EAST Lancashire football fans are being asked to take part in a new initiative that records the story of the sport during the First World War.

The Football and the First World War Project is working in partnership with the National Football Museum in Manchester to create an online record of the sport during the Great War.

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Project bosses are appealing for ‘citizen’ historians and fans of clubs such as Blackburn Rovers and Burnley FC to contact them with any relevant information.

According to the information already listed with the museum, one Blackburn Rovers player from the 1914/15 season and four from Burnley FC died during the war.

Project coordinator Iain McMullen said: “The contribution of clubs from the North West was among the largest in the country. While we already have a good deal of information, there is certainly much more waiting to be discovered.

“The public response so far has been fantastic but we urge anyone who may have any further information to get in touch.”

The project website features an online database of players who served in the military during the First World War and a roll of honour of those killed on battlefields such as the Somme, Ypres and Gallipoli from 1914 to 1918.

Among those to die were Rovers star Eddie Latheron and Burnley forward Billy Pickering. Mr Latheron was killed during the notorious Battle of Passchendaele in October 1917 while serving as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery.

He was an England international and two-time league champion, playing more than 300 games in 11 years for the club and scored 120 goals. His last official game came on the final day of the 1914/15 season when Rovers beat Middlesbrough 4-0 at Ewood Park .

Billy Pickering fell three weeks after Eddie Latheron in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq.

He played for Burnley and Scottish side Morton before enlisting in the army but lost his life aged 24.

East Lancashire historian Simon Entwistle said: “I think this is a great project. I would encourage everybody who can to get involved.”

For details visit: www.footballandthefirstworldwar.org