Whitehaven and Workington Town plan to work much closer together in future.

While a merger is still clearly off limits, plans are in the offing for closer co-operation between the two west Cumbrian rivals.

It actually starts on Sunday when Workington Town season ticket holders will be admitted to Haven’s home game with Hemel Stags for £10.

That is likely to be reciprocated by Town when Whitehaven have an away fixture.

A closer working relationship between the two clubs is being pushed by Whitehaven chairman Tommy Todd, who also wants to bring in Barrow Raiders and Newcastle Thunder to a northern partnership.

Todd said: “I have had brief initial discussions with Gary Mounsey and Malcolm Allison at Workington and they both seemed to agree with me.

“It’s hard going for both of us in League One at the moment and any help we can give each other would be welcome.

“A simple thing comes to mind – like ordering office equipment of medical supplies together, instead of separately might save a bit of money.

“That’s just scratching the surface and I’m sure when we sit down and talk at length other ideas will present themselves.”

The Whitehaven chairman is also thinking ahead to when, perhaps, Town and Haven can take a combined squad for a three-match pre-season tour of France.

“Although that’s hardly likely to be aprofit-making idea, and we would need a sponsor, it would be ideal for pre-season and also provide valuable experience for younger players.

“We have some very good contacts in France, so I don’t think there would be any problem in sorting out the fixtures,” he said.

Todd would also like to see the reintroduction of the Cumbria Cup.

“That would be another possibility for pre-season fixtures, and give them added edge.

“It used to involve Haven, Town, Barrow and Carlisle. So in geographical terms we could invite Newcastle to replace Carlisle.

“That’ another area where we could develop co-operation between the four clubs, although it does need Town and Haven to set the ball rolling.”

Gary Mounsey, the Workington chairman, is 100 per cent behind Todd’s vision of close co-operation.

“Both clubs are finding it financially tougher now and anything we can do to make things that little bit easier should be looked at,” he said.

“As Tommy says, we have spoken briefly and just scratched the surface – there are a lot more things we could develop.

“We need to work together to help take the game forward in west Cumbria.

“At Town we are looking forward to getting round a table with our Whitehaven counterparts and coming up with some positive ideas,” added Mounsey.