AN app invented by an IT expert who is also a football coach is helping local clubs save thousands of pounds each year.

Paul Anderson, who started his Bolton town centre company Intersoft Developments 11 years ago, created iTeamMate after Moss Bank Juniors FC where he coaches was struggling to collect members' fees.

He said: "It's a problem that pitch-based sports clubs suffer from because youngsters come and go to train and for matches, often without their parents, and may forget to pay their fees.

"It's difficult for amateur clubs to keep track of fees anyway but the effect on club finances can be huge. Our expenses at Moss Bank are £50,000 a year with strips, league fees, pitch fees and insurance.

"So I worked on an easily accessible app that would monitor fees and send out reminders to players. In just the first few weeks, it brought in more than £5,000."

Other football clubs bought the app for a very small regular fee and soon other sports clubs like Bradshaw Cricket Club were also using it.

"It has evolved over time," added Mr Anderson. "The clubs asked for certain refinements and I've tweaked it to cover these. It now has a database of 13,000 people in Bolton and Bury using it regularly."

The app is also able to store other information, records and photos and can communicate with members. Sport England's Clubmark - FA Charter standard in football - has also been built into it.

Marcus Howarth, secretary of Moss Bank Juniors who set up the club in 2006 and has seen it grow from 45 members to 373, said he couldn't imagine being without the app.

He said: "Before, collecting subs was a paper exercise and a bit of a nightmare.

"Paul's app made all the difference and it's grown as Moss Bank has grown. Now, we can register players and check on coaches. I'm also on the Bolton and Bury District Junior Football League and I used to take two weeks off each August to collect players' details and photos and laminate information sheets, but now with the app it's all so easy."

Mr Anderson added: "It can be used by any organisation with large numbers of members. What I'd like to see is some reinvestment in the app to help even more clubs."