SHEFFIELD FC TO VISIT INDIA
The world's oldest club Sheffield FC latest invitation is to travel to India to play in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) against one of the oldest clubs in Asian football Mohun Bagan who play in the country's top tier and have an illustrious history. However, as the game is scheduled for Saturday, 2^nd October when Sheffield FC are due to play at Rainworth MW in the latter club's debut game in the FA Trophy they will only be able to send a representative side rather than their full first team.

WOODLEY LOSE CHAIRMAN TO FOOTBALL LEAGUE
The popular Woodley Sports Chairman Tony Whiteside has stepped down as he has been appointed Secretary of Stockport County following the Football League club coming out of administration. Tony will, however, still help and support the Evo-Stik League club who are now seeking a suitable replacement for the role.

ASHTON UNITED ANNOUNCE APPRENTICE SCHEME
Ashton United Football Club are looking to recruit 20 full time Apprentices for the new season. The club have recently received funding that will help develop young footballers and at the same time enhance their sporting academic education. The scheme is aimed at both male and female 16-18 year olds, although the club does have a small amount of funding for 19-30 year olds who would like the opportunity to develop and be given the chance to play semi-professional football. 

All Apprentices will be paid a weekly wage and will combine full time professional football coaching by FA and UEFA qualified coaches with academic studies. Manager Danny Johnson will be leading the scheme alongside Assistant Manager Robbie Talbot and they will be delivering both NVQ Level 2 in Sport Recreation and NVQ Level 3 in Sport Development along with a number of other qualifications such as First Aid and Child Welfare.

Johnson said 'This is a super opportunity for any budding professional footballer. We will be employing a full time football coach whose role will be to develop local young talent and bring them through into the first team. This is an exciting time for Ashton United Football Club, the first team squad is the best it has been in years and now we are looking to develop as a football club. This season has seen us link up with Rochdale Football Club and run a Youth Team in the North West Alliance League.

This is a magnificent opportunity for any young footballer recently released by a professional football club or any young footballer who feels they have the potential to become a full time player. The Apprenticeship will run for the entire season (maximum of 36 weeks) and there are around 20 places available".

Anyone interested in becoming an apprentice at Ashton United Football Club should contact 1^st team manager Danny Johnson on 07525 099 523 or email manager@ashtonutd.com

DURHAM LOOK FORWARD TO BETTER SEASON
Having finished last season pointless after the six points they gained on the field were deducted by a decision of the Football Association Durham City are looking forward to a more successful campaign this time round. Manager Lee Collings has brought in a number of new faces whilst holding on to last season's young captain Andrew Stephenson despite interest from Aldershot and Darlington. 21 year old striker Steve Thompson has been signed from Port Vale for whom he made seventeen first team appearances whilst central defender Ross Wilkinson has returned to the club. Collings has also signed Simon Todd from Blyth Spartans whilst it is understood that the Purewal brothers, Amar and Arjun, paid their own transfer fees to join Durham from Bishop Auckland.

NEW NICKNAME ON HORIZON FOR WHITBY ?
Whitby Town could be looking at a new nickname with their ground having been plagued by badgers during the summer. The club have been unable to play a home game during the close season due to badgers attacking the pitch which the groundsman was having to water throughout the summer. The town had seen virtually no rain throughout May, June or July so with the surrounding area bone dry the Turnbull Stadium was the only damp grass in the vicinity and attracted the badgers, who are a protected species, to run riot. The rain, however, that has arrived in the last week or so has paid off for Whitby with the badgers leaving the Turnbull Stadium to return to their normal habitat.

CHASETOWN HAVE THEIR FIRST INTERNATIONAL CALL UP
Christian Vassallo, who only arrived in the country twelve months ago, has created history for newly promoted Chasetown by becoming the club's first player to gain International recognition. He was selected at Under 19 level for Malta in two games against Scotland on 16^th and 18^th August as the Maltese squad prepared for their Under 19 European Championship qualifiers against Holland, Slovenia and Slovakia. Vassallo is one of only two members of the squad to be playing their football outside of Malta the other being James Paris who is with Italian side Brescia. 

COLWYN BAY SIGN McLACHLAN
Colwyn Bay have signed 27 year old midfielder Fraser McLachlan following his release by Morecambe for whom he made over a century of Football League appearances. He has also appeared in the Football League for Stockport County and Mansfield Town.

RADCLIFFE SIGN UNITED RECORD HOLDER
Radcliffe Borough have signed former QPR goalkeeper Nick Culkin who holds the Manchester United club record for the shortest ever first team playing career at just eighty seconds. Culkin was signed by United for £250,000 as a seventeen year old from York City despite never having played a single first team game for the "Minstermen". He made his debut for United in 1999 when he came in stoppage time for Raimond van der Gouw against Arsenal at Highbury. He spent the 2000/2001 season on loan at Bristol Rovers for whom he made more than fifty appearances and either side of that he was on loan at Hull City and Livingston. He signed for QPR in 2002 and had made over twenty appearances for the London club when injury forced him to quit the full time game in 2005.

NEW MAGPIE AT CHORLEY
Evo-Stik League Chorley are enlisting the help of a feathered friend in their bid to attract a new generation of fans to the Chorley Group Victory Park Stadium. Manager Garry Flitcroft's latest signing, who is flying in direct from Belgium, is described as '7 feet tall and great in the air'.
However, Flitcroft's latest capture is not a new centre forward - it's a giant Magpie which is set to become the club's new mascot! The new addition to the Magpie's squad will have an important role to play on matchdays, as well as helping to promote the club within the wider community.
Fans are being asked to come up with an appropriate name for the bird. Garry said: "We want to strengthen our links with the community and be seen as a family-friendly club because young kids are the fans of the future. A lot of professional clubs have mascots now; when I was at Blackburn we had Roary the Lion, and Bolton also have a lion called Lofty, after Nat Lofthouse. We want local children to come up with a similar catchy name that is both relevant to Chorley and would also suit a Magpie! We've ordered the suit - it's being specially made in Belgium. He now just needs a name before he makes his debut at Victory Park in the next few weeks!".