Young gun signs

Feb 6 2003 By Christopher Beesley, Ellesmere Port Pioneer

VAUXHALL FC have snapped up their own Wayne Rooney by making a 16-year-old schoolboy the youngest ever player to sign for their senior team.

Oliver Stearman, of Childer Thornton, put pen to paper with the Motormen just a couple of weeks after his birthday on January 9, having turned out for the club's U16s team for the past 10 weeks.

He said: 'I've been training with the men's team for a couple of months and Vauxhall's youth team boss Jimmy Butler insisted I make the step up to the senior side.

'He told club officials that if they didn't put me in their first team soon then somebody else would.

'I made my West Cheshire League debut a week last Saturday in a 7-0 thrashing of Helsby, coming on as a substitute for the last half-an-hour. I settled in well and I thought I produced a solid performance.'

Although central defender Oliver is a Year 11 pupil at Neston High School, he already has the natural attributes to play alongside team-mates and opponents who are much older and more experienced.

His dad Gerard said: 'He's 6ft 3in and 13st so he has no problems with the physical side of the game at this level.

'Also, I'm from Manchester and Oliver is the only lad in his class to wear a Man United shirt, so I think the stick he gets from that has helped make him a man!'

Before arriving at Rivacre Park, Oliver was at Chester City and was ready to sign YTS forms before the club decided to scrap its youth team.

Gerard said: 'It was a big knock for Oliver but he's bounced back and we knew that they had a good set-up at Vauxhall which was very professionally run. They look after him well and it's more fun.'

Oliver spent six months training with Everton as a 12-year-old and has played junior football in Ellesmere Port with Berwick Rangers and Princes Villa.

Away from football he enjoys most sports and won an U16s tennis tournament at David Lloyd Leisure, Cheshire Oaks, last year.

It seems that the Stearman family are a high-flying bunch all-round as Oliver's older sister Katie was named Miss Merseyside in 2001 and has become a professional model.