TD Shipley fold from the County League

The club lost its manager Joe Paton after the side finished bottom of Division 3 last season, and chairman Dave Cocks cited a lack of players and financial pressures as key reasons behind the decision to fold.

In a statement Mr Cocks said: “We regret to announce that TD Shipley FC will not have a County 3 side next season.

“After a very difficult season the 1st eleven finished bottom of Sussex County Division 3, this lead to the resignation of manager Joe Paton.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Joe for all his hard work last season. I would also like to thank all those players who continued to preserver throughout a very difficult season.

“The Club has now been left in a position where we have no manager and those players that did play were players that the manager had brought into the club.

“At one time the club had plenty of committee members available to help out on Saturdays, however that changed this season mostly due to changes in their work environment so that most Saturdays there were only two maybe three people around to help.

“Lastly due to financial pressures put on the club by the FA, ground grading results in the club having to spend thousands of pounds in my opinion unnecessarily. That and the fact that players no longer wish to pay towards the running of the club we find ourselves short on funds.”