Schoolboy Zak Messenger is the envy of his Pewsey Vale school friends after being signed up by the Conference League side Forest Green Rovers, despite being born with a leg deformity.

Zak, now 16, who lives in Broadfields in Pewsey, was born with Blount’s disease, which causes severe bowing of the lower leg and causes the feet to point outwards.

This would be a blow for any child but was particularly hard for Zak because he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father Mattie, a keen amateur soccer player.

His mother Louisa said when he was two they had no idea there was anything wrong at that stage, although they had noticed both his legs were bowed.

“We were told it was because he had started walking at an early age, at the age of ten months, and because he was a big boy,” she said, adding that he was not diagnosed with Blount’s disease until later on.

Zak’s disability did not prevent him taking part in sports at Rushall Primary School and becoming the first reception pupil to win the school’s Sportsperson of the Year award.

When he was nine, Zak underwent major surgery on both legs. They were broken and straightened with steel plates inserted by surgeons in a three-hour operation that left him in a wheelchair for weeks.

His mother said: “When he was in the wheelchair it got him down but as soon as he was told he could use crutches he was up and about straight away.”

Zak started playing football for Pewsey Vale Youth team when he was six and went on to play with clubs in Marlborough, Devizes and Wroughton.

He has played soccer for his school, played for Wiltshire Under 16s in the 2010-2011 season and currently he plays as striker for South West Counties.

“While I was playing for Wiltshire Under 16s last year I was scouted by Forest Green Rovers,” said Zak who received a letter on Monday this week from the Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, Conference League side confirming he has been signed on for the forthcoming season.

Zak said: “I am thrilled because for as long as I can remember I have wanted to play football at a high level. I just want to play to the best level I can.”

This week he has been taking his GCSE exams at Pewsey Vale School, which he leaves this summer to study a B Tech PE course and A-levels at New College in Swindon . If he cannot achieve his ambition of being a professional footballer, Zak said he wanted to be a personal trainer.