You don't have to look far at the Tameside Stadium for a slice of football history given a statue of three World Cup winners welcomes you to the ground - but Curzon Ashton are now trying to create memories of their own.

The National League North side head into the festive period as Christmas number one, top of the table and in with a real chance of promotion to the fifth tier for the first time in their relatively brief history.

That could open the door to full time status, increased revenue, better players, scouts and infrastructure. While you are welcomed by the past in the shape of a statue of England's World Cup winning pair Geoff Hurst and Jimmy Armfield and Italy World Cup winner Simone Perrotta - all born in the town - it is to the future that everyone is now looking.

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2025 could be a seismic year, the chance is there to cap growth on and off the pitch with a milestone promotion that could set up derby days with Oldham Athletic and Rochdale for a club only formed in 1963 when friends from a local Sunday School got together.

Sitting in the changing room at their impressive stadium yards from the M60 but somewhat tucked away a few streets from Ikea, pictures of the players' families adorn the walls, designed to bring a sense of togetherness that starts at the top and runs all the way through the club.

"I want to get to know them as a person and not as a player," said player-manager Craig Mahon, these doors more manager than player. "If they are happy at home then they will be happy here. We want to look after their wives and kids.

"It needs to come from the top because then it trickles down, and everyone is in a good place at the moment. It is easier when you are winning. But regardless we get the support from the board and the chairman and that feeds to me and I feed it into the players and it has a knock on effect and that is what I wanted: A club where everyone knows each other. All the players know the board members and their families and vice versa."

The family feel is an important strand of the club. Something director Richard Twamley knows all too well given his dad Harry founded the club 61 years ago.

"I don't think the club has ever been as together from top to bottom," he said. "From directors to the team to the fans. There is a connection between the players and the fans, we go into the bar after the game and everyone likes that.

"We are the youngest club in Tameside and there are a lot of well established clubs in the area but the tide is turning. We are getting out more in the community, we are getting more fans, more engagement with fans, more ticket offers."

The club have given away season tickets to youngsters, often visit schools and have introduced flexi-tickets and membership schemes to attract new eyeballs. Off the pitch things are improving and on the pitch, the trajectory is clear to see.

The club finished seventh last season, losing on penalties to Chorley in the play-offs, and lead the way this. The aim is promotion, the hope is a full time club.

"It is definitely my goal to reach the play offs or get promoted," said Mahon, who coaches in the Wigan Athletic academy when he's not managing Curzon. "The dream is to go full time, we have to set our standards high. We have to have a purpose. We want to be the best we can be and challenge ourselves.

"It is a knock on effect, getting promoted and going full time would be brilliant and you might get players off clubs higher up the leagues because they know you are full time."

"You can't just stay still," concludes Twamley. The statue outside might be frozen in time, but this Curzon vintage are looking to make a move into a bright future.