BURNLEY Football Club's Leisure and Community Centre is to open its doors to female footballers.

The Centre runs popular coaching sessions for schoolboys both in and out of school hours.

And, on the back of their success, they are set to extend those sessions to girls and women and set up their own department.

Assistant leisure and community officer Nick Harrison said: "We've had a couple of grants for the New Opportunities Fund and we are planning to run courses solely for girls and women in and out of school hours.

"We are also planning to run soccer clinics for girls, which have proved very popular with boys in the area, as well as looking to set up a five-a-side league for girls and women."

To promote the new initiative, the Centre ran a girls football competition in December, which local schools entered. Some of the participants took up an invitation to attend last Saturday's home game against Ipswich Town.

The Centre has also received a grant to appoint an ethnic minorities officer, Dino Maamria, whose job it will be to visit schools which have a high percentage of ethnic minority pupils to offer football coaching.

Anyone interested in attending any of the soccer clinics, which are run at the Centre based behind the James Hargreaves Stand, or entering the five-a-side leagues, should contact Nick on 01282 700081.

What's in a name-check?

WHILE going through my preview ahead of Tuesday's FA Cup third round replay against Grimsby Town, I stumbled across some interesting, and pretty local suggestions in the computer spell check. Mariners' midfielder George Santos came out as Gorgeous Saints, while the suggestion for Darren Barnard was Darwen Barnyard! The mind boggles.

Separated at birth?

AS a follow-up to last week's look-a-like - Andy Payton and Newcastle's Clarence Acuna - I thought I'd follow up with one for new loan signing Drissa Diallo.

He might not have the same income each week as Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, or share the same nationality, but the Frenchman does have a look of the Chelsea striker.

Blades re-scheduled

BURNLEY'S game against Sheffield United, which should have been played at Bramall Lane on New Year's Day, has been re-scheduled for Tuesday March 11, kick-off 7.45pm.

The match was called off at 11.30am on New Year's Day due to a water-logged pitch and could not be re-arranged sooner due to the Blades' involvement in both the Worthington Cup and FA Cup.

Rossendale Clarets' TV date

ROSSENDALE Clarets were due to be the guests on this morning's Soccer AM programme, meeting up with hosts Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain for a morning of fun and games ahead of the Crystal Palace game.