BARNOLDSWICK Town will remain in the West Lancashire League Premier Division next season following the resignation from the league of first division champions Lytham St Annes (writes Mike Crowther).

To cap a great week for the Victory Park club, manager Lee Boyer said a sponsorship deal had been struck which would be "the biggest in the club's history".

The West Craven side finished in the second relegation spot last season, but were given a reprieve at last Thursday's league annual general meeting.

Lytham St Annes are merging with Blackpool Mechanics, who play in the North West Counties League Division Two, so only Blackpool Wren Rovers are being promoted to the premiership.

Lytham are reported to have taken the unusual step of resigning as champions because the club felt they could not advance further with their current facilities.

Thankfully for Barlick, the league have decided to keep them in the premier division rather than promote third-placed Whinney Hill from division one.

Despite being bottom for much of last season, a late run of form from Barlick saw them finish three points above BAE Barrow Sports, who will now be the only team relegated from the premier division.

Barrow were deducted three points due to a breach of league rules though Barlick would still have finished above them on goal difference. However, it is to boss Lee Boyer and his team's credit that Barlick finished the season so well despite being mathematically relegated with still several weeks of the season left to play.

Boyer said: "We didn't finish bottom so we always thought there was a glimmer of hope that we would get a reprieve.

"We won three out of our last five games so all credit to the lads in the team. They finished the season with such a good attitude and such effort and it's resulted in us staying up. We didn't get much luck last season, but hopefully that has changed."

Boyer said details of a two-year sponsorship deal with a company with strong local connections would be revealed in the next fortnight.

He has also been busy establishing a much stronger squad than last season. He said he had recruited nine new players and almost everyone from last season remained committed to the club.

The double dose of good news means that within a week, Barlick have gone from facing life outside the top flight to relishing another season in the premier division when they will hope to make much more of an impact.

Boyer added: "It's been a great week. Everyone is really up for it next season."

A comprehensive pre-season programme is largely in place, with the most mouth-watering prospect being the Umbro International tournament at Manchester University on July 23-24.

Barlick will be one of 60 teams taking part in the annual 11-a-side event, which has attracted teams of European, American and African nationalities in the past. Games will be 20 minutes each way.

Other friendlies include trips to Cumbria-based Grange (Saturday July 9) and UniBond League side Chorley (Tuesday July 19, to be confirmed) and home games against East Lancashire League side Rock Rovers (Tuesday July 26) and Clitheroe on Saturday July 30, when the side will wear their new kit for the first time.

Boyer is also hoping to finalise a trip to a Northern League side on Saturday July 16. The new season starts on Saturday August 6.

Pre-season training started last night and will continue at the ground on Tuesdays and Thursdays (7pm) and Saturdays (1pm). New and old players are welcome.

Barnoldswick Town Ladies open age team have started training on Thursday nights at the club's ground at Victory Park, starting at 7pm. Existing and new players are all welcome to attend. For more information, contact Ces Naylor on 01282 816393 or 07980 563242.

Barnoldswick Town are looking for an assistant-referee. Anyone interested, please contact John Beswick on 01282 815632.