After a turbulent season on and off the field, Aldeburgh Town have withdrawn both their sides from the Touchline Suffolk & Ipswich Leagues with immediate effect.
All fixtures for the first-team, who were situated in Division Two, and the Reserves, in Division Four, have been cancelled and all the season’s results erased in a sad series of events for the coastal club, nicknamed the Swans.
After a host of ongoing problems including floodlight failure, managerial departures, and player commitment to name just a few, it all became too much as following a committee meeting on Wednesday night, headed by chairman Daniel Winter, the club agreed to fold and withdraw with immediate effect.
“I’m absolutely gutted,” declared Winter, who had been chairman at the club alongside Dan Edrich for more than seven years.“It’s such a shame as we all have many great memories over the years, but too many little things meant it was just too much for us to carry on.”
After many successful years in the SIL as Sizewell & Aldeburgh, the club changed name to Aldeburgh, in 2007, dropping into division six of the SIL. They raced to two successive promotions in their first two seasons, before wining promotion from Division Four in 2011/12, and then winning Division Three in 2012/13.
Such success and popularity saw a Reserve team start in 2009/10, and following two promotions, the second string reached Division Four this season.
After a host of player departures in the summer, both squads sat in lower-mid table of their respective divisions – but with numbers dwindling and commitment fading, added with respective managers Phil Beale and Paul Dee’s resignations on Monday primarily due to an ongoing floodlight problem which meant Aldeburgh hadn’t trained for more than seven weeks, the club felt they had little choice but to withdraw immediately.
The club were also hit with unexpected costs after they had to pay the council for more health and safety certificates following an accident which saw a youngster suffer a serious finger injury.
Winter continued: “We were just always up against it. Lots of little things just meant it was more hassle than it was worth, and it is massively disappointing.
“I feel sorry for our secretary Matthew Pilkington, who has put everything into the club over the last seven years. Thanks must also go to the committed fans we’ve had that have turned up to watch us every week – as well as all the players, managers, sponsors and anyone who has supported us in our time.”
The league tables with Aldeburgh’s removal have been updated accordingly, with the withdrawals meaning that only one team from Divisions Two and Four will be relegated this season.
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