Season 1960/1 saw a change of approach from Prestatyn. They abandoned the amateur ethos in favour of semi-professionalism and Alf Lambert stood aside for Londoner Ted Buckle to take the helm. However, Buckle needed success fairly quickly as the club had previously been run on a shoestring and ended season 1959/60 with just £107 in the bank. Total gate receipts for the season were £147 and expenditure amounted to £1,302 with income standing at £1,400.

A winning team was needed to bring bigger crowds into the ground and drive the bank balance up.

A seaman who served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War, Buckle was - and still is - by far the most experienced ex-professional footballer ever to have been involved with Prestatyn Town.

After demob from the Navy in 1946, Buckle signed as a professional with Manchester United and spent four years at Old Trafford making 20 first division appearances and scoring six goals. Unhappy at being a fixture in the Central League side, in 1949/50 he moved across Lancashire to join Everton and became a big hit with the Toffees.

In a six year career at Goodison Park, the robust forward clocked up 97 appearances, hitting the net 31 times before moving south to Exeter City in 1955. Then in the Third Division South, Exeter proved a happy hunting ground for Buckle where he made 65 appearances in two seasons, scoring 12 goals, before the lure of the north took him back to Lancashire, this time as a semi-pro with Wigan Athletic, then one of the top clubs in the Lancashire Combination.

Buckle enjoyed more success at Springfield Park and made headlines when he scored in a 2-1 win over Southport (then a Football League side) in the first round of the F A Cup in 1957/8. In the second round the Latics drew Mansfield Town at home drawing 1-1 but losing the replay 3-1, Buckle scoring Wigan`s consolation in that game.

After leaving Wigan he became manager of Midland League Worksop Town before arriving in North Wales in late 1959.

So it was that he applied his wealth of experience to Prestatyn and enjoyed relative success. 1960/1 opened with two straight wins - including a 3-2 win over Rhyl - and a defeat to reigning champions Nantlle Vale. After the struggle of the previous two campaigns, Prestatyn ended in a creditable ninth place and things were looking good.

As player-manager, Buckle had bolstered the team with a number of ex-Rhyl players, among them Jimmy Rogers, defender Geoff Byrne, utility man Peter Jones and the former Aston Villa and Wrexham reserve centre forward Peter Williams.