BEING a footballer at semi-professional level can be a juggling act, as two Warrington Town players have explained.

Since winning promotion to the Evo-Stik Premier Division, the highest level in their history, last season, the Yellows have more travelling to do as they take on teams from up and down the country.

Already this season, they have played at Spennymoor and Blyth in the north east and as far south as Grantham in Lincolnshire.

A number of players who helped the club win promotion decided not to stay on because of the increase in travelling, including Warrington-born winger Chris Gahgan, who now turns out for Colwyn Bay.

The majority of Town’s players hold down full-time jobs outside of football and require time off to travel to away games.

Centre-back Jay McCarten works as a window cleaner and explains the challenges of being a semi-professional footballer, with first-team training sessions taking place twice a week.

“Being self-employed, I can work around it but it can be difficult to find time to get to the gym and keep yourself ticking over.

“The lads all have full-time jobs and there’s a lot more travelling involved this year so they all need half days.

“That isn’t easy when you’re going to places like Blyth and Spennymoor on a Tuesday night but I don’t think any of them have missed a game through work yet so it shows the commitment we have.”

Like the players, plenty of Warrington fans also take time off work to follow the team to all ends of the country.

McCarten, who is the club’s longest-serving player after joining in 2012, says every squad member is impressed by their passion.

“We’ve got a superb set of fans that follow us home and away. Every time we go to away games the coach is filled with fans,” he said.

“They take time off work and spend their hard-earned money to come and watch us. They are so passionate and are a pleasure to play for.”

Another scenario is that of players who have dropped out of professional football and into the part-time ranks.

One of those players is midfielder Danny Ventre, who can count Accrington Stanley and Irish side Sligo Rovers among the clubs he played professionally for.

He still works within football as a junior coach with Blackpool but says the semi-professional game took time to get used to.

“I admit the step down and combining full-time work with playing was tough to begin with,” he said.

“I’ll be coaching at Blackpool all day then coming back for training or games. The days are very long, especially when you’re playing away in midweek.

“When you’re a full-time player, you often don’t realise the time off you actually have.

“It’s also a bit tougher to build the chemistry with your teammates because you don’t have that day-to-day interaction with them.”

“We’ve got a good group of lads here though that are committed and are solid as a collective unit.”