Just perfect for Pennine

GLODWICK’S last-minute change of plan has left the embryonic Pennine League with its dream ticket.

The Saddleworth League outfit had been expected to join the Greater Manchester League, but the club’s change of mind - based on the PL’s superior youth structure - has left Glenn Kershaw and his supporters with the perfect scenario: two divisions of 12 teams for 2016.

Current CLL chairman Neville Fletcher said: “Amalgamation was the sensible way forward, given the history and traditions of the two leagues, and it couldn’t have worked out better.”

Kershaw has been described as the architect of the PL, and he has clearly sold a vision many CLL and Saddleworth League clubs have liked.

The merger of the leagues will not have gone down well in GM circles, but it should provide our area with a solid base for the future.

The scramble now is for places in next season’s top tier. Leading the way locally in the CLL are Royton and Crompton. Royton will qualify if - as seems likely - they avoid a place in the bottom two of the Premier Division. Crompton need only avoid a drastic loss of form to be crowned Championship winners.