MORE than 175 football hopefuls turned up hoping to impress coaches at trials for Colchester United.

The trials, an invite-only event for boys aged between seven and 16-years-old, took place at the U’s training ground, in Grange Road, in Tiptree.

Boys selected from the session will be invited to an event later this year.

Adam Hampson, U’s community sports participation coach, said: “The open trials night was a huge success many players attending the event.

"The Football in the Community staff put the players through their paces and all players were then given the chance to express themselves in game situations.”

He added: “It’s great local players in the community are given the opportunity to access quality coaching from the football club and we will now be ensuring that each player that attended the event is given the correct pathway moving forwards.”

The session, on Wednesday, comes as Marley Andrews and Sammie Szmodics, who came through the trial system, have been involved in U’s pre-season friendlies.