FORMER England football star Sol Campbell delighted pupils at a primary school when he popped in to speak about his career.

The ex-Arsenal and Tottenham defender met with children and staff at Ainslie Wood Primary School in Chingford, in trip arranged by governor Cllr Bernadette Mill.

The school came out of special measures in 2010 and has been improving ever since, being rated 'good' in its last Ofsted inspection this year.

Cllr Mill, who knows Mr Campbell through a mutual friend, said she wanted to help treat the school for all the progress it had made.

She said: "It went really, really well, although I don't know who was more star-struck - the teachers or the pupils.

"He talked about growing up in Newham and stressed to the children how important it was to him to work hard in case his football career did not take off.

"The children were very keen to ask questions how he became a footballer and the best moments of his career.

"He talked about some of the highlights, including scoring a goal in the Champions League final which I enjoyed because I'm a big Arsenal fan, even if the game wasn't very good for us [Arsenal were defeated 2-1 by Barcelona in the 2006 game].

"There wasn't time for a kickabout but he did sign some shirts which will be used as prizes for the school's Christmas raffle next month, which is great."

Sol Campbell has a charity called Kids Go Live which aims to encourage and help children in inner-city areas have opportunities to watch live sport. Visit www.kidsgolive.co.uk for more information.