A former mayor has been enlisted to Rhyl Football Club to harness budding talent and restore the club to the top tier.

Newly appointed vice-chairman Cllr Barry Mellor, mayor of Rhyl from 2015 until 2016, is among four new board members who have brought into shake-up the Huws Gray Alliance side with the aim of returning Welsh premier League fixtures to the Corbett Sports Stadium.

The new directors - which include Rhyl FC Ladies manager Tom Jamieson, club treasurer John Hughes Jones and Media officer James Curran moving up to the boardroom - will now make a concerted push this summer for a return to glory for the Lilywhites.

Cllr Mellor, who was invited to take on the role after joining the board just three months ago, said: "We've looked at the whole club and everyone involved - right down to the ball boys - and we feel like we have the right people on board. Over the past three months, results have started to go our way and we're confident we can give the people of Rhyl a great team again."

The cornerstone of their strategy will involve foster budding talent by strengthening relations with schools, including an upcoming two day event due to take place in the summer which will see between 50 and 60 youth teams from across the North West competing in Rhyl.

Cllr Mellor, a governor of Blessed Edwards Catholic High School, maintained: “Our youth program is not bad, but it could be a lot better. What we really need is to be more involved and get our coaches into the schools.

The beleaguered side, which made it to the first round of the UEFA Cup in 2006 and won the Welsh Premiere League in 2009, has spent eight years in Welsh football's second tier after their Welsh Premier licence was revoked in 2010.

In celebration of their 2009 triumph, Cllr Mellor, a then manager with Arriva, organised an open top bus for the squad's victory lap of the town.

Cllr Mellor's selection heralds a new approach for the side, which has seen chairman Paul Higginson integrate Rhyl's business and community leaders into the squad to restructure its approach.

Cllr Mellor added: "Chairman Higginson approached me for the role when I was still Mayor, but I was far too busy at the time. Now I'm retired I finally have time to devote to the team.

"Being mayor was all about meeting people and being able to hear their problems. When I went to my first meeting, I made sure to just sit and listen before I engaged and came up with a plan.

“Rhyl Football club is an absolute sleeping giant. While the rejuvenation of Rhyl is second to none, we need to give the people of Rhyl a team worthy of the town.

“If we can bring the football squad to where it needs to be, the whole town really will be lifted.”