AN exodus of players has forced Netley Central Sports out of county football.

The 110-year-old club announced their withdrawal two weeks before the curtain went up on the 2011/12 Magnata Care Hampshire League 2004 campaign.

Having climbed from Division Three to Division One of the old Hampshire League in successive seasons, Netley joined the county top flight some 60 years ago.

They went on to become a prominent name in Hampshire football in pre-Wessex League days, playing alongside the likes of Basingstoke Town and Gosport Borough.

But while many of their old rivals moved onwards and upwards, Netley stayed stagnant.

And in recent years they have fallen even further behind, unable to keep pace with the ever-increasing demands of ground grading at their council-owned Recreation Ground home.

They spent two seasons in the Wessex Division 3, from 2004 to 2006, until it was annexed.

Lacking the facilities to join the newly-launched Hampshire Premier League, they subsequently became members of the Hampshire League 2004, which had been created for clubs unable to meet the Wessex ground-grading criteria.

Netley twice finished as Hampshire 2004 champions, lifting the trophy two years running in 2008/09 and 2009/10.

But, according to club chairman Barry Merritt, the appetite wasn’t there from the players to carry on.

Netley will continue to run a team in Southampton Senior One, man aged by Jim Langdown, but Cliff Nutbeam’s 2004 side has hit the buffers.

“At our AGM it was all agreed we would go again this season with two teams, but then we found out we didn’t have a Hampshire League side any more a week or two before the signing-on date,” said Merritt.

“Most of the players have gone to play at a higher, better run standard in the Hampshire Premier League or the Wessex League.

“We had players of quite a high standard here and the reason they kept together was down to the camaraderie and team spirit, so in that sense it was a shock that they decided to go and play somewhere else.

“But, on the other hand, we had all been hoping for an amalgamation between the Hampshire League 2004 and the Hampshire Premier League and it hasn’t happened.

“The players were getting fed up with it because there was no direction for us.

“We were in Wessex 3 for a couple of seasons but then the pyramid system changed and we couldn’t keep up.

“We didn’t have the facilities and our hands were tied because we play at a council-owned recreation ground.”

Netley hope to regroup this season and return to county football in a year's time.

The Sports Pink Online

The Sports Pink is now available to read online. The latest edition goes live every Saturday night.
Click the front page for more information!