PRESTWICH Heys have been drawn at home to Irlam in the opening round of the NW Counties League Macron Cup.

The draw was made at the League AGM in Blackpool on Saturday and paired the sides for the second season running in this competition.

Last season, Heys triumphed 3-1 at Irlam in a third round tie, back in January, with two goals from Rio Wilson-Heyes and the other from Matt Davies.

Since then, there has been much change at Heys, and this time around they will be led by new Joint Managers Russell Saunders and Matty Russell.

The duo led their first training session at the weekend as Pre-Season Training commenced.

There have been several departures, with Davies, Jack McConnell, Connor Martin and Aaron Chalmers having been announced as having been signed by other clubs so far.

However, Russ and Matty have been on the recruitment front and there was a turn out of around 30 players on Saturday. The Registration window does not open until July 1st and until that time Heys will not be announcing any signings.

The new season gets underway on Saturday, July 27 and as with last season, Heys will face a busy programme in a 24 team Premier Division.

Fixtures are expected around the turn of the month. Season Tickets will be available shortly.

Meanwhile, Heys have applied for entry to the FA Cup and FA Vase and will find out if they have been accepted on 28th June with the opening round draws following seven days later.

The club have also launched their Sponsorship brochure for the coming season with a range of packages available to suit every budget from Main Stand Sponsorship to Match and Player Sponsorship.

Full details can be found on their website https://www.prestwichheys.com