A KEIGHLEY football club chief says it has taken a further step towards becoming semi-professional by moving to a different league.

FC Sporting Keighley have moved to the West Yorkshire Association Football League for the next season.

The club, which started in Sunday league football in 2009, has been competing in the Craven & District League for the last nine years but is now moving up to a higher level.

They will now initially compete in the West Yorkshire League's Division Two from next term, while their reserve side will take part in the league's Alliance second tier.

Amar Zaman, club secretary, said: "It's a huge, huge step forward.

"We have been trying to get in the league for two or three years now. But over the last two years there has been a temporary freeze on league applications due to Covid.

"For us, it's two years of hard work and we've managed to achieve it.

"It's a big, big step for us. We started in 2009, playing mostly Sunday league football.

"Then we went to the Craven League and we won four promotions in our first four years there.

"We are looking for new players for both of our first and reserve teams and it doesn't matter whether they come from Keighley or not. We are looking for a new manager too."

Zaman says the change of leagues is the latest move in the club's expansion as it looks to run more teams.

He added: "We started off with one senior adult football team.

"Now we have our first team, reserves, under-23s and a plus 35/veterans team that play every other Monday.

"We have four teams at the moment, but, moving forward, we would like to start running junior sides in the future."

FC Sporting Keighley are looking for a new manager for their first team, ideally someone with FA level 2 qualifications.

They are also looking to recruit new players to join their first team and second teams ahead of the forthcoming campaign.

Anyone interested in being a player or manager at the club is urged to email them, with their name and contact number, to fcsportingkeighley@hotmail.com

Ahead of the new league season kicking off, FC Sporting Keighley are also helping to organise a charity tournament.

It will be held at Marley Activities and Coaching Centre on Sunday, July 25, and is in support of Green Crescent Aid UK, a charity dedicated to providing humanitarian aid and assistance to those in need within the UK and Malawi.

The open-age seven-a-side tournament costs £70 per team to enter, with all the money raised going towards the charity.

There are individual and team trophies on offer.

To register, message Faz on 07575 045996, and to ask about sponsoring the tournament, contact Haroon on 07880 359254.

You have until Sunday, July 18 to sign up for the tournament.