Champions accept anniversary invite

Garry Flitcroft has thanked Manchester United for agreeing to send a side to Victory Park as part of Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Chorley's 130th anniversary celebrations.

A Manchester United Select XI are booked to play Flitcroft's Premier Division side on Tuesday week [July 23]. The lucrative fixture joins a calendar of celebrations climaxing in October with a dinner at Victory Park.

It will be the first time the Magpies have met a Manchester United side since August 1999. Prior to that, the clubs last met in the semi-finals of the Lancashire Cup in 1972 when 9000 people packed into Victory Park.

Flitcroft said: "This is a fantastic fixture for our fans to look forward to. I'd like to thank Manchester United for agreeing to send a team to play us. As you can imagine they get lots of requests for friendlies so it's a major coup for us to be able to put this game on."

He added: "I'm sure it will capture the imagination of the Chorley public and it adds to an exciting list of pre-season friendlies, which already includes games against Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers."

Flitcroft also thanked Charnock Richard for readily agreeing to cancel a scheduled friendly on the same night so they could accommodate the Premier League champions.

He added: "When we spoke to Charnock Richard they were superb about it so I'd like to thank them for their co-operation."

The capacity of Victory Park is 3,700 and Chorley say they are expecting a bumper gate. Season ticket holders are guaranteed admission with general tickets now on sale at £7 for adults and £4 for concessions. Children aged seven and under will be admitted free of charge.

For more information email: info@chorleyfc.com