FOOTBALL, they reckon, is all about players and supporters.

And yet the more truthful fans know it just ain't so any more. Football is also about money.

The fans know it, and so do the team behind the team at Morecambe FC. And it's grabbing more money that has brought about the renaissance of the club.

The big changes at Morecambe came with the installation of their new board, particularly chairman Rod Taylor.

For it was Rod who appointed Peter Howard as Commercial Manager at the club and heralded the new age that has brought a league standard stadium, crowds of more than a thousand every week, and, most importantly, a team capable of finally fulfilling the fans ultimate ambition: promotion to the football league.

But, as Peter says himself, he is a fan first and foremost: "I first came down here when I was 19 when I first moved here. I remember when I was living in Spain I would go to all kinds of lengths to get the news on how they were doing.

"This place has changed dramatically since I came here three and a half years ago and not all that is down to me. It's down to the young board we have here.

"My job was to to go out and raise money and the profile of this club."

And he is convinced Morecambe could easily survive in the football league: "We averaged 1,550 last season and next year we are hoping to get 2,000. Costs would go up in the big league but we would get more grants and higher gates. We are all determined that one day we will be there."

That fighting talk is echoed by Peter's boss, Chairman Rod Taylor. Rod has been devoted to the club since his Dad first took him through the gates of Christie Park in the late 50s and players like Joe Dunne captured his imagination.

"I remember the crowds we had then," reminisced Rod, "they would come by the thousand.

"I always came down here through the years. Then I was approached in 1994. Of course the biggest thing we've done is the new stand. That's a massive commitment from the board, 200,000 pounds. That's the biggest investment we've ever had here.

"I'd just say to the fans that this is a tough league we're in, but one day we will be in that football league."

Still, Rod is the first to say that no matter what the financial development his team can achieve behind the scenes, the game is nothing without the fans.

And the final word must, always, be with one of their number. Meet the committed Alison Fleetwood, 42, who first came to Christie Park when she was ten.

Alison always wanted to play the game herself after seeing heroes on the park like Charlie Lee, but there weren't many outlets for girls to play in her youth.

Now though Alison, Chairman of the Supporters Association, helps oversee six youth boys' teams and three girls' teams (she personally manages the under 10s) at Morecambe, after she helped set up the Junior Reds when her own son played as a small boy.

"We've worked hard to set up the kids for both girls and boys," said Alison proudly, "It's just great for us to see them play."

Maybe, after all, it will be people like Alison and her young charges who will ensure the future of the game and not the money flooding in at the top. You just can't buy their love of the home town team.

Call Alison on 414374 to join the supporters club.

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