AN outraged mother today claimed her football-mad son had been fired by Blackburn Rovers for following his Euro 2004 dream.

Chris Tomlinson, 17, has worked as a coach on a YTS scheme for the past year.

But he upset his bosses after a last-minute invitation to travel to Portugal for a charity tournament during the championships.

They said they were unable to grant his time off request at short notice because of other staff holidays and said they would be meeting him on his return.

But the club refused to confirm whether Chris, of Arnside Cresent, Feniscowles, had been or would be sacked.

The Premier League and Football League Stewards' Goodwill Charity Tour jetted off on Friday and Chris was invited after another local player dropped out.

Mum April Tomlinson, 44, protested for six hours outside Blackburn Rovers Indoor Centre, saying he had been unfairly treated by the club. She said: "He couldn't believe it. It's every boy's dream to have an opportunity like this."

She said he checked with bosses at the indoor centre, who told him if he organised staff to cover his shifts for the week, he could go, despite the late notice.

But Mrs Tomlinson said last Friday he was told if he went to Portugal he would be sacked because they were short staffed and could not give him the time off.

Rovers' community officer Anthony Barlow said: "We did our best to accommodate what was a very late request for leave, but were unable to grant Chris the time off due to long-standing holiday arrangements involving other staff members."