport I feel very passionately about.

“I’m somebody that’s been in their shoes and was lucky enough to have a successful career, so if I can it would be nice to try and inspire the next generation.”

Bayern Munich winger Jamal Musiala and Manchester United midfielder are two notable names to have previously taken part in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup.

Though Murray acknowledges it’s an incredible opportunity for the youngsters to play at Wembley – something he managed to do twice in his career – he said it’s the participation that the competition offers that counts most.

He added: “I think it’s important now more than ever to get kids playing together – playing sports – as the world we live in now, there’s a lot of online gaming and sport can be slightly overlooked sometimes.”

Headteacher of St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, Michael Lobo, told the Echo he was extremely proud of his pupils to have done so well in the competition.

He said: “Even though we’re just a tiny school in the depths of Southampton, it goes to show what can be done when the children believe in themselves.”