Gloucestershire FA chairman Roy Schafer admits he fears for the future of more semi-professional clubs in the area following the sudden withdrawal of Bitton AFC as a once-thriving Toolstation Western League competitor.
While defender Stuart Tovey spoke of his own “shock” at the 130-year-old club’s decision to pull out of the Step 5/6 league having signed for them only five days prior from Bristol Manor Farm, Schafer was reflecting on “tough times” across the non-League board, not just at Bitton’s famous Recreation Ground.
Bitton chairman John Langdon announced via a social media statement last Friday that the first team he has long devoted himself to, time-wise and financially, had been voluntarily removed from the Western League, having been rooted to bottom spot with one win and four points from 13 games at the time of the eyebrow-raising declaration.
