Blades stars and young people from Sheffield United's Kickz radio station helped to kick-off a concert to celebrate South Yorkshire music talent.

The SUFC Kickz radio team was involved in a showcase at the Sheffield O2 Academy as part of the Steel City Beats night.

The station is unique as it is created by young people for young people and on the night the crew showcased performances from the Kickz Anthem DJs and other Sheffield DJs and MCs to the 450 strong crowd.

United players Marc Warren, Laurence Thomas and Kris Lokberg were at the concert to present awards to young people in recognition of their participation in Kickz.

The evening of music was in partnership with The Brit Trust, Youth Music Project 'All About The Music' (Musical Works) and Football Unites, Racism Divides (FURD) music project, Soundkickers.

Lloyd Samuels , Sheffield United's Kickz coordinator, said: "The young people from Kickz were overwhelmed by the size of the audience but managed to keep together and pull off some great performances and promote the station they had worked hard to achieve such success.

"The evening just showed how we need such an event in Sheffield as we still had a few hundred outside that could not get in.

"Next up for the Kickz crew is to finish the radio shows which will be available to download from the SUFC Kickz radio Facebook page and visit further projects to get more young people involved.

"Eventually we would like to network every Kickz projects, which includes 42 other football clubs, so we are all interacting in a positive way and sharing our talents nationally."

The Kickz scheme provides activities to more than 600 young people aged 12-19 in the Sharrow and Broomhall areas of Sheffield, offering the chance to get involved in sports, volunteering, educational courses, youth clubs and dance.

Sue Beeley, head of community for Sheffield United, said: "Kickz gives youngsters opportunities. It gives them the chance to have fun by taking part, then volunteering, then getting paid to work on the project and make a real difference to their communities.

"The radio team did a marvelous job in helping to host such a huge event in the city and we hope this has inspired other young people to get involved in some of the many community projects United run."