A 5-a-side family football team from Barking achieved their ultimate dream when they played and won a match in front of thousands of fans at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on April 1st 2007.

The Lyndhurst & Lane Ltd football team, a customer of Johnstone’s Leyland Decorating Centre in Barking, fought off stiff competition in the Johnstone's Paint 5-A-Side competition in order to reach the national final. The team lined up against Wirral based Bromborough Paints, a Johnstone’s stockist customer, in a match that took place prior to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final between Bristol Rovers and Doncaster Rovers.

George Ling, Lyndhurst FC team captain can’t believe his team actually won. He said: “It was fantastic to win as the team is actually made up of just close family members, four Lings and three Willis’s. The whole day was a fantastic experience for all of us, and believe me we made the most of it. The feeling we got from walking out on the pitch is something we won’t forget for a long time to come, it was absolutely brilliant!”

Johnstone’s offered customers and colleagues the chance to play in a special 5-A-Side competition. Knockout rounds for the tournament kicked off in January 2007 with hundreds of players getting involved. It proceeded through to an Area Final stage and the two finalist teams met at the final at the Millennium Stadium on 1st April 2007, with victorious Lyndhurst FC taking the trophy.

Gina Laycock, Decorating Centre Marketing Manager for Johnstone's Paint, said: “This was a once in a lifetime experience for the finalist teams. Both sides gave their all on the pitch and the feeling they must have experienced could only be described as pure elation. Johnstone’s main aim for this competition was to give something back to our customers and the fans, and I think this fantastic day in Cardiff has certainly done that.”

ENDS

For more information about the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy visit www.johnstones-paints.co.uk

Johnstone’s. Bringing colour to the beautiful game.

Issued on behalf of Johnstone’s by Sarah Allen, Connect PR, sarah@connect-group.com - 01902 714957.

Johnstone’s has over 170 Decorating Centres throughout the UK and Ireland offering professional advice and service as well as market leading quality and value. It is open to both professional trade and the general public. Johnstone’s UK headquarters are in Birstall, West Yorkshire, where the firm employs over 2,000 people bringing colour to the homes of millions of football fans.

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