Liverpool's football hopes have taken a hit by the local Malvern Primary School.
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard and Everton legend Peter Reid honed their no-nonsense skills in the school yards of Huyton, Liverpool.
But now Malvern Primary School has told parents their children can't bring in traditional leather balls due to health and safety, says the Mirror.
The school note said: "Please can we request that only sponge balls are brought into school. This is to ensure the safety of all our pupils."
Tam Fry, chairman of obesity prevention charity the Child Growth Foundation, blasted the rule as "stupid".
He said: "Children must be exposed to risk otherwise how can they be expected to learn.
"It may think it is protecting the children but they could just as easily fall over playing with a sponge ball. Policies like this mean our children are in danger of becoming cocooned cotton buds."
