A GROUP of young footballers from Oxford have triumphed on the European stage once again.

The students from Oxford and Cherwell Valley College’s football development centre, based in Blackbird Leys, came home with the cup to crown a week-long stay in Scotland.

The event was part of the Comenius project, a European football exchange which the college joined two years ago after securing EU funding.

The project links OCVC’s footballers with colleges in France, Scotland, Norway and Germany, to combine sport and cultural exchange.

Six students joined a French group inEdinburgh for a week of team-building exercises, sightseeing and a Scottish Premier League match between Rangers and Hibernian.

On the final day, the Oxford group took part in a seven-a-side tournament against eight teams including sides from Rangers, Street Soccer Scotland, Hibernian and France.

Despite losing their opening game, the OCVC squad then went on an unbeaten run to capture the cup. It was their second trophy in a year, having returned as champions from France in 2010 after beating L’Orient Youth 1-0 in the final of a 32-team competition.

Football development manager Des Buckingham said: “It was a really great trip.

“Some of the boys hadn’t been away before so they were away from family and familiar surroundings.

“The whole point of the Comenius Project is to broaden horizons and it really did that. It was great to see some of the quieter ones come out of their shells.”

The college has applied to join the project for a further two years and will find out in July if its grant bid has been successful.

Second-year student Jason Bauer, 21, from Bicester, said: “It was very good and I really enjoyed the cultural side of it.

“There were some strong teams in the tournament, and Rangers were probably our biggest competition, so it was a good cup to win.”

Six students from the course will visit Lemgo in Germany in April for the final part of the project.