CHORLEY won the Evo-Stik NPL Premier by a point, but it wasn't the closest shave of the weekend – a razor was taken to Andy Teague's moustache.
Non-League's finest tache is no more after the big centre-half went through with his promise of getting rid of the handlebar if the Magpies won the league.
Last Saturday's 2-0 win at Buxton clinched the title – and held off FC United – for Garry Flitcroft's side.
And amid the celebrations skipper Teague auctioned his top lip for the local Twincess Appeal – set up to raise awareness of twins with Down's Syndrome.
The 28-year-old told The NLP: “I did a little interview with the local paper about three months ago saying, ‘Once we win the league I'll shave it off!'
“So Saturday night at the club we auctioned it for charity and managed to raise £550 for the club – the winner got our striker James Dean to shave it off. I couldn't really say no to charity could I?
“It's gone to Twincess. We've done quite a bit with them this season and it's a great cause. It's knocked ten years off me so it's not too bad. I grew a beard before November but I get a bald patch so one day I was sat there and thought, ‘I could have one of these moustaches here,' so I shaved the rest of it off.
“I had tache wax and a little comb for it and everything. I don't think the lads expect anything less from me. They just looked at me, rolled their eyes and got on with what they were doing.
“Opposition strikers seemed to love it though – they would look at me and say, ‘That's a quality tache lad'. It was good banter.”
Teague has been a big part of Chorley's success this season on the way to his second promotion with the club since arriving in 2011.
And it means all the more after almost seeing his football career end in 2006 after a double leg break while playing for Macclesfield.
The big centre-half collided with his own keeper Jonathan Brain, who also broke his leg, before almost three years of rehab to get back on the pitch.
Teague added: “I got compartment syndrome in my legs so they had to operate to get the blood out. It took about two or three years to get back playing properly.
“My physio, Paul Lake, had a few bad injuries himself and he got me through it. I owe a lot to him. They would film me running to show me where I was going wrong. It was a long process, I was on crutches for about six months, but I kept believing and eventually started playing again.
“To now have won a second promotion with Chorley is great. Garry brought me to the club from Lancaster about three-and-a-half years ago and he's shown a lot of faith in me.
“He sold everything to me and told me Chorley is a sleeping giant of a Non-League club. We've had some great attendances – I think the average is about 850 – and it's only going to get higher.”
