THREE South lakes football coaches steered a brand new international team to the quarter finals of a world cup competition in London.

Shaun Gardner, 30, a professional coach and player for Kendal Town, helped American side Cascadia to the latter stages of the ConIFA World Cup.

The ConIFA competition includes nations not recognised by Fifa. These include Tibet and the Isle of Man, alongside Cascadia, which consists of parts of the West Coast of America.

Gardner was picked for the role by Kendal Town coach James Nichols, who was selected to be head coach by the team.

Goalkeeper coach Stuart Dixon, who plays for Penrith, completed the coaching trio.

The odds were stacked against the Cascadia team from the off.

The team members had never met before, and stepped straight off the plane to London and started the tournament.

However, Gardner, Dixon and Nichols beat those odds and say they came away with a team that were “like brothers”.

Gardner said: “It was an amazing experience. Players came to play for us from Canada and America. During the matches there were 10,000 people watching online.

“The standard was high. Our captain was James Riley, who lifted the MLS trophy with David Beckham. He played more than 400 times in USA’s top league.”

Cascadia will be the hosts for the next ConIFA World Cup. Gardner said the team was already preparing.

“We are having a meeting to decide our plans to go out there and train with the team,” he said. “It is all really positive. I can’t wait to get started.”