DISMAL END OF AN ERA FOR TOWN

Covid crisis forces famous club to fold

FC OSWESTRY Town have become the latest victims of the coronavirus pandemic after deciding to fold.

A statement from the North West Counties Division One South outfit blamed the early end to the season because of Covid-19 and the FA decision to render the season null and void, denying the club “a hardearned promotion” having finished second in the table when the season was halted.

League chiefs say they had reluctantly accepted the club’s resignation “with sadness”.

A club statement said: “It is with a heavy heart that FC Oswestry Town have made the sad decision to fold the club.

“The difficult decision has been made due mainly to the Covid pandemic that resulted in the curtailing of the North West Counties League and the FA’s ruling to make the 2019/20 season null and void which robbed us of a hard-earned promotion.

“The committee has been working hard over the past four months but due to financial difficulties that we are currently facing we are unable to keep the club alive in the professional and competitive way that everyone involved with the club would like.

“Financial difficulties due to the denial of promotion to a higher league, no fixtures being played since March and no opportunities to raise funds externally means we are in no position to commit to the forthcoming season.”

Promotion

The news comes in the same week that staff at The Venue in Park Hall, where FC Oswestry and Welsh side The New Saints are based, were told the business had ceased trading.

Oswestry Town were members of the Northern Premier League when they folded in 1988. Five years later they reformed and joined the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) and played in the League of Wales from 2000 to 2003, when they merged with Total Network Solutions FC, subsequently renamed The New Saints.

FC Oswestry Town were formed in 2013 as a successor to Oswestry Lions, who had folded, and took their place in Division One of the Mercian Regional League, winning promotion to the Premier Division at the first attempt. They won the division in 2016 along with the League Cup and Shropshire Challenge Cup to earn promotion to Step 6, and the following season entered the FA Vase for the first time.

A league statement said: “Everyone at the league is saddened to receive this resignation and we wish everyone who is involved at the club the best of luck moving forward. Hopefully they can stay involved within the football family at some level.”