ALPORT’S pre-season is officially under way with their first game ending in victory, three new signings confirmed, as well as further ground improvements at the club’s Yockings Park home.

The Reds won comfortably at Airbus on Friday night with around 60 fans from the town travelling across to Broughton to witness the 3-1 victory.

A couple of the players who have signed for the Reds already have experience of playing for Whitchurch.

There’s a familiar face back at Alport with the Reds announcing the signing of promising youngster Luke Walley, who scored all three goals at Airbus.

The 18-year-old arrived at Yockings towards the back of last season on loan from Crewe Alexandra.

But once the Gresty Road club decided not to offer the versatile youngster a professional contract, Alport were among a number of clubs scrambling for his signature.

Having put pen to paper, Luke told me: “I’m really looking forward to being a part of it at Whitchurch again.

“It really wasn’t too difficult a decision to make to come back here once I’d thought about it.

“It’s so obvious this is a club that’s progressing and its vision is clearly an attractive proposition to any player, myself included. The fans are the best around and you could play in much higher leagues than ours and not see the support we get. I can’t wait to get started now.”

Luke’s father Simon was really keen for his son to make a return to Whitchurch.

“I loved watching the team play from the first time I saw them,” he said.

“There were some incredible memories from last season, like at Daisy Hill when we were 3-0 down after 20 minutes. You could sense the lads still believed they could get back into the game with the Red Army roaring them on to a 7-3 win – that will stay with me for a long time.

“There were other clubs offering Luke trials but I’m really pleased he’s decided to come back here because you can sense there are good times ahead.

“He’s going to university in Chester so logistically Whitchurch makes sense. On top of that, they put on great coaching sessions and the fans will warm to our Luke, I know it.

“Hopefully he can learn a lot here and take something away from the experience that may help him in his career choices further down the line.”

Alport were also delighted to announce the signing of midfielder Chris Jackson from North West Counties First Division rivals Sandbach United.

Jackson, who is 29, is a well-known face to managers Luke Goddard and Carl Everall after previously playing under their leadership at Crewe FC.

The managers tried to convince Jackson last summer but he opted to stay with local side Sandbach United as they entered the North West Counties Football League for the first time.

The technically-gifted midfielder also has the aggression the squad missed at times last season and he’s looking forward to pulling on the red jersey.