A YOUNG Manchester United fan from Gwent has joined a dream team of soccer stars - even though they're only an inch tall.

David James, 13, of Pontrhydyrun Road, Cwmbran, transferred from Pontnewydd B (under 14s) for the day, to join a special team at Manchester United's home stadium Old Trafford.

Youngsters who have the same name as famous footballers were chosen by Subbuteo to launch their new game yesterday.

Because he shares a name with the Manchester City goalkeeper, David joined a team of premiership name-alikes aged 10-16, including Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Mark Delaney and even manager Alex Ferguson.

Although his own namesake is a Manchester City player, David is a life-long Manchester United supporter, as is his father, Noel James.

David's middle name, Ryan, is a tribute to Welsh player Ryan Giggs and as a six-week-old baby a photo of him dressed in full kit and scarf was printed in the Manchester United programme.

David entered the Subbuteo competition three weeks ago when he saw an advert looking for children with premiership footballers' names.

Two weeks later, he had a phone call telling him he had won a place to go to Old Trafford for the launch.

He and the other footballer namesakes watched Manchester United train during the launch.

Then they took part in a Subbuteo football play off.

MB Games's new Subbuteo Dream Team Stadium shows actual footballers' faces on the pieces, which was the inspiration behind finding young people with premiership players' names.

Chris Weatherhead, of MB Games, said: "With these namesakes we've literally brought a small version of the premiership to life - just like the new version of Subbuteo."