Windscale play the first game in the Wearside League’s new season next Friday.
They will travel to Willington to kick off the new campaign before the rest of the league starts the following day, August 2.
It will be quite a different Atoms side which lines up in the North East as potentially they have lost seven players.
Three have found new clubs – Kevin Jolly to Penrith while Leo Brennan and Reece Singleton have linked up with Cleator Moor Celtic.
The other four have injury issues which could signal retirement for the likes of long-serving defender Steve Walker.
Highly promising young goalkeeper Fin Stephenson has a troublesome knee problem but is also changing jobs and new commitments might make it more difficult to make himself available.
Manager Stephen Fawcett says that Travis Fyffe, a former Whitehaven forward who suffered a bad ankle injury last season, is the most experienced of the newcomers to the squad.
Three have been promoted from the reserves while another two have had connections with the club in the past and have returned to step up to the Wearside League for the first time.
The Atoms have played two friendlies so far – both ending in 2-1 defeats to the West Lancashire pair Whitehaven and Millom.
Windscale were up in the top three for a long spell last season but eventually finished eighth, and Fawcett will be hoping they can at least match that.
It will depend, of course, on how quickly the newcomers gel and adapt to the League.
Fawcett said: “It will be an interesting start on the Friday night at Willington who are a biut like the fallen giants of th north east.
“They were in the Northern League, dropped into Wearside League Premier and were then relegated to Wearside Division One.
“But they did win promotion back to the Premier League last season and appear to have got themselves sorted out.
“We don’t mind a Friday night away fixture. In fact a lot of the lads prefer it as it gives them the weekends to do what they want.
“I mentioned this to the league and we have two Friday games away which we don’t mind.
“Obviously our progress is going to depend on how well and quickly the new lads adapt to the step up.”
