IT has to be the maths teacher's oldest headache - how to divert the attention of football-mad kids away from the school pitch towards the joys of learning arithmetic.

The attractions of keepie-ups, dribbling and free-kicks have a tendency to turn more young boys' heads than getting to grips with pie charts and graphs. But as the old saying goes if you can't beat them, you might as well join them.

With this in mind Saints has become the first club in the UK to launch a revolutionary new way of getting primary-age schoolkids more involved in maths by asking them to analyse kick-by-kick match statistics from its Premiership matches.

The idea - brainchild of Southampton FC Academy education officer Huw Jennings - will allow teachers to harness the mental powers of their pupils and their love of the game by using the figures supplied each week for a range numerical tasks from simple addition and subtraction to more advanced statistics.

The club has joined forces with Opta Index Ltd, official statistician to the FA Carling Premiership, and city-based sponsors Marlands Shopping Centre, to launch the scheme.

So far 83 schools in the city and in Hampshire have signed up, and more than 2,500 kids will be involved. Match tickets will be offered to schools which come up with the most imaginative use of the statistics.

At the official launch yesterday pupils from the city's Oakwood Junior School, who have tested the new approach for the last three weeks, gave the idea their vote of confidence.

Year six pupil Callum Cox, a regular at The Dell, said: "For people who are into football it's great. It makes the lessons more interesting, and let's face it, talking about Saints is better than talking about apples and oranges."

The school's acting deputy head, Diane Roblett, said: "This is living maths, not from a dated textbook. Many of the children have been to the games themselves and they relate to these statistics. It's a wonderful idea."

Opta Index managing director Suzie Roberts, herself a committed Saints fan, said: "It's a delightful idea and we just pleased to be involved. We're hoping very much that the scheme will be taken up across the country next season."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.