The first piece in the jigsaw of staffing up Bury's groundbreaking, new-look Community Trust has been put in place with the appointment of former Burnley FC midfield dynamo - Paul Weller as General Manager.

Weller will oversee both legs of the new Trust as colleagues in the highly successful Community division are joined by the Football clubs Youth Department which will move across to the Trust from 1st July.

Paul (35) was born in Brighton but started his professional career with Burnley in 1991, playing over 300 times for the first-team in a 13 year career sadly blighted by serious illness and injury. A nippy right winger when signed by manager Jimmy Mullen he spent much of his career under Stan Ternent in central midfield. His courage to battle back from his career disrupting set-backs won fulsome praise from Manager and fans alike.

Welcoming, Weller's appointment, Trust Chairman Iain Mills said "Paul's contribution to North West Football both on and off the field is of the highest order. After entertaining crowds for over a decade, he transferred those skills to working in the Leisure and Community Department at Turf Moor before we were fortunate enough, in the face of stiff competition, to bring him to Bury last year. Since then, he has transformed the Trust, leading to the club having the confidence to transfer its Centre of Excellence and Youth team operations to us.

Trust Directors, Dennis Taylor and Colin Bridgford are overseeing the transition to the new arrangements supported by Club Director Jeremy Rothwell and Vice President Jim Lomas.

Mr Taylor said "Those staff in both departments, whose duties will remain substantially unchanged, have been confirmed in their posts under the new arrangements which we have discussed fully with The Football League and FA. Their support has been invaluable. Our next task is to appoint a Head of Youth who will report to Paul. This position is open to concurrent internal and external advertisement and interviews will be held towards the end of June. First team manager - Alan Knill will naturally be involved in that process "

Commenting on his appointment, Paul Weller said "I am delighted with the confidence both the Board of the Trust and the Football Club have shown in me. We have assembled an excellent staff over the last 12 months which has seen a meteoric rise in the Community Trust's standing nationally. This new initiative - the first of its kind in English top flight football, will put Bury firmly in the spotlight as a progressive club firmly focussed on the wellbeing of its youngsters its community and fans