THOUSANDS of children from across the world are perfecting their football skills in Knutsford.

Youngsters from India, Korea and Japan have all signed up for the Bobby Charlton Soccer School.

"They are seeing a lot of the Premiership and want to come to the UK to watch the games and train as well," said head coach Ian Bateman.

This year alone Egerton Youth Club has taught about 3,000 children.

Translators have joined many of the foreign visitors so that they can understand what they need to do to improve their game.

But packages offered by the soccer school, which moved to Mereheath Lane two years ago, also include English classes.

On Friday Mr Bateman said the coaches had moved to Knutsford because of the town's links to the M6 and airport.

"It was more central for us," he said.

The Bobby Charlton Soccer School has ties to other groups in other countries.

There are also plans to extend Egerton Youth Club to offer residential courses.

Mr Bateman believes it is then likely to attract football fans from even further away.

"I think by this time next year a group from Australia will have been and gone," he said.

England captain David Beckham was a star pupil at the Bobby Charlton Soccer School in the 1980s. Two years ago his son Brooklyn was among the tiny stars at Egerton Youth Club.

The club has 16 junior teams that are also being helped by the soccer school.

Coaches have travelled the world to discover best practices and are using them to perfect Knutsford's young players.

Mr Bateman said they wanted to change the philosophy of junior football through the youth club.

"We want to move away from it being purely about winning and take them into a learning environment where they improve their technique," he said.