Rossendale Raptors have become the first team from the Valley to seal promotion this season – and two more could be set to follow in the coming weeks.
Rossendale RU’s first XV climbed to second in their league with a 9-8 win over promotion rivals Chester at the weekend.
Ramsbottom United then returned to the top of the North West Counties top flight with a 3-0 win over Congleton Town.
The Raptors have won four promotions in as many years to move up from the North West leagues into the National League for the first time this season.
And they secured a fifth straight promotion on Saturday, with a 63-61 win at Burnley College Blaze securing a top-two finish in Division 4 North.
"It’s really putting Rossendale on the map," said coach Jim Fry, who hails from Bootle but has lived in the valley since 1998.
"Because of where we are, I didn’t know there was a Rossendale team until I came here two years ago – yet the club’s been going for 50 years this year.
"It’s such a big thing for us to say we’re now playing at a national level and, to be fair, we’re more than competing because we could actually win the division."
Saturday’s win has stretched the Raptors’ winning streak to 16 games and, while the arrival of former BBL star Steve Gayle has been a major factor, Rossendale have done it with most of the players they had last season.
"It’s a fantastic achievement, it ranks right up there for me," said 50-year-old Fry, who turned down offers to play college basketball in America, later coached in the States and has been involved with the England youth set-up.
"It’s a nice club with a friendly environment and decent people. That’s what we want to keep, but with that competitive edge."
News of Rossendale’s meteoric rise has spread far and wide, with the Raptors attracting interest from as far afield as Africa while also making the UK game sit up and take notice.
Fry explained: "When I first came here I’d go down to bigger places like the Amaechi Centre (in Manchester) and bump into guys playing in the BBL or the better national leagues, and they’d say ‘what are you doing at Rossendale? Why have you gone there?’
"I said ‘they’ve got to start somewhere, we’re building a decent club’. Now we’ve got where we are, those same people are saying ‘you’re doing a good job there, you guys are ok.’"
The Raptors are at Stockport Falcons’ second team this weekend and need to win just one of their last two league games to be crowned league champions.
They then go into a play-off series which gives Rossendale the chance to lift another trophy and decide the two other teams to be promoted from Division 4’s three regional leagues.
"We’re really pleased with the way the guys are playing and we’ve brought in some really good players as well," added Fry.
"We’re always looking to strengthen the squad and next year will be another step up in standard. I still maintain that, with the current squad we’ve got, we’ll be able to compete.
"We want to keep improving and keep attracting better players, there’s no point hanging round and getting stagnant."
http://menmedia.co.uk/rossendalefreepress/sport/s/1487809_valley-teams-target-a-trophy-treble