A teenager collapsed and died as he played football.

Josh Briggs, 14, of Upper King's Drive, Eastbourne, collapsed midway through the second half of a match in the under-15s fixture on Sunday at 1.30pm.

The promising athlete, a player for Eastbourne Borough Youth Football Club, was unconscious by the time his parents, who were watching the match just metres away, had run to his aid.

His mother Val is a trained nurse and along with coaching staff tried to resuscitate him at the scene in Priory Lane, Eastbourne, but he had stopped breathing. Josh, who also leaves behind brother Oliver, 20, and sister Kathryn, 18, was pronounced dead on arrival at Eastbourne District General Hospital.

His father Andrew said: "Parents including myself ran straight out on to the pitch but he had no pulse and was not breathing at all.

"Trained nurses and paramedics tried to resuscitate him without any reaction whatsoever. He was then taken to hospital and there was no reaction and in the end, they had to call it a day.

"He dropped like a stone. When he collapsed that was it. Everyone did what they could and they couldn't bring him back.

"We are devastated at the sudden loss of our son and he will be sadly missed.

"We would like to thank our family and friends for their support, along with Eastbourne Borough Football Club and the medical staff who tried so desperately to resuscitate him."

Mr Briggs said the teenager had no history of illness and had not complained of feeling ill that day.

A post-mortem examination will be carried out today. It has been suggested the cause of death could be an undiagnosed congenital heart defect.

Staff and pupils at Willingdon Community School in Broad Road, Eastbourne, where Josh was a Year 10 student, were devastated to learn of his death yesterday morning.

Counsellors provided by East Sussex County Council were present to help students manage their grief.

Headteacher Ian Jungius said: "He was an extremely talented sportsman who represented the school football team in every year he was at the school. He was an equally talented athlete, tennis player and basketball player, who could be found on the basketball court at every opportunity.

"However, the measure of him was that he not only participated himself but gave so much back to the school, helping out with younger sportsmen.

"He had just started a GCSE PE course in which he was keen to do well.

"He was a very bright student who was in many of the top sets and was destined to gain a high number of top grade GCSEs.

"He was always a great pleasure to teach, being a young man with a hunger to learn and the ability to contribute to the learning process.

"Despite his many talents, he was an extremely modest young man who would never blow his own trumpet. Above all else, Josh was a very popular student whose friendship group spread across many groups within the school. His sense of fun and zest for life endeared him to so many, as witnessed by the widespread grief felt by the school and so many of the students."