MALVERN Town have been promoted into the new 22-club Southern League Division One Midlands following an FA shake-up last Thursday.

Chairman Paul Pallett was delighted at the news following an anxious wait after now managerless Town had finished third in the Harvey World Travel Midland Alliance in only their second season in the league.

Mr Pallett said: "We are delighted and even though we face a big challenge, everyone at the club is upbeat. It is a terrific achievement for us and we have come a very long way in the last five years."

The new league has thrown up several local derbies that would have been very distant a few years back, with clashes including county neighbours Evesham United, Bromsgrove Rovers and Stourport Swifts.

Other fixtures will include teams like Solihull Borough, Willenhall, Aylesbury United, Rushall Olympic, Cinderford Town and Midland Alliance champions Chasetown and runners-up Stourbridge.

"The travelling is not quite as much as we expected and we are hoping for better attendances at home, especially for the local derbies," said Mr Pallett.

Following the resignation of manager Neil Hunt, who ironically has joined Evesham United as assistant manager to Paul West, Pallett confirmed the club had received six applications for the vacant post, plus two from within the club.

He said: "We have a bit of work to do over the next couple of weeks and it would be good to have somebody with experience at this level. It is vital to have good players and a manager with good contacts.

"We are in there with a lot of good clubs but will give it our best shot and will be looking for a mid-table position."

Increased finances are definitely on the hit-list for the Town and Pallett feels one way forward is increasing the lottery link-up with Worcester City.

He said: "We need far more agents to operate in their own areas to sell tickets, there is a 20 per cent commission on all collections and virtually no outlay for us, so it really could be a winner."

Anyone who may be interested in becoming an agent for the Town can contact Paul Pallett on 01905 773236 or 07931 574725 (m).