A FORMER amateur football player and referee has scored a success with a 60-year history of a local soccer league.

Jack Lord, who teaches physical education at Edge End High School, Nelson, invested £3,000 - most of it his own cash - on getting 1,000 copies of his book "History of Nelson and Colne Amateur Football League 1928-1988" published.

"I needed to sell 650 copies to cover the costs which, hopefully, I should be somewhere near now," said Mr Lord, 50, of Knightsbridge Avenue, Colne.

"It's gone down really well and I've been asked to do some kind of follow-up but, at the moment, I'm having a break from it.

"It started as a spin-off from the work I did about two years ago as part of my Masters degree

"I thought I might as well use the work in some way so I spent about 18 months putting together the book, collecting photographs and speaking to former players."

Football has always been close to Jack's heart and he was involved in amateur football in Pendle for more than 30 years.

"I used to play on Saturdays and then referee on Sundays," he said.

"I've played for several local clubs including Nelson, Nelson Grammar School Old Boys, Rock Rovers, Barnoldswick Park Rovers and Foulridge.

"The aim of the book is to look at how the league was formed, how it reached its peak and then how and why it declined."

The book, which costs £4.99, is available from Pendle Council's leisure centres and Mr Lord.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.