Bishop Auckland are due a £30,000 windfall from Bolton Wanderers thanks to old boy Jeff Smith.

The midfielder, who signed for the Nationwide First Division club in March, made his first team debut last Sunday.

He played the 90 minutes for Sam Allardyce's men in Bolton's against 1-1 draw at the Reebok Stadium against Sheffield United.

Bishops' boss Tony Lee was a guest at the game, and he said: "He was magnificent. Sam was delighted with him, and he'll be part of the plans for the play-offs."

Smith was with the Kingsway club for nearly two seasons, and several clubs had been watching him before Bolton pounced.

Another Bishops player, Micky Nelson, has been playing for Second Division Bury and scored for them two weeks ago, but a fee will not be involved if he goes permanently to Gigg Lane, as it is understood that he is not on contract.

Blyth Spartans have launched an appeal to raise £60,000 to meet a demand from the Inland Revenue.

The club has got seven days to pay the bill, or they will face a winding up order.

The club started a collection last week at the final home game of the season against Hyde, and raised £2000 from supporters.

The UniBond League is to introduce play-offs at the end of next season.

A meeting of the league's chairmen last week agreed to the proposal, whereby the third bottom club in the Premier Division and the third, fourth and fifth clubs in the First Division play off to decide who will play in the Premier Division the following season. The league is hoping that the new format will provide a boost to the end of season fixtures, but not many managers will be in favour of the proposals after the fixture congestion caused by the bad weather and the league cup this season.