MAMMOTH efforts behind the scenes at the end of the season saw Atherton Colls given the official 'thumbs up' for promotion into the North West Counties League top division.

A small army of volunteers, and some tremendous assistance from local companies Tyldesley Tyres, Gibfield Garage, Weldfast and Kensite Services, ensured that a 19-point list of ground improvements was completed on time to get Alder House the green light for Division One football next term.

Massive help was also provided by the Community Services Project as it was all hands to the pumps to meet the May 15 deadline. Colls' promotion was this week ratified by the Management Committee at a meeting of all member clubs.

Club chairman Steve Payne was full of praise for the support provided by the local businesses. "We had a lot of work to do when the season finished but thankfully we received great assistance with the supply of the materials and the Community Services lads provided the labour alongside our own people. "Even so, it has still cost the club around £5,000 to upgrade the ground but this would have been much, much more if it wasn't for the help we received. I just can't thank them enough!"

Thankfully Colls have made it, but finishing the season in a promotion place doesn't always guarantee the big step up.

Great efforts are made within the non-league pyramid to ensure a hierarchy of standards and this can sometimes mean heartbreak for clubs that are adjudged to have fallen short of the set criteria, no matter how outstanding the achievements on the field.

Just ask Atherton LR and Stocksbridge Park Steels of Sheffield who were initially refused promotion into the UniBond League or even Macclesfield Town for that matter!

It can lead to anomalies, in that a minority of clubs already enjoying the privilege of a position in a higher division can from time to time let their grounds slip below the necessary standard for qualification into that tier. Indeed, Colls had been told they had work to do in this close season to meet Division Two standards, let alone ensure promotion!

Rumours are rife around the North West Counties scene at the moment that Merseyside club Stantondale is to be asked to resign from the Second Division on the grounds that the home venue being used at the moment is deemed unacceptable.

The Management Committee official recommendation to the member clubs last week was that the three new applications for acceptance into Division Two from Garswood United from the Golborne area, Leek Old Boys (who ground share with Leek Town) and Colne (a completely new club that will play on the old Dynamos ground) be accepted. This is in addition to Vauxhall GM and Colls promotion, with First Division champions Flixton expected to have few problems moving up into the UniBond League.

The Alder House presentation night saw Graham Dodd pick up the Leading Goalscorer Trophy, Phil Porter was Players' Player and Ian Walsh Manager's Player. Dave Stead admirably picked up both Player of the Season Trophies in the Reserves and for the second year in succession Paul Cameron was voted in as Clubman of the Year. FA TROPHY FINAL WHAT a tremendous spectacle Macclesfield United and Northwich Victoria put on at Wembley last Sunday in the final of the FA Trophy.

Sammy McIlroy's 'Macc' ran out 3-1 winners but the whole game was a feast of highly entertaining football from both sides, showing that non-league soccer is well worth its place in the National Stadium.

Coming so soon after one of the most boring FA Cup Finals ever staged, it was a credit to all involved and 'well done' to Sky TV for broadcasting the whole thing live! Ex-LR star now tops in Europe - at golf! SOMEONE else deserving of the highest praise last weekend was ex-Atherton LR player, Derrick Cooper, who finished a magnificent third in the Benson and Hedges Golf Open.

'Coops' was the star of LR's youth side in the early 70s and would undoubtedly have gone on to be a first team regular for many a season had he not been sidetracked one day when he picked up a golf club!

I played for the same Crilly Park junior side myself and as a jaunt one Saturday a few of us arranged to go along to a local club for our first ever round of golf.

Derrick's first swing saw the ball soar into the distance and, after much searching by all of us, it was found on the green! He never looked back and within two years had won the Greater Manchester Open and became the professional at Old Links.

Quite rightly football was forgotten, until one end of season game saw us short of players. In those days April was a month when you seemed to have to play every evening to catch up on a fixture backlog. We persuaded Derrick to help us out. Of all things he picked an injury - just about the worst possible thing as well - he broke his wrist!

The football boots were thrown away and have never been seen since. Considering he won the Spanish Open in 1989 and last weekend picked up £44,000 for his superb achievement, you could say it was a sensible decision as he is now one of Europe's top players! Concluding our look at the end of season winners on the local amateur scene, here is the Roll of Honour for the Bolton Sunday League!

BOLTON SUNDAY LEAGUE "IT has been another good season for us with the Bolton Sunday League," says Chairman Bob Shuttleworth.

"But if I had to pick a season highlight it would be the representative side we entered in the Bolton Hospital Cup.

"There were several players that under normal circumstances you could say would have made a truly representative squad but they had already been entered in the competition with their Saturday teams.

"I put a side together in which no more than two players came from the same club and it could hardly have worked better. Everything just gelled together and we played very well, only bowing out to Lancs Adidas Shield winners Elton Fold in a game which we should have had in the bag before it went into extra time. "I was really proud of the way those lads acted as ambassadors for our League!" Meanwhile, 10 weeks of absolute anguish was over for Atherton LRs skipper Jimmy Evans this week when he had the plaster cast removed from his broken leg and his nightmare could hardly have ended with better news.

Not only has be been told he will play again, his specialist also reckons he could be back to his best by early next season! This is a miraculous recovery from a career-threatening triple fracture of his right leg.

"I just can't praise the staff at Bolton Royal Infirmary highly enough," said the jubilant player this week. "When I was first injured, it was announced incorrectly by someone at LR that I had been told I was finished. My specialist Dr Boyle read about it in that evening's newspaper and went out of his way to come back to the ward I was on to assure me that that just wasn't the case.

"He had had a close look at my X-rays and was convinced that everything would be OK. I had to have more X-rays after a month and I was really depressed because you couldn't see any improvement at all, but, yet again, he told me that everything was going fine. "The other worry was that, even when the leg healed, I would have to go back in to have the plate removed after 12 months. That would have meant starting all over again after what would be a major operation. I was dreading them saying this week that I would have to be in plaster for a few more weeks yet. I nearly damaged the leg gain by jumping in the air when they told me everything was OK.

"Apparently the breaks have healed from the inside out which is the best possible thing that can happen and they are going to leave the plate in. They say I can resume light training in a few weeks!"

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.