FORMER Bolton Wanderers star Fabrice Muamba returned to his old stomping ground to surprise two children's football coaches with a special award.

Andy Smith and Jake Pugh, who run Little Kickers at Bolton Arena every Saturday, were shocked when they arrived at work to find all their young pupils, their parents and the ex-Whites midfielder who presented them with signed and framed certificates.

The children, aged between two and three years old, all wore specially made football shirts to honour the occasion and showed off their skills to Fabrice with mini footballs.

Fabrice said: "I was invited to present an award to two gentlemen who spend their time teaching young children how to play football. They deserve a lot of credit for what they do and I'm honoured to have been asked to be a part of it.

"They are the grass roots level in football where children can learn all the skills they need from the age of just 18 months.

"Andy and Jake will make a huge impact in the future of football in Bolton and it would be great if in the future one or more of their pupils make it and play professionally. But the main thing is that they enjoy themselves."

The surprise was arranged after Susie Ingram, whose two-year-old daughter Bonnie attends one of the classes, tweeted in reply to Boots who had asked people to tell them about someone important, using the hashtag #SpecialBecause.

Mrs Ingram said: "My little girl Bonnie goes to their classes and she loves them. Jake and Andy are both fantastic and well deserve a surprise like this."

After being presented with their awards, Mr Smith said: "We're totally shocked and humbled with the surprise. We had no idea at all this was happening and we're grateful to everyone who has been involved. It's been fantastic to meet Fabrice too.

"We've been coaching here since September last year. We really enjoy it and the kids are great, it's a really rewarding job seeing them all develop into such good little footballers."