Thorney FC withdraw from the Peterborough League so Stilton United set to be promoted to the Premier Division

The Premier Division side lost manager Tom Florence to rivals Peterborough North End Sports and have been unable to receive assurances regarding a potentialnew home base in Market Deeping. The club have not played in their own village for a number of years and now chairman Michael Bowen and his committe see no immediate future for the club.

It’s likely Stilton United will be promoted from Division One to replace Thorney.

Mr Bowen’s letter to the PDFL read: ‘It is with great sadness that we tender our resignation with immediate effect.

Whilst we have worked hard over the last few years to maintain the club, circumstances have become untenable and thus we have had to make this difficult decision.

As it stands I have had to step down from running the club. This was a decision not taken lightly as I have been with the with the club since 1987 as player, manager and subsequently chairman for the last 15 years. However my own changing personal circumstances have left me no option but to concentrate fully on myself and my family.

As you may be aware Tom Florence has accepted a role with PNES and coming at the same time as my own decision this is also a major factor. Tom has been instrumental in everything we have done over the past five years and before that as a player.

We have also been unable to obtain assurances from Deeping Rangers that we would be able to use their facilities this season and the prospect of searching for another new home was already causing us headaches.

Add to all of this our ongoing difficulties of being a club with no home, one team and a fragile infrastructure we have long been walking a tightrope and as we appear no closer to returning to Thorney the fustration gets worse.

We have looked within our committee and can see no other option at this juncture so we have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the league.

We would like to put on record our thanks to the League for helping us whenever needed through the past few years,

We certainly hope this is not the end of the Thorney FC story, but merely a temporary blip.