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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/leather-ball-ban-cocooning-pupils.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard grew up near a school in Huyton which has banned the use of leather footballs in the playground" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/min-leather-ball-ban-cocooning-pupils.jpg" alt="Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard grew up near a school in Huyton which has banned the use of leather footballs in the playground"/></a></p>
<p>A school located at the heart of a well-known breeding ground for Premier League talent has angered health campaigners by banning traditional leather footballs.</p>
<p>Malvern Primary, in Huyton, Merseyside, has told parents their children can only use sponge footballs in the playground for health and safety reasons.</p>
<p>The town is known as a hotspot for youth football, giving rise to stars including Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, Newcastle United&#8217;s Joey Barton and Everton legend Peter Reid &#8211; who also had spells managing Manchester City, Leeds United and Sunderland.</p>
<p>Anti-obesity campaigners said the sponge ball rule was at odds with Huyton&#8217;s reputation of producing a string of footballing greats.</p>
<p>Tam Fry, chairman of obesity prevention charity the Child Growth Foundation, told the Liverpool Echo: &#8220;Children must be exposed to risk, otherwise how can they be expected to learn?</p>
<p>&#8220;Schools should be places to learn. They may think they are protecting the children but they could just as easily fall over playing with a sponge ball.</p>
<p>&#8220;Policies like this mean our children are in danger of becoming cocooned cotton buds.&#8221;</p>
<p>A spokesman for Knowsley Council said: &#8220;Malvern Primary School treats the health and safety of its pupils as a top priority and has for a long time had a policy of protecting children by recommending sponge balls in the playground before school starts and during breaks &#8211; especially as the playground accommodates children from the age of four to 11 years old.&#8221;</p>
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