A TOWN football club has slammed a county league’s decision to kick their team out.

Newent Town AFC’s Gloucestershire Northern Senior League Division One side were expelled by just one vote by clubs and the league’s management committee at a special general meeting on Friday (October 13).

And club secretary Phil Clarke says the ruling could mean the 16 youngsters who played for the side could be left without a game for the rest of the season.

League bosses had accused the club of not playing its strongest team, after the back-to-back Reg Davis Cup winners also entered a side in the Hellenic League, with both teams playing their fixtures on the same day.

The club has not had the best of starts, losing its opening eight Senior League games, including a 7-1 reverse to Sharpness.

But Mr Clarke said: “We’ve got a strong squad of 30 players, and we’re more than able to fulfil our fixtures. This is a terrible decision, which could deprive our youngsters of competitive football this season.”

“We’ve spent a lot of time and money improving our facilities to raise standards and need all our players to be tested, which is why we joined the Hellenic League.

“With a strong youth team coming through, we decided to keep a team in the Senior League to give all our players good football.

“Then after six matches I got an email saying they wanted to exclude us. It wasn’t a rule breach, because otherwise they could have kicked us out without a vote, but they called a special meeting for clubs to make the decision.

“The vote was 17-13 to exclude us, which is way short of the two-thirds majority required. Then, in what appears to be a stitch-up, they said all 11 members of the league management committee could vote, making it 28-13, which meant we were thrown out by one vote.

“Even then, we were denied a vote and another club who could have backed us failed to attend the meeting, which the league officers ignored

“I stood up and said if the team was relegated to Division 2 at the end of the season, then that’s the standard they should be playing at, but now we’re out.

“It’s a terrible decision, but we’re not going to appeal, because if that’s the way they treat young players, we don’t want to deal with them.

“Mitcheldean and Southside have already resigned from the league, and it’s no wonder people are leaving if this is the way they treat people.

“We could have 16 lads twiddling their thumbs on the touchline for the rest of the season, but I’ve had loads of support from other clubs offering us friendly fixtures and we’ve approached a number of leagues and are hopeful of securing a place, even if we have to catch up a few games.

“Clubs love coming to play us, we’ve got great facilities and are good hosts. Thank you to all the clubs who voted to support us, Whitecroft, Lydbrook, Charlton Rovers, Berkeley, Taverners, Longlevens and Tuffley to name a few.”

A statement on the league’s website said: “Following the Special General Meeting of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, held at Frampton Community Centre on Friday, October 13, Newent Town have been excluded from membership of the League with immediate effect.

“The meeting was convened to consider the motion, proposed by the League’s Management Committee, that the club should be excluded and this motion was passed by a two-thirds majority.”

The league said the meeting had been “called in accordance with League Rule 17(a) – Exclusion of Clubs or Teams, Page 30 of the League Handbook and League Rule 19 – Special General Meetings, Page 32 of the Handbook.”