Meet the club with three World Cup winners aiming to write new chapter

You don't have to look far at the Tameside Stadium for a slice of football history given a statue of three World Cup winners welcomes you to the ground - but Curzon Ashton are now trying to create memories of their own.

The National League North side head into the festive period as Christmas number one, top of the table and in with a real chance of promotion to the fifth tier for the first time in their relatively brief history.

That could open the door to full time status, increased revenue, better players, scouts and infrastructure. While you are welcomed by the past in the shape of a statue of England's World Cup winning pair Geoff Hurst and Jimmy Armfield and Italy World Cup winner Simone Perrotta - all born in the town - it is to the future that everyone is now looking.

2025 could be a seismic year, the chance is there to cap growth on and off the pitch with a milestone promotion that could set up derby days with Oldham Athletic and Rochdale for a club only formed in 1963 when friends from a local Sunday School got together.

Sitting in the changing room at their impressive stadium yards from the M60 but somewhat tucked away a few streets from Ikea, pictures of the players' families adorn the walls, designed to bring a sense of togetherness that starts at the top and runs all the way through the club.

"I want to get to know them as a person and not as a player," said player-manager Craig Mahon, these doors more manager than player. "If they are happy at home then they will be happy here. We want to look after their wives and kids.

"It needs to come from the top because then it trickles down, and everyone is in a good place at the moment. It is easier when you are winning. But regardless we get the support from