A THOUSAND youngsters from across the area backed a unique Morecambe Football Club and Heysham port initiative this weekend.

Heysham Port Ltd managers provided ONE THOUSAND complimentary season tickets for 21 primary schools in the Morecambe area.

The Shrimps hope that with a thousand more voices cheering them on they'll be able to make a real push for promotion this year.

At the moment only 10 per cent of Morecambe season ticket holders are youngsters. The average gate could also nearly double from last season's figure of 1,200 if all the free tickets are taken up.

Jim Bowen, comic and Hon President of Morecambe FC commented: "It's a tremendous and innovative idea - after all these are tomorrow's supporters - and if it means more bums on seats, and more to the point young bums, it's even better. Morecambe is a lovely, friendly club and this means we can put a bit of fun back into football."

Graham Hodgson, vice chairman of Morecambe added: "We've been developing our community programme for many years now but this is the most adventurous project to date. What's more it's putting Morecambe Football Club on the map as we believe no other football has ever undertaken such an offer on such a large scale."

Commercial manager of Morecambe Peter Howard was overjoyed that the initiative had come to fruition. He said: "The whole scheme wouldn't be possible without the generous support of Heysham Port Ltd. This is a great way of ensuring that Morecambe Football Club continues to nurture its supporter base at a time when soccer seems to losing touch with its grass roots."

Manager of Heysham Port captain Graham MacLean commented: "Now I can indulge my passion for football down at Christie Park not just to check my investment but also to see my staff as all the children of our hundred and six workers will also be getting season tickets for the Shrimps this season."

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