PETER Marsden has become Craven's first ever president in the 109-year history of the West Riding County Football Association (writes Mike Crowther).

The 69-year-old Skipton man was given the prestigious role at the association's annual general meeting on Tuesday night.

Marsden has held the role of chairman for the last two years - he was also the first in Craven to hold this position - but his appointment as president means he is in overall charge of football administration in the West Riding.

He said: "It is a great honour and I'm delighted, not just for myself, but for Craven. I'm very flattered to be nominated."

Marsden takes over from the long-serving Colin Taylor, who has been president for 17 years but is now retiring at the age of 72.

The position of president is very much a hands-on role and means Marsden will have responsibility for the overall running of the association, including overseeing committees and ensuring the county headquarters at Woodlesford is run properly.

Tasks which lie ahead of him include overseeing the extension of the dressing room facilities at Woodlesford and to reverse the decline in the number of 11-a-side teams.

His appointment at the helm of the West Riding FA is something of a coup for the Craven FA, considering their small representation at county level compared with the likes of Leeds and Bradford.

"Sometimes, it has felt like fighting a lone battle for an area as small as Craven," said Marsden. "Maybe I can push the Craven League and the Craven FA forward a bit more."

Matt Lord, life member of the Craven League and Craven FA, said: "If anybody deserves to be given this position it is Peter. He has done more for football over the last 30 or 40 years than any single person in the area that I know of."

Lord, who is also Craven's representative at Woodlesford after Marsden became a West Riding FA life vice-president in 1999, added: "He has been the mainstay of the Craven League and has helped make it into what it is now. He has bettered it and bettered it.

"It might be another 100 years before Craven has another president at county level. It is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement, a great feather in Peter's cap and also great for all football in Craven. Both the Craven League and the Craven FA wish him all the best."

Marsden has come a long way in grassroots football since first taking out the half-time coffee as a 12-year-old for Skipton Bulldogs.

"I had a trial but they never sent for me, so I took up refereeing in the Craven League," he said.

As well as being a West Riding FA council member since 1978, he has clocked up over 40 years' service on the Craven League management committee, including 30 years as secretary - a position he had to give up when he became county chairman two years ago.

Refereeing has always been close to his heart but it may prove too difficult to combine his new role with that of chairman of the West Riding Referees Society, a position he currently holds.

He said the retention and recruitment of referees would remain an important part of the FA's work and cutting out indiscipline was a key to this.

In his inaugural address to the council as president he thanked the members for their support and said he was looking forward to everyone working as a team.

He also praised the outgoing president, Colin Taylor, saying: "He is a hell of a hard act to follow. I can't praise him enough for all the help he has given me."