FOR some young men living on opposing sides of the Ibrox-Govan divide, "defending your territory" is all that matters.

But one group of teenagers has ditched gang fighting and anti-social behaviour to look forward to careers.

Once members of Govan's Wine Valley' and Ibrox Tongs' they are now part of a pioneering programme which brings together members of rival gangs to play football and learn new skills.

Scheme could be rolled out across city DIRECTOR of Glasgow Community Safety Services, Phil Walker, is delighted the Choice Works scheme has proved so successful. And he believes it could be rolled out across Glasgow to tackle the scourge of gang fighting. Mr Walker said: "In the space of just a few months, boys who would have fought each other if they found themselves in the same street are working together and addressing their violent behaviour. That's a remarkable journey for them. "Young men who have been identified as causing a problem in their communities, become part of the solution. They're trying to get trades. "Now that we know it works if we could use this positive model and roll it out across the city it could have a major impact."

Choice Works, run by Glasgow Community Safety Services, Rangers Football Club and training providers City Building, has 12 former gang members on board.

Not one of them has committed a crime since joining.

Chris Carberry, a development manager with GCSS and a mentor on Choice Works, said: "We did mediation work and tried to get across the futility of their battles to give them a different outlook upon life."

A total of 20 young men were selected for the course after persistent offensive behaviour.

The 12 left have completed a 12-week unit at Rangers' Murray Park training ground which included workshops and a DVD on knife crime and territorialism, helping bring home to them the impact of violence.

Activities such as go-karting and football were also used to break down barriers between the groups, who have discovered they have a lot in common.

The boys all graduated with certificates, Scotland football tops and tickets to Rangers' matches and have now moved on to the second 12-week unit where they are trying their hand at joinery, bricklaying, plastering and construction.

Afterwards they will have the chance to apply for apprenticeships with City Building.

And the boys, who left school at 16 with little hope of work, are determined to secure apprenticeships.

Mark Donald, 17, a former member of Ibrox Tongs, said: "It's been a great experience and has helped me to stay out of trouble. I used to just hang about the streets giving other people a hard time."

Now hoping to become a joiner, the course has also changed Mark's perspective on people who live on the wrong side of town.

He said: "I can now sit down and talk to them or play football with them."

A few months ago Mark might have fought with someone like Govan's Chris Carvill.

Chris, 18, said: "I never thought the Ibrox boys were as brand new as they are. Now it's a lot easier to walk down the street without looking over my shoulder."

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Old Firm give teenagers vital taste for learning

A GROUP of 44 Glasgow teenagers have graduated from a football scheme set up as an alternative to school.

They have completed the Soccer Success scheme, which was aimed at S5 pupils in an attempt to encourage them to stay on in education.

The programme was delivered by Rangers and Celtic in partnership with the city council's education and social work departments, Glasgow colleges and the Prince's Trust.

All the teenagers attended a club for half of the week and college for the remainder.

The club they were sent to depended on where they lived, with pupils in the east training with Celtic and those in the west lining up with Rangers.

Both clubs delivered sports coaching, sports science, employability skills and work experience, while the colleges offered courses in construction and sport and the Prince's Trust provided Outward Bound courses.

Gordon Matheson, the council's executive spokesman for education, said: "This is an innovative and successful attempt to involve young people who may otherwise have dropped out of school with few qualifications and lack of direction. I congratulate all the graduates."