MORECAMBE FC's Auxiliary Supporters club is set for a new lease after a long dispute with the football club came to an end.

The supporters club, located on a site adjacent to the ground, withdrew its support after players were instructed by the then manager to stop taking after match drinks there in the mid 1970s.

However, after nine months of tough negotiations a truce has been finalised and the club building now looks set to receive much needed investment.

Morecambe FC deputy chairman Graham Hodgson said: "I am delighted that after nine months of negotiations we have forged an agreement that has brought the supporters club back under the wing of the football club. "The dispute goes back a long time and it depends on who you ask what originally caused it.

"Both sides have always wanted to get back together, but personalities have always got in the way."

The supporters club will now be run by a committee of six, with three members each from the football club and the supporters club.

Both sides hope that the new agreement will allow for new investment in the building.

"They are substantial premises which have a lot of potential, but they do need some investment," said Graham.

A special reconciliation night is planned for the next couple of weeks and the bar will be fully up and running before the first game of the new season.

The Auxiliary supporters club will now be hoping to repeat its success in the 1960s when it paid for the building of the main stand at Christie Park.

Gerry Gardner, treasurer, secretary and licensee of the auxiliary supporters club added: "The place will be open and running by the start of the season. I am looking forward to it."

MORECAMBE'S current crop of players have returned to training. New signing Adriano Rigoglioso is one of four new faces at Christie Park, with boss Jim Harvey likely to be active in the transfer market again before the big kick off on August 19.