Year 11 pupils from Blakewater College in Blackburn correctly identified Matt as the guilty party after they had been presented with a murder scene in the Rovers' changing room at Ewood Park.

The England Under-21 international, who was then 'arrested' for his role in the death of the Rovers' kit man, made the special guest appearance as part of the club's ongoing involvement in this season's Creating Chances campaign.

Matt said: "The kit man's been winding me up all season, not letting me take home many shirts, so he deserved it!

crime scene

"When I was at school, I didn't really like being stuck in the classroom, so it's great for these kids to come down to Ewood Park and have a good time. I wish I had more opportunities to experience things like this.

"I was working with the club's community department before I joined Rovers and I got a lot of joy out of it, so it's great to get involved in initiatives like this."

The event, which formed part of the students' GCSE Science syllabus, was organised by Blackburn Rovers Community Trust on behalf of the Premier League.

Programme tutor Victoria Waddington said: "We came up with the scenario that the kit man had been killed after he discovered that a player was in talks with another club.

"The students were then taken to the crime scene - the changing room - where they collected evidence, analysed it and then had to choose one of four suspects.

"They had no idea that Matt was coming down, so it was a great way to end a hugely successful session."