An 18-year-old goalkeeper has stepped in to save his local football club.

North West Counties League Premier Division side Barnoldswick Town has been in serious difficulty due to a tough financial climate and a lack of volunteers.

So Lyle Davy decided to tackle the situation and bring in potential investors to the club whilst strengthening the board with new members.

Working with Pendle councillor Paul White, the pair have brought together a collection of Pendle-based businesses to address the immediate financial risks.

Barnfield Construction, Mitchell Interflex, Euravia, Innova Solutions and Cloud1990.com, have all agreed to come forward to support the club.

At an open meeting on at Barnoldswick Town’s Vic-tory Park ground last week, the decision was made to secure the future of the club, and see it remain in the North West Counties League again next year.

Davy said: “I asked Paul to come down to the club when I first knew of the difficulties.

“There and then we made the commitment to go away and raise the money to get us out of immediate difficulty.

“The local business community has been so supportive, their help has secured our position to continue to play at the standard of football we deserve to.”

Alongside the financial help new board members, who will focus specifically on the commercial aspects of the club, were appointed last week.

The commercial team will be headed by Davy and Coun White, who will be joined by Anne Wolfenden, director of Cloud1990.com, Georgia Robson of publicrelationnation.com, and a team who will focus on engaging the club with the community.

Barnoldswick Town secretary Lynn James said: “How we have grown as a club has been astounding.

“From our humble beginnings in 1972 we’ve managed the football side of the club but because of our size we now need a separate team to come in and look after our commercial interests.”

She added: “The players have been so supportive, and everyone has been really positive about this news which will see us in a strong position going forwards.”

Anyone who wishes to volunteer to help the club or become a sponsor should contact Paul White at paul.white@pendle.gov.uk