PRESTON football officials are pulling their socks up in an attempt to encourage more Asian footballers to join the game.

Out of 66 teams and around 2,200 registered, the Preston Sunday Football League, only has two Asian players to its name.

Since the end of the World War II, the sport has come a long way, with a steady increase in the number of Caribbean players on a national level.

Now chairman of the 32-year-old league, Eamonn McNamara, is hoping to score a hit with local amateur teams and is calling for more Asian players to join the sport.

He said: "The number of Asian players in the league doesn't reflect the demography in Preston.

"There are a lot of good footballers in the Asian community. The door is open and we would very much like them to join our league.

"We want an all inclusive league for everybody and don't want any group to be excluded. Football is too important for people to be excluded from it."

Mr McNamara says he is convinced that if more Asian players were to join league teams, they would have a huge impact on the game and stand as a positive role model for other players.

And Preston Borough Council's sports development manager, Jimmy Khan, said the sport required more integration from all sections of the community. Mr Khan, who works in schools where there is a high number of Asian pupils, said: "There are hundreds of Asian men playing football in Preston. It is such a shame they often choose to play in their own leagues."