Durham minnows will play Juventus

West Auckland could face the likes of Juve's Alessandro Del Piero

Durham non-League club West Auckland Town are to play Italian side Juventus in a friendly in Turin on 1 August.

The trip marks the 100-year anniversary of the club's 6-1 defeat of Juve to win the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, which was later dubbed 'the first World Cup.'

A £10,000 donation from the Football Association has enabled the Northern League outfit to make the journey.

"We are delighted to support West Auckland FC's return to Turin," said FA chairman Lord Triesman.

"It's so important they are able to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their famous match with Juventus.

"This is a wonderful story and it's only right that they will be in Italy to commemorate the remarkable achievement of winning the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy."

The trophy is widely seen as the forerunner to the Jules Rimet Trophy, which was won by England in 1966.

West Auckland, then a team mainly made up of coal miners, defeated German side Stuttgart in the inaugural competition in 1907 before beating Winterthur of Switzerland 2-0 in the final.

Two years later, they retained the trophy - which became theirs to keep - by beating Zurich in the opening match and then trouncing Juventus.