Mitcham footballer Josue Antonio has beaten almost 6,000 entrants to win a one-year professional contract with Swindon Town.

The 18-year-old defender won the Samsung Win A Pro Contract competition and will join the League One side for an intensive training boot camp session in the next few months.

Having made it through a series of regional trials and assessment days, as well as an 11-a-side final at Leyton Orient’s Matchroom stadium last month, Antonio was one of two players from 5,700 hopefuls selected by Swindon manager Mark Cooper.

Antonio said: “It’s great to have won a professional contract, I never thought I would get this far.

“I put in a lot of work and I was getting a lot of praise from the manager, I was thinking ‘maybe he might pick me’.

“If I play my best this year I might be able to go on to do big things and get an extended contract for the club – that’s my aim.”

Cooper said: “I chose Josue because he is an extremely athletic young man with great physical stature for his age.

“He has a lot of potential for development.”