PHOTOGRAPHER Marie Stone is the envy of women everywhere.

The 24-year-old snapper can usually be found taking pictures at weddings across Sussex.

But recently she has been spending her working days with some of the Premiership's sexiest football stars.

Marie, of Hailsham, is one of the main photographers for a new exhibition about soccer.

Football's Hall Of Fame, which opens in London in May, is a tribute to the game's greats.

And Marie's photos have been vital to the artists working to create exact lifesize images of the nation's heroes.

Starstruck

Some of the stars she spent the day with were Les Ferdinand, Gianfranco Zola, Alan Shearer, David Seaman, Ian Rush and Mark Hughes.

And she also had the chance to photograph 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst.

She said: "My ten-year-old brother Robert thinks I've got the best job in the world and pesters me to come along.

"To me though it's just a job. You have to concentrate and realise that they are just normal people and not get starstruck.

"That's not something I tend to do anyway.

"They were all lovely blokes. Gianfranco was a lovely man but I think my favourite was David Seaman.

"He was just so down to earth. But I think they were all nice guys."

Marie is no stranger to meeting celebrities.

She landed the soccer job after taking pictures of stars for Madame Tussaud's waxworks where she worked for two years before setting up her own business.

During her work there she met Anthony Hopkins, Tom Jones and her hero Nigel Mansell.

She said: "At the time I met him he was my hero. I've always been a big fan of Formula One.

"However I've got more into football recently because of the sittings with the players."

She has even visited a football ground, but not in the usual way.

As part of the Hall Of Fame exhibition, famous football fans have their hand prints immortalised.

Marie's job was to photograph long-time West Ham fan David Essex having his print done in the centre circle at West Ham in front of thousands of fans during half-time.

She said: "That was the first time that I was really nervous with thousands of people looking at me while I took pictures of the hand casts being done."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.