ANDY Payton will be light years away from his Parkhead prime when he runs out for the Celtic of Stalybridge next season.

The Bhoys' green and white hoops will be replaced by the sacrosanct blue and white worn by the Celts - something the Stalybridge board doubtless kept from die-hard Burnley fan Payton

during negotiations!

The

cheers greeting Payton may be also a little muted. Stalybridge average 800 fans inside their modest, 6,500 capacity Bower Fold stadium, which boasts a new stand costing £340,000 that will officially be opened by Blackburn Rovers next month.

Bower Fold is, however, a Football League-graded facility with three cantilever stands and an 80-seat Sponsors Lounge.

Yet in stark contrast, Celtic Park is a cavernous arena that scrapes the Glasgow skyline and becomes a seething cauldron of 61,000 partisan Scotsmen every other weekend.

There is a waiting list for season tickets and many families regard their seat as an heirloom, insisting it be passed down the generations in their will.

Payton once struck up a strike pairing with the flamboyant playboy Charlie Nicholas.

At Stalybridge, Payton will battle it out for a starting role alongside either ex-Burnley striker Phil Eastwood or new summer signing Steve Foster - poached from bitter Tameside rivals Hyde United, whose derby-day clashes are slightly less frantic than the Rangers/Celtic derbies held north of the border.

Payton said: "I just want to play football and Stalybridge have been good enough to offer me that chance.

"I've been impressed with the facilities they have and everything the manager there, Dave Miller, had to say."