A JUNIOR football team will visit one of the most storied football clubs in the country this weekend.

The Llandudno U13 side travel to Ewood Park on Saturday, which is the home of SkyBet League One side Blackburn Rovers. Junior chairman and coach Mike Smith is also an ambassador for Wales and Ireland for The Offside Trust, a child safeguarding charity that is helping those who have been victims of abuse and are working to improve measures so such issues are prevented in the future.

During his work with the trust he has formed a close bond with legendary Rovers pair Colin Hendry and David Dunn, with the latter arranging the visit to play the U13 Academy team before taking in their clash with Oldham.

Mr Smith, who went public with his own story of sexual abuse recently, said: “Through my work with the trust, I have become good friends with a few Rovers legends such as Paul Dickov, Colin Hendry and particularly David Dunn.

“Dunny has made it possible for my team to go to Rovers on February 10th where we will play their U13 Academy team and then we will be going to watch Blackburn against Oldham.

“I always try to give the lads the best possible experiences mainly because my own memories of junior football are so awful. They have been on the Goodison park pitch at half time of a Premier league game, and were all ball-boys for Wales versus Austria in Cardiff last September.”

This is the latest in a series of high-profile trips for the group, who have played tournaments at Disneyland Paris, in addition to Dublin, the Isle of Wight and Skegness.

Following the weekend excursion, they will also be visiting Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers on March 3 for a similar experience.