It might be a case of “Didier Dog-ba” scoring the goals in a team managed by “Mauricio Pooch-etiino”, if the lucky pups of Warwickshire get into training.

At the very least staff at Leisure Leagues have some new furry friends after delivering the firm’s old footballs to the Dogs Trust.

The belated Christmas present came about after a faulty batch of balls arrived at Head Office, as Head of TV James Coe explained: “We have thousands of footballs made specially for our leagues each year, by the same people that make the Premier League official match ball, but one box arrived in the last order that didn’t meet the very high standards we require for each one of our leagues.

“Because we couldn’t use them in our competitions and we didn’t want to see them go to waste, we decided to see if one of our charity partners The Dogs Trust could make use of them.”

It was more than tails that were wagging when James and Leisure Leagues colleague Jack arrived with more than 200 footballs for the dogs at The Kenilworth rehoming centre to use, as the organisation were delighted with the off-beat donation. A spokesman said: “We really appreciate the thought and effort that you have put in to donating to the dogs at the centre.”

James admitted Leisure Leagues were only to pleased to help, adding: “We are proud of our charity work we do, and the donations we are able to make through our leagues, not just to the Trust, but also to the other charities and good causes that we support. This community focus is very important to us.

Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity and last year alone we cared for nearly 17,000 dogs. Most dogs find loving new homes within about six weeks but those who need a little extra care are always safe with us because we never destroy a healthy dog.

Dogs Trust is reliant on the generosity of the public to help dogs in need, so sponsoring a dog for as little as £1 per week means you won’t just be helping your sponsor dog but all their friends too!

With more than 1,400 stray and abandoned dogs in our care at any one time, they really need your help. They receive no government funding and are totally dependent on the generosity of people like you.